It Was a Day on the Water for 5 Amigos

We made our plans a few days ago and then executed them this morning. Skip in his boat, Craig and Rob in the latter's boat, and Wayne and me in his boat were going to show up at West Neck this morning and get in some fishing time.

Skip chose not to show up as early as the rest of us, but we all met up one way or the other today before all was said and done. As it worked out, none of the three boats registered a skunk, which is always a good thing.

The picture here is Skip's first fish of the day, and I know for a fact that he boated at least one more before the end of the day, because I saw him swing it over the side. Came off one of his favorite trees in the upper stretches of West Neck Creek.

He just had told Wayne and me it's one of his favorite trees, when I turned around and saw him chalk up yet another bass from it. Also heard him chuckle a bit as he swung it aboard.

Rob and Craig got the jump on the rest of us as far as striking paydirt. They let us know that the two of them started getting their fish nearly right away this morning. They ended their 2- or 2.5-hour trip with five fish to their credit, with each angler using different baits.

Because they were interested in trying to preserve their productive stretch of water for a revisit during this Sunday's tournament, both were trying just to feel the fish but then allow it to go free without ever setting the hook. As it turned out, they were only partly successful in that effort. A few of the bass were just too eager.

Wayne and I were the "renegades," in a sense, today. Of all three boats, we were in the only one that headed south in West Neck Creek, while the other two went north.

We fought the strong winds for a spell but soon grew tired of the conditions and decided to go looking for some cover. We first checked out a couple of new spots to us down south on the North Landing, without finding anything, and eventually made our way back to West Neck.

It wasn't until we got above the bridge, however, before we started finding any catchable fish. We ended the day with a total of four bass, none of which was anything to write home about. Only a couple of them would have cleared the 12-inch tournament minimum length.

Whether today's excursion on the water will lead to any success Sunday remains to be seen. At least we got out and had a look around for some ideas to help us form some kind of battle plan for the tournament.