Nothing Like a Big Fish To Perk Up a Fishing Trip

Wayne (right) and I had decided to get in some fun fishin' today, and we came away glad that we did. For openers, there weren't many folks taking advantage of the holiday...at least not while we were at West Neck. Anyone who stayed home to avoid the crowds wasted a golden opportunity to get in some fishin' time.

I can't say it was what you would call a "hot bite" today, but we kept pluggin' away. And after boating some small bass, several white perch, and a little catfish, Wayne finally scored big with his cast to a stump in an area we don't usually fish. I just happened to be watching as his topwater bait settled slightly behind this stump and then quickly vanished as a giant mouth engulfed the lure.

I asked Wayne if he wanted me to net the fish, and his response was that he didn't think it was that big. However, I had a better vantage point and could tell that it was a nice sized fish, so grabbed the net and stood ready to go into action. As the fish came toward the boat, she decided to charge under it and start splashing around on the other side.

Once Wayne had worked the fish back to the starboard side, she got really rambunctious at the sight of the net in the water and did her best to avoid giving up the fight. At last, though, she was neatly tucked inside the net. Wayne grabbed his scales, and once we had ascertained her weight at 5 lbs. 8 ozs., I got my camera and snapped a quick shot of his prize.

Only moments later, I hurled a cast with my crankbait toward another stump close to the one where he caught the fish in the accompanying photo and hooked an Abu Garcia Veritas rod, with a Lew's baitcast reel attached, along with a spinnerbait. First time, to the best of my knowledge, I've ever had this happen to me.

All in all, it proved to be a nice five-hour outing.