Had a text a bit earlier today from my friend, Skip, who told me his bride, Leslie, had sent the following picture message to him.
"I thought it was neat," he said.
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Someone overnight between day two and the final day went and pushed rocks into the opening of the ditch to try and block Poche from entering what ultimately would be his three-day, 37-pound 12-ounce tournament-winning hole.
Unlike the multitude of pro anglers who fish major tournaments out of high-priced, flashy fiberglass boats, Poche fishes all year from an 18-foot Gator Trax boat, which fits his style of fishing backwater areas like you find in his home state of Louisiana. Some anglers think it's an unfair advantage, but he uses the boat all year, which often puts him at a disadvantage of not being able to make long runs on big bodies of water. In short, he plays the odds that he can find shallow areas to fish all to himself.
"To do it like I like to do it; to just go and get back into stuff, I fish more comfortably like that," said Poche, who's originally from Natchitoches, LA. "They say fishing is (largely) mental, and it is. It's making good decisions on the water--and when you're comfortable, you're going to make good decisions."
The backwater area where he spent the majority of his Central Open tournament time was only about 10 minutes from takeoff. Having found the area with a drone during pre-practice, he described it as a long, narrow ditch that led to a deeper backwater with shoreline vegetation and laydowns.
Approaching the area required Poche to traverse a treacherously shallow zone. This barrier, he said, likely would prevent a heavier fiberglass boat from reaching the fish, but Poche's vessel was ideally suited for the task.
"I run an 18-foot Gator Trax boat with a 90-horsepower Mercury, and that's the toughest aluminum boat on the market," said Poche. "That boat is perfect for getting into little places like this. I do what I do--it's a style of fishing; it's who I am.
"There's so much that can go wrong; you can break down or get stuck. I'm just so happy it worked out OK."
For his persistence in doing things his way, Poche took home the $48,100 top prize and earned an invitation to fish the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic held in Knoxville, TN, March 24-26.
To make matters worse, yours truly neglected to don his fingerless gloves as usual today, which allowed the back of my hands to burn. My face looks pretty rosy as well...and that's even though I used a generous application of suntan lotion before leaving the house this morning. With any luck, these "neon signs" will abate somewhat before my next appointment with the skin doctor on Sept. 15th. He thoroughly enjoys beating me up about not taking better precautions when I'm out on the water. I've now heard his spiel so often I nearly can repeat it back to him in reverse order.
So much for my drivel, though. Let me get to what's important here, and that's today's bass tournament...our next to last qualifying event for the annual Classic contest in October. Seventeen anglers in 10 boats showed up this morning. At the end of the day, they collectively brought 34 bass to the scales, weighing a combined total of 60.6 pounds, for an average weight per fish of 1.78 pounds.
Following is a list of those anglers who finished in the money today:
As a side note, we all wish Gary nothing but the very best when he undergoes shoulder surgery on Sept. 1st. He doesn't anticipate having doctor's clearance to fish any of the remaining Dewey's events this year, but as he noted, it was nice to end the season on a very positive note today.
There were no new additions to the list of those anglers who have qualified to fish our season-ending one-day Classic.
Congratulations to all of today's winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our final qualifying event of the current season is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 17th. Starting and weigh-in times will be announced at a later date.
In conclusion, I would hope none of our group were responsible for the mess left behind today in the extra-vehicle parking area at West Neck Marina. Specifically, someone dumped a number of empty beer cans on the ground, rather than carrying them around and putting them in the trashcan. If not for one of the tournament anglers, the mess likely would have been allowed to lie where it was dumped. Let us all be diligent about policing ourselves when we're at West Neck, so that we don't wear out our welcome with the owners.
With these words, Johnson offered some tips on how to catch bass during the dog days of summer, starting with what he considers his top five baits for hot summer bites.
He likes to throw a topwater popper in late summer. "Topwater baits typically work best in early morning and late evening," he said, adding that "varying the retrieve speed will help you find out if the fish prefer a faster or slower meal."
As the sun climbs higher in the sky, and the water temperatures heat up, Johnson shifts his focus to deep-water crankbaits.
"Pitching jigs around docks also is a great way to entice sluggish largemouths to bite," he said. "Pitching a jig underneath the dock and slowly bouncing it on the bottom is one of the best go-to baits for pro anglers in summer tournaments.
"Just like a jig, a Texas-rig can turn out to be a moneymaker in the summer heat. Many bass will be at or near the bottom of lakes, which makes a Texas-rigged worm a valuable option in the dog days of summer. Texas rigs often resemble a baitfish that appears to be foraging along the bottom, making an easy meal for a big bass."
Last but not least on Johnson's list of five best baits is the drop shot. "These baits can be rigged with a variety of different soft plastics, which makes them probably the most valuable of the five lures," he continued.
According to Johnson, water temperature is key when you're trying to put fish in the livewell or cooler during hot summer days. "Pay attention to water temps, because if you see lower water temps, you'll find fish are more active when it's really hot outside," he said.
On large reservoirs, Johnson identifies when dams will be pulling currents. "Find out when they are pulling currents at your lake because it really will turn on the fishing," he said. "It's really hit or miss sometimes, but when they create that current, it often dictates when bass will start feeding and become more active. The fish will set up on drop-offs, points, and brush piles near where there is water current."
Overall, Johnson recommends sticking with deep water when you're trying to get a bite in the hot summer sun. "That means using whatever electronics you have to identify deep-water structure and those deep schools of bass," he said.
"If you can find deep structure, you'll almost always find bass. Once you find them, then you can start working on them with different lures to see what they want to bite.
"First, look for active fish and throw a crankbait to see if you can get one to react," continued Johnson. "If you can get those active fish to bite, you can bounce around from spot to spot and get your limit."
He says there are a number of different kinds of crankbaits that will be effective, depending on the area you are fishing and the particular color combination that enhances bass to strike. Depending on how active the fish are, you likely will need to try a faster or slower retrieve.
Should the bass not take an interest in a crankbait, Johnson's second most productive option is using Texas-rigged creature baits.
"I like to use a Strike King Rage Craw, or some kind of crawfish," he said. "You want to throw it out there and really let it soak, or in other words, work it ultra slow."
Johnson further noted that the drop-shot rig is popular nearly year-round in some form. "These can be used with worms, flukes, lizards, and just about any other kind of soft-plastic bait you can imagine," he said. "I like to use a shad-colored Roboworm on a drop shot when it's really hot, and the bass are down deep," he concluded.
The DWR chief quickly points out, however, that it's the early bird who catches the worm during the summer heat.
"I do the best in shallow water between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m.," he said, "while fishing topwater baits, such as buzz baits, poppers and crawlers around scattered vegetation in 1 to 5 feet of water. I look for shallow grass, sticks, docks--anything that could hold a fish--and try to hit as many targets as I can before the sun gets up. Here, nothing covers water like a buzz bait, and if you miss a fish, a quick follow-up with the popper can turn missed strikes into extra fish. I throw a chartreuse and white buzz bait and a shad-colored popper."
Bednarski went on to note that when he's fishing a place with big fish, like the Chickahominy River, he tends to throw the crawler.
"This bite usually is over when the sun rises but can last all day if it's raining," he said. "I like 40-pound braid for a popper and 50-pound braid for buzz baits and crawlers. Braid has no stretch and gives you much better hooksets on topwater baits."
"It provides a good ambush point and keeps them safe from predators," he said. "When it gets to be about 8 am., I start looking deeper into cover for bass. I look for matted vegetation--water willow, lily pads, or any vegetation that forms a canopy. Frogs and toads really shine here, and you can get some awesome strikes on these baits. When I'm throwing a frog, I throw a big one, so I can cast it further, and it makes more noise. Frogs and toads work surprisingly well when there is a lot of boat traffic or wind. There's something about the waves and commotion that keeps the bass moving.
"You can cover a lot of water with this technique, and a simple pattern of moving quickly and throwing along the edge of vegetation can produce some good catches in the middle of the day. Another tip: Heavy tackle is a must. I use 50-pound braid and 7-to-10-foot heavy-action rods. You don't want to doubt your gear when you're pulling a 6-pound largemouth out from the water willow.
"In the summer," continued Bednarski, "a bass' metabolism is the highest it will get, and these fish need to eat often. When I'm struggling to get a bite with a a frog or flipping in the middle of the day, I'll pick up a buzz bait and just cover water. I throw near cover, like docks and weed edges, but I won't worry too much about getting it as close as I can. There are fish that are active and may be 10 or 20 feet away from obvious cover.
"These fish are shallow and can be found toward the back of pockets. For whatever reason, the hotter and calmer it is, the better this bite is. Think 98 degrees, flat calm, and humid. I can't really explain it, but it always puts an extra fish in the boat when I'm struggling. These fish run better than average--think 3 to 5 pounds. So try a buzz bait in the middle of the day and see what happens."
According to the fisheries chief, your best bets in shallow water in summer will be areas with moving water.
"This means to explore the headwaters of reservoirs, or go one step further and target our tidal rivers," he explained. "Bass orient to cover on the edge of the current, and if you fish where current and cover intersect, you'll find fish. This also applies to old creek channels.
"Even if there is no current, a drop from 2 to 4 to 6 feet provides a breakline for fish to orient to. My best spots at either Lake Chesdin or Swift Creek Lake in Pocahontas State Park, which I fish a lot because I live in metro Richmond, either have current or a nearby breakline. And don't overlook small feeder creeks in the backs of coves. There often will be a pocket of deeper water, with cover and current, which will hold a bass or two. Try a small stickworm, wacky rigged, in these areas," he concluded.
Text and photos courtesy of Mike Bednarski.
It wasn't a shaky head, dropshot, Ned rig, or Neko rig, if that's what you were thinking. No...his response was a topwater.
Said Clunn, "It's important to understand the predator-prey relationship. We'll use the analogy of a lion sitting there watching a herd of impala. Even if he's active, he tries to pick the young or the weak. He uses the laws of conservation of energy. Which one can he get and receive the most energy from with the least effort or injury?
"This is why topwater may be the best bait to throw during those time frames when the fish aren't biting. Because you're really pulling that predator's strings. He's sitting there like, 'Dang, that's weak. I'm supposed to eliminate it.' Because a predator's role is to eliminate anything that's weak. And all of a sudden, that topwater is easy; it looks fairly large, and he's supposed to eliminate it.
"Predators were not designed to eat the whole herd. Remember the Lion King? It kinda works off of that a little bit. Yes, they're out there to eat the impala, but they're not there to destroy the whole herd. Their presence should make the herd healthier by eliminating the weak. So that's why one of my favorite choices in that time frame is a topwater," Clunn explained.
According to one writer, "Clunn has a far deeper spirit and grasp on things than most of us ever will even glimpse. That's why he's one of the best and most loved anglers in the world."
So the next time you're looking for one or two extra fish between those feeding periods, see if a topwater will trigger some bites.
Those anglers who pocketed pay envelopes today included the following:
Here is the finishing order for the remainder of the participants today:
* The team of Jim Crist and Eric Killian, five fish, 9.28 pounds total weight, with no big fish.
* The team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff, five fish, 9.20 pounds total weight, and a big fish weighing 2.67 pounds.
* Mark Ingram, five fish, 7.50 pounds total weight, with no big fish.
* Tommy Dewitt, five fish, 7.23 pounds total weight, and a big fish weighing 2.20 pounds.
* The team of Jim Leavis and Ken Matthias, three fish, 4.21 pounds total weight, with no big fish.
* The team of Robert Benfield and Johnathon Kelley, two fish, 1.61 pounds total weight, with no big fish.
* Don Carter did not weigh any fish.
Three more anglers today joined the list of those who have qualified to fish our season-ending Classic tournament. The latest additions include Mark Ingram, Jim Crist, and Ken Matthias.
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who came out to participate today. For planning purposes, our next scheduled Dewey's tournament is Saturday, Aug. 26th, from safe light (about 6 a.m.) to weigh-in at 2 p.m.
Current Overall Statistics
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After sending a text to the marina owner and leaving a message on his answering service, I went ahead with readying my boat for a day of fishing, despite this setback. Once I had removed the boat cover, I checked my batteries and was satisfied they were satisfactory to go ahead and launch.
While taking care of these rigging necessities, I received an answer to my earlier text from the owner. He passed along the combination for the lock on the door to the batting cage, so I could let myself in to check the situation. The evidence I found suggested that someone had decided to turn off everything at the breaker box, rather than just pull the plugs on a couple of big fans. I can only believe that he/she didn't care enough to find out what other things were going to be affected by their near-sighted decision.
I have the uncomfortable feeling that yesterday very well may not be the last time I will have to address this matter, but be assured I will do whatever's necessary to make sure everyone involved knows where I stand on such short-sightedness...especially since I always pay my monthly storage fee well in advance of the due date.
Once on the water, I thought...for a short time...my day might be looking up. In a distance of about 10 yards, I managed to put three fish in the boat. But, alas, that positive sign proved to be only a tease. I spent the rest of the day digging lures out of trees...and sweating the fact I might miss seeing one of those slithery creatures during my inspection. Thankfully, the latter didn't happen.
In particular, I had one of my $25 lures in extremis several times, but thanks to the very long lure retriever that I always keep in my boat, I was able to rescue that prized lure each and every time. This much I promise you: I'll never leave one of those lures hanging in a tree if at all possible.
I also was fishing a weightless soft plastic that, much to my chagrin, repeatedly kept getting hung in submerged wood. Rather than waste a lot of time trying to free those baits, I simply cut my braided line and bid the hooks adieu. Then, however, came the chore of attaching a new hook--normally a simple task, but not yesterday when, for some reason, I appeared to be all thumbs.
Then there was the matter of catching nothing but cookie-cutter fish all day. I had nine of them, but not a single one would have gone 2 lbs. I didn't even consider weighing one of them. It wasn't until about 30 minutes before I quit that I finally hooked what I knew was a bigger fish. Unfortunately, he stayed down throughout the fight, and it wasn't until I started to boat-flip him that I saw what it was: none other than a bowfin. I simply reached down with my scissors and cut the line at the hook.
Mere minutes later, I topped off my day by banging my right leg just below the knee, leaving some of my skin behind and creating a knot, too. At that point, I had had all I wanted. I quickly wrapped up my rods and headed for the ramp.
Met up there with the same fella I launched just behind yesterday morning and learned he, too, had had a cookie-cutter day. Didn't bother asking him if the had experienced anything similar to the other events that had marked my day. Figured he probably wouldn't want to talk about it if he had.
"Doc" noted that while today's weather started off decent, it turned otherwise when the wind picked up, causing the water level to start rising. He soon decided the only smart thing to do was to throw in the towel and head home.
"Saw Wayne on the water," said "Doc." "He said he had caught one small fish."
All the fish "Doc" caught came after he talked to Wayne.
It was the mid-1970s, and Mom and Dad were visiting my wife and me in Northern Virginia, where I was serving an extended tour of Navy duty in The Pentagon. Dad wanted to fish nearly every day of their two-week vacation, and I was more than happy to oblige. At the time, we were fishing Occoquan Reservoir, which allows only 10-horsepower outboards.
As luck would have it, on day 1 of our fishing, we found a wide carve-out in the shoreline, with a deep drop-off out in front of it. We anchored in the carve-out and immediately started catching some nice (3- to 7-pound) channel catfish from the drop-off. The action would be hot for a few minutes, then cool down. But the bite quickly would pick up again when one of the other boats on the lake would pass by in the channel, sending rollers toward us. And this same pattern held every day we fished for the next two weeks.
To say that Dad was having a ball would be an understatement. He hadn't caught any catfish that big in many years, and he regaled me with endless stories of earlier times when he last had caught catfish that size. For him, it indeed was like the kid in a candy store. He simply couldn't get enough of it.
That background, however, brings me to the discovery I made yesterday. While researching the Internet, I came across a Wired2Fish story that Shaye Baker had put together from an interview with Rick Clunn during the 2020 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Guntersville.
"Think about ledge tournaments in the summer," said Clunn. "We often see the fish feed like crazy during the artificial feeding period created by current generation and then shut down when the water turns off. That's when the game becomes 'What can I do to fire up the school?' One thing to keep in mind is that dams aren't the only thing that can move water.
"I had a place on Pickwick one time where I won an FLW event," continued Clunn. "Every single time a barge went by, it sucked water off the bank and then pushed it back up on the bank, causing the fish to bite."
Clunn also recalled another time...2010, as he related...on the Alabama River, where a similiar situation unfolded involving Greg Hackney. He was able to catch a few fish, and then the bite would die. He abruptly would crank his big motor, cut a few large donuts around where the fish had been surfacing, cut the engine off, and run back to the front deck.
Said Clunn, "The noise of the big motor didn't seem to phase the bass, but the disorienting effects of the sloshing waves sent the shad in every direction. This made the bass start chasing them again, and Hackney was able to catch a few more fish before they'd shut down, and he'd repeat the process.
"Just by staying on a spot, you can start to figure out little subtle things like that."
And so I now better understand why Dad and I spent most of two weeks catching big channel cats on Occoquan Reservoir that summer in the mid-'70s.
"Someone usually has to get in his boat and assist him with his life vest," noted the friend, adding that "we once had to call an ambulance because he had suffered heat stroke in one of our mean Louisiana summers. He always has a great attitude and messes with everyone. Last year, we had a tournament with 100-plus boats, and he smoked everyone."
Now, there's a guy most other old-timers only wish they could emulate.
Into my 30s and 40s, I easily had that kind of giddy-up-go. I often fished multiple days a week year-round. I also frequently spent week-long summer trips camping out and fishing Lake Gaston or Kerr Reservoir with Navy buddies. Most of those trips were fish-all-day and drink-beer-all-night ventures. And that says nothing of many overnight catfishing trips on the Shenandoah River.
In my honest opinion, though, I'm not ready, by any stretch of the imagination, for the scrap heap of time, nor am I planning any kind of retirement from fishing. There's a poem that pretty well describes exactly where I stand today. It's depicted in the accompanying photo of a piece of cross-stitch my wife did for me many moons ago. It hangs conspicuously over my desk.
As it is, I'm no better or worse off than any other old-timer who refuses to give up what many times is the only form of recreation we still can enjoy. Sure, I pay a price for every trip I make, but as I see it, the benefit far outweighs any and all of the aches and pains involved.
Dad always told me I was destined to be a "hard-headed Dutchman" just like him, and I reckon he was right...just as he was about most things he shared with me while growing up. Golly! Can't begin to tell you how much I still miss him and Mom.
He first went fishing with a buddy and caught only one fish. Later, he went out by himself and caught a few dinks. After that, he took two short afternoon trips in which he caught zero...nada...nothing.
As a full-time website developer and consultant, he wrote, "I don't get a ton of time to fish. In fact, I get very little--and it's very important to maintain the following mentality: You have to do what you can, with what you've got.
"Well, when 'what I got' is spent getting skunked," he continued, "it makes it hard to keep going."
Nevertheless, he quickly advised, "DON'T QUIT. DO NOT QUIT." "Losers quit...you are NOT a loser."
So how best to deal with defeat? How do we deal with getting knocked down? Skunked? Defeated?
Hauser urges anyone in this situation to "adopt the mentality that you are doing reps, and remind yourself that these reps are important. They matter.
"Nothing worth doing is easy. If you want to become a better fisherman (and I know you do), then you need to accept the fact that you will get skunked. You will lose expensive baits. Your plans will fall apart. You will be disappointed. And things won't always go your way.
"But these things make the days when they DO go your way so much sweeter. So keep going. You never know when it's going to completely turn around. Adopt the mentality that you need to push forward, no matter what.
"Remind yourself that you're doing reps. You're working on casting accuracy, bait selection, finding new spots, exploring, getting exercise and fresh air...and enjoying yourself.
"There is so much to be grateful for, even when you are not catching fish. So keep going. Keep fishing. Keep improving. Reps matter.
"Tight lines!"
I didn't set the world on fire, but I did have a good time...learning how to use the bait, as well as trying out my new Shimano SLX baitcaster. That duo, along with a couple of other regular lures combined to give me seven bass between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., the biggest of which weighed 2 lbs. 5 ozs. Five of the fish were keepers, and five of them came on the old bait. Suffice it to say that was sufficient motivation for me to make this old bait a regular part of my arsenal...at least for the time being.
The way I see it, I can use all the help I can get. So far this year, I can count the number of times I've caught seven bass in one day on one hand, with fingers left over.
Incidentally, the West Neck Marina owners have once again repaired the rut at the lip of the ramp, so we should be good to go until the next time high water returns and washes out the latest fix.
As retired pro Denny Brauer (right) explained, "Hot weather is no longer just a southern phenomenon. Missouri and, for that matter, much of the Midwest also experience 100-degree temperatures. We've had summertime heat indexes for more than eight days at a time in my section of the country. Under those conditions, very few anglers want to go out on the water to fish."
Brauer went on to note, however, that there's an alternative to fishing in those kinds of temperatures: fishing at night.
"The best baits for nighttime fishing in hot weather are spinnerbaits, the Rage Thumper Worm, and buzzbaits in darker colors," he said. "If the body of water you're fishing has a thermocline (transition layer between warmer mixed water at the surface and cooler deep water) in it, search for places where the thermocline comes into contact with a key piece of structure, like a point, a ledge, or an underwater treetop. While bass concentrate under boat docks...where they find plenty of shade and bluegills...during the daytime, they move up to to shallow water at night to feed.
"To find and catch bass this time of year, look for areas on your body of water that can breathe (receive influxes of water), such as creeks running into a main lake, eddy currents, drain-offs...places where water drains into a lake or windy points," he continued. "Fish those areas, rather than moving into pockets or coves that don't have any moving water. Bass want to be comfortable, just like you do, so look for shade, higher oxygen content, and cool-water runoffs."
Brauer explained that, during the 1998 Bassmaster Classic at High Rock Lake in North Carolina, he fished in the middle of the day in 2-foot-deep water.
"There was more oxygen in that 2 feet of water than in any other parts of the lake," he said. "The bait was holding in that shallow water, and the bass were concentrating there, feeding on the bait. Most bass fishermen overlook (the value of) boat waves. I won that tournament on the main part of the lake, where there was a lot of boat action and a lot of waves hitting the bank.
"We know that wind blowing onto a point oxygenates the water, thereby causing the bass to bite. But we forget boats make a wave action that crashes against the bank, oxygenates the water, and causes a feeding frenzy on the shad, which makes the bass bite...even in the middle of the day."
