What Would Bass Fishing Be Without a Few Harry 'n' Charlie Moments?

That's a question Wayne and I no longer have to wonder about after the mess I created today. Will explain later, but first let me give you the results of our day on the water.

After the frog reports I've been getting recently, I figured I'd be watching Wayne wail up on bass all day long. However, you might say the frog bite where we were appeared to have "croaked"...to put it very bluntly. In other words, it wasn't happening...period.

In a little bit of no time, Wayne had put down his frog rod and picked up one of his other rigs. I always carry some Teckel frogs in my box but very seldom tie one on...certainly not where anyone else is around...because I even give "beginners" a bad name with my lack of frog prowess. Put another way, I'm the perfect example of "how NOT to do it."

I'm happy to report, though, that Wayne and I eventually found our stride...in a manner of speaking, that is...and we managed to put a few fish in the boat by day's end, which was shortly after 12 noon. In the final analysis, our best five would have tipped the scales at about 12 or 13 pounds...respectable, but still nothing to write home about.

And as for the Harry 'n' Charlie episode I spoke of in the beginning, I will now explain. Seems Wayne had cast a soft plastic to an area, and when I followed suit a few moments later with my topwater, I hadn't been able to lay eyes on where Wayne's line was. Accordingly, I went across his line, and it wasn't until I had worked my topwater a short distance that I suddenly became aware of my mistake. Almost simultaneously, I felt a strike, but not knowing if I was feeling a strike on my bait or Wayne's, I held back from setting the hook. A split-second later, though, when I felt a more pronounced strike, I offered a "mild" hookset, and then felt a fish on one of our two lines.

Wayne and I both began full retrieval of our lines, and when we jointly lifted our lines free of the water, we only then saw that the fish was on my hook, but the fish started twisting and turning, while suspended in mid-air, creating an even greater problem. Wayne finally was able to remove the hooked fish and release it, but there appeared to be no easy solution to separating our entwined lines. I finally told him to just cut my line, which he did, and we soon were both back in business.

So, that in a nutshell, was our Harry 'n' Charlie experience for the day. However, the only part of recent fishing reports I've received, that we can sign off on as being gospel truth, is the fact the water is very clean and clear at the moment. If there was a frog bite somewhere today, we didn't find it. And we certainly didn't catch 20 or more fish, either...more like 12 or 13 would be more accurate. The bottomline, though, is that we had fun...and, after all, isn't that what this is all about...including the Harry 'n' Charlie moments?