The Kind of Day That Makes Up for a Whole Bunch of Bad Ones

That's what Rob Chatham and a friend of his had today during a trip to fish some North Carolina water. In about seven hours of fishing, they collectively put together a bag that would have weighed somewhere around 18 pounds.

Said Rob, "The farther we went in the creek, the better the bite got." And that was reflected in the final tally.

At day's end, they had boated at least 15 bass, including some in the 2-, 3- and 4-pound class, and topped off by one that weighed 6-4.

Their winning bait today was a soft plastic, rigged various ways. And it must have been the only thing that was working, because as Rob pointed out, they were motoring out of the creek when they happened across a guy who asked if they were catching anything, 'cause he wasn't. Rob explained that a glance at what this guy had tied on was spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

Rob's response to the guy's question kinda bothered me, though. He said, "Oh, we caught a couple." I can't help wondering if he managed to say that with a straight face. Why? Because I recall another time when Rob and I were fishing together, and a fella stopped and asked us the same thing. When I responded in exactly the same words that Rob used today, I thought he was going to strip a gear, trying to keep from laughing out loud. We, too, had loaded the boat that particular day.

Anyway, my heartiest congratulations go out to both Rob and his friend. They indeed had a very good day.