OK, I Give In...Here's My INT Bait

NOT!!!

Sorry, folks. I just couldn't resist that bit of teasing. It simply was too good to pass up.

Be assured, however, this is no joke bait. Rather, it's a realistic surface and shallow-diving critter crank called the Bettencourt Rodent (see right). The manufacturer is Bettencourt Baits of Clinton, MO.

Like other lures in the Bettencourt lineup, the Rodent is far from conventional and relies on triggering characteristics not found in other lures. Each and every lure is built one at a time, all by hand, and each one can be customized, to the extent of having custom paint jobs, modifications, or even personalized with your own name.

From its matted fur, to the beady eyes and leathery tail, the Bettencourt Rodent is incredibly convincing. Some say it can easily fool anglers, as well as bass. The lure is made from a combination of wood and fur, with high-quality VMC hooks attached to the bottom of the body.

All the fun begins when you start to retrieve the Rodent. It floats at rest and can be fished slowly across the surface. It's realistic in action, and by twitching the line, you are able to make the bait appear to struggle to stay afloat while remaining in a fixed position. You also can jerk it to make splashes like a plug, but for the most part, it runs quite silent.

The Rodent is not relegated to surface duty. With a fast retrieve, it will dive a little more than two feet. It runs with a slight rocking motion and can be burned across the water to try and generate reaction strikes.

How well does the Rodent work? Bass, especially bigger ones, will explode on the bait. The majority of strikes, however, come at the surface or slightly under the water after the bait has made contact with structure. In any event, when bass commit to the Rodent, it's quite a spectacle. "One minute, you are watching the bait skirt across the surface, then a sudden splash results in a fish dragging the bait underneath the water" is how one person described the action.

This amazingly lifelike lure looks and moves like a living, breathing rat taking a dip in the water. If you are targeting big bass, or are looking for a flexible new topwater alternative, the Rodent may get the job done. It comes in three sizes: 3.5" (5/8 oz.), 5" (7/8 oz.), and 8" (2.25 ozs.). The suggested retail price for the 5-inch model is $22.95.

Another lure in the Bettencourt lineup of baits is the Dying Bluegill (see left). Cast it out, and it floats on the surface on its side, like a dead or dying bluegill, with its soft fur fins undulating in the water. This feature alone makes for a great dead-stick bait. However, there's more.

Lower your rod tip and give the bait a little tug and s-l-o-w-l-y start cranking, and the bait rights itself and begins to struggle and swim. It will dive to approximately two feet. When you stop the retrieve, the bait once again falls over on its side and floats on the surface.

Because of the design and weighting of this bait, it can be fished in a start-and-stop or dead-stick fashion.

As reflected on the LandBigFish.com website, the lure only is available in a 1-oz. version at a cost of $39.99.

A Successful Maiden Kayak Fishing Trip

Ron's friend was very excited last evening as the two of them launched from West Neck about 6 p.m. on the friend's first fishing trip ever in a kayak. Aiming to get his friend started right, Ron had loaned him one of his rods rigged with none other than a Whopper Plopper.

The duo headed northward and into a feeder creek. Little could either one of them known that, on the friend's very first cast, he would log his very first topwater catch--a nice 2-lb. 9-oz., 19-inch bass. This fish was just 3 ounces shy of his personal best.

Fifteen minutes later, Ron's friend experienced one of the reasons I refuse to ever sit my behind in a kayak. He was reaching over the side, trying to free the snagged Whopper Plopper, when he suddenly found the kayak's tipping point and went into the drink. Fortunately, all he lost was a pair of cheap pliers and some humility. If you're wondering about the fishing rod, it was OK because it had a float attached (note the yellow piece on the rod handle in the accompanying photo).

With his enthusiasm still intact, the friend went on to also score a dink before the evening was over.

But now we come to Ron, who had been struggling all evening to preserve a two-week-old streak of fishing trips without a skunk. At 8:18 p.m., just as he was beginning to think the streak was going to end, he found a nice 2-5, 17-inch bass--his only fish of the night. Because he couldn't get his phone camera to work (as I learned from a friend Saturday, some high-dollar phones don't like the heat), Ron didn't get a picture, but his friend said he'd vouch for the catch, in case anyone should question it. Ron went on to explain he had several very large V-follows that just would not hit the Whopper Plopper.

All in all, it was a good evening for both student and instructor, and that's what really matters.

A Pictorial Look at Pungo Ferry Landing Park

An email from my friend, Charlie, included some photos he took of the park from different angles earlier today. At the time, he had been out looking for a launch site for Tuesday and, as usual, had a camera with him. Here are the dock shots he shared with me:

As Charlie noted, "The city has done a nice job." How much you wanna bet they'll have plenty of customers?

14 Straight Days Without a Skunk

That's the current streak of my friend, Ron, whom I unknowingly met up with yesterday during the Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Tourney. Unfortunately, Ron got to see me at one of my worst moments of the day. I just had dropped my topwater bait beside a mid-stream stump in Milldam and gotten hooked up with a bass, only to have him throw the bait. I had a couple other moments just like that one yesterday, too.

That being said, though, Ron's fish-every-day streak is leading to some questions. "I wonder how long it will last, or I will last," he says. The last part of that comment, of course, is a reflection of the hot days we're having around here. As Ron noted in a second email from yesterday, "I was going to give a shout out when I saw you yesterday but think I was delirious from the heat. I was on my way back from a three-mile rountrip to Snake Creek under that blazing ball of fire in the sky."

Ron spent both Friday evening and Saturday morning in Milldam. On Friday evening, he was with his son, Alex, and a friend. Ron tallied three nice white perch (an 11-incher and two 12-inchers)--again on a Whopper Plopper, what else? Meanwhile, Alex caught two 1-lb.-plus bass, on a Whopper Plopper and a Senko, and the friend boated two bass on a Whopper Plopper, as well as four nice, 12-inch white perch.

Saturday morning's return trip to Milldam had netted two bass for the friend on the Whopper Plopper and a 1-2 and 1-3 bass for Alex before Ron had anything to show for his efforts. "I had tried everything, but after four hours, I had nothing--not even a nibble," he said. "Right before I got back to the bridge at Blackwater, though, while throwing a Senko, I caught a 1-0 to save the day and preserve my streak."

So how long will Ron's streak without a skunk last? No one really can say. My advice is simple: "Stick with your confidence baits." That's the only thing working for me under the current conditions.

UPDATE 1

Just received a note from Ron in which he detailed the results of a trip he and his son, Alex, took this morning to the eastern side of Back Bay, in the vicinity of Beggars Bridge.

"Found a few small bass," he said, "then portaged the kayaks over an old wooden bridge, in a skinny creek only to find a tree jam a few hundred yards upstream. Before the jam, Alex caught three bass. I had him out front in a sly effort to beat back the spider webs in front of me. The plan back-fired, though," as Ron allowed, "because he was finding the bass before I could get to them!"

At the end of four hours, Alex had scored four bass, his biggest a 1-11 (see upper left). Ron managed four as well, his biggest only a 1-3. Oh, there also was a "nice surprise," as Ron put it: a 5-7, 27-inch bowfin (see right). After trying Senkos, hollow-body frogs, and Silver Minnows to no avail, both fellas tied on the Whopper Plopper and started putting fish in the kayak.

In closing his note, Ron said that while North/South creek provided great morning shade, the sun kept climbing steadily higher, and "we had to head for some A/C!" Most importantly, however, said Ron, "The streak continues."

UPDATE 2

"Call me a glutton for punishment," said Ron in his latest email. As if  his morning trip wasn't enough, he went back out this evening. The mercury read 99, "but there were clouds!" he explained, in defending his decision to go fishing again from 1800 to 2030.

It was a quick trip to West Neck, north of the bridge. "I lost a nice one on a Senko and another pole-bender on the Whopper Plopper," he reported. A dink right at sunset, however, kept his streak of trips without a skunk fully intact. "I was sweating the whole time, though, and realized the trip really wasn't worth the effort."

In closing tonight's note, Ron said his latest trip was sort of a recon run for tomorrow, when he takes out a beginner for an introductory kayak trip. "Hope we catch something" were his final words.

I Don't Care What Every Little Breeze Seems to Whisper...

It can be Louise, Harry, Sally, or whatever, as long as it blows on a day like we had today. Without it, I'm not sure all 17 anglers in nine boats would have made it through the tournament's blazing conditions. As things turned out, we had one angler who was having some problems when we first arrived at the boat basin for weigh-in, but he soon came around and indicated he was OK to drive home on his own, even though he had offers from fellow anglers to provide transportation for him if he wanted it.

We paid three places today. Here are those who took home money envelopes:

Finishing in 1st Place was this team of (from left) Darryl Dunn and Jim Wilder. They had a limit of five fish weighing 11.55 lbs. Darryl also claimed today's lunker pot with a bass weighing 3.37 lbs.

In 2nd Place was the team of (from left) Don Carter and Rob Peppers. They also had a limit weighing 9.78 lbs. Their big bass weighed 3.13 lbs.

Taking home 3rd Place was this team of (from left) Wayne Hayes and Marty Carey. They, too, had a limit weighing 9.41 lbs. Their big bass weighed 2.53 lbs.

Mystery Weight winners were the team of (from left) Rob Chatham and yours truly. Our four-fish total weight was 5.57 lbs., compared to the 4.95 tab that was drawn. We had no big bass.





Here is how all the other competitors finished the day:

     * The team of Mike Miller and Chris Fretard, five bass, 9.35 lbs. total weight, 3-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Al Napier and Jared Allbritten, five bass, 7.75 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Jim Bauer, five bass, 7.58 lbs. total weight, 3.23-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Gary Coderre and Mitch Portervint, five bass, 6.70 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Randy Conkle and Bob Glass, five bass, 5.64 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

Overall, today's anglers weighed a total of 44 bass for a total weight of 73.33 lbs. The average weight was 1.66 lbs.

Four more anglers became eligible to participate in our season-ending two-day Classic. These additions bring the new total to 26.

Congrats to all of the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate under such challenging conditions. And from the bottom of my heart, I also would like to say a big "Thank You!" to all those folks who regularly help me put on these events. Without your lending a hand, none of this would be possible. Take my word for it--no one person can do all the many things it takes to run a successful tournament, without some helpers. I cannot say enough how much I appreciate all that everyone does for me. I sincerely applaud you.

Finally, for planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27, from safe light (about 6 or 6:15 a.m.) to weigh-in at either 2 or 2:30 p.m.

I truthfully can say that, if I had today to do all over again, I likely wouldn't change a single thing about my game plan. Granted, the bite was slow, but we would have had a limit like all the other boats if not for a lone fluke occurrence--one of those things that just happens.

With our next tournament two weeks away, I will be out testing the waters at various locations to see what locations offer the most promise for that contest. It could stay the same because we caught fish everywhere we went today; we just didn't get all of 'em in the boat.

I was happy to welcome back my regular partner, Rob Chatham, today. From the looks of things, he should be around long enough now to get qualified for the Classic. It's always nice to have a couple of folks in the boat dedicated to a common purpose.

His Go-To Bait Still Gettin' 'Em

That was the gist of a report I received by email this morning from Ron.

Said my kayakin' buddy, "I fought wind, heat and chop, trying to manage a Back Bay trip. But, alas, I had to give it up and settle for fishing the vicinity of Lovitt's/Beggars Bridge."

Ron ended up with nine dinks, plus a 1-4, 1-7, two 1-3s, and a 1-5,  as well as two white perch. I'll give you three guesses what he caught all of 'em on, and the first two don't count. In case you need some help, it was none other than a whopper plopper. As I told him in my response to his note this morning, both he and Charlie are wearing the bass out with that lure. "A good evening" is how Ron nonchalantly described the trip.

I know for a fact that Charlie is on the water somewhere today, and I have every reason to believe that Ron will be, too, before the day is over, so I expect a couple more email notes this evening, telling me about all the bass these two dynamos have crushed yet again today with that whopper plopper.

While talkin' to my buddy Wayne day before yesterday, he, too, was telling me about some of the success he has been enjoying with this bait. I reckon there likely are some tricks to using it that I haven't picked up on yet. Thank God I have my INT, or I'd really be jealous, given the number of bass all my friends seem to be scoring with Larry Dahlberg's prized invention.

Watch this post this evening, 'cause if I hear from Ron and/or Charlie about another big day they've had with this lure, I'll post the results right here.

The mojo for at least one of our dynamos, as I referred to Charlie and Ron above, appears to have slowed somewhat today. In his latest email to me this evening, Charlie allowed that he went to Back Bay NWR today and got only five dinks.

"The water was a bit high, and the wind was a pain," he said, "but the clarity was amazing. I even was able to get a couple of clips with the underwater camera." In case you'd like to see what he got, check Charlie's blog later tonight. Here's the link: www.vbfishguide.com/.

Abbreviated Day Yields Only 3 Fish

When I left the house this morning, I planned to spend 8 hours on the water, but that all changed mid-morning when I received a call from Wayne, my boat mechanic. I recently had asked him to bleed my trim/tilt again because it was sounding worse than my old bones do every time I get out of bed or a chair any more. He told me he was going to be at the marina about noon to take care of an issue with Skip's trolling motor and that, if I wanted, he could/would fix my problem, too.

With the tourney this Saturday, I decided to go ahead and let Wayne take care of things. Accordingly, I left Albright's about noon for West Neck. The ramp just had cleared when I got there, so I quickly recovered my rig, drove to the nearest shade trees, and let Wayne get started. Now the trim/tilt sounds good again.

With the shortened day, however, I only managed to boat three bass--a couple of dinks and the 1-5 pictured here. I caught all three fish in the same stretch that has been good to me for a couple of weeks in a row now, and they all went for my INT.

I missed about five blow-ups, so I can't, in good conscience, blame a slow day for not having more fish. In all honesty, my timing some days just genuinely sucks, as was the case today.

Once I got home and checked my email, I learned that my totals weren't that much different from those of Charlie, Ron, or his son, Alex. Charlie went to the PAWMA Whitehurst track and fished three different creeks. Only the first had fish, and they were not very big, He ended up with four: a 1-6, 1-4, and two dinks.

Meanwhile, Ron said he dropped off Alex at Tecumseh this morning on his way to work. Three hours later, he received a text from his son, saying he just had landed a nice 1-lb 6-oz. bass.  Another hour and a half later, he got another text with news that Alex had boated a 4-7 (pictured right) on a hollow-body frog.

Before his day was over, Alex had logged five bass and also missed a few fish, including a bowfin.

Ron picked up Alex a little after 3 o'clock and dropped him at home, then loaded up his own gear and headed to Milldam Creek to get in a little fishing of his own.

"The wind was awful," said Ron. He fought the grass and chop for a few hours, all for a single 1-lb. 5-oz. bass and some missed blow ups. "Oh well," he thought, "at least the sunset was beautiful."

While headed back to the launch site, Ron was throwing to the cypress trees along the way. As he was passing the last feeder creek, he made one last cast that landed dead center of the feeder creek's channel, where he could work his Whopper Plopper without catching grass on the treble hooks.

A fish suddenly slammed his bait, and the battle was on. "Turned out to be a heart-pounding, drag-screaming, big ol' bass (see photo left)," said Ron. He tipped the scales at 6 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 23.5 inches--good enough for a citation. "Needless to say," explained Ron, "I was ecstatic with my personal best."

He went on to note that the Whopper Plopper has become his go-to bait. It replaces the Heddon Chug'n Spook in that capacity.

Is This Hot, New Lure Going To Stay Hot?

...Or is it going to go the disappointing way of oh so many other lures from the past: hot when they first come out but cooling, and in some cases, turning ice cold about the time you get enough of 'em on hand to satisfy all your wants.

The hot one I'm talking about here, of course, is none other than the Whopper Plopper (see the lure in angler's hand at right). At the moment, it seems to be all the rage.

Just yesterday, for example, I received a note from Ron, telling me about another productive trip he'd had with this bait. He had launched at West Landing Marina and gone to Cow Creek in the morning, where, despite seeing absolutely no baitfish activity, he managed to boat seven bass (six dinks, plus a 1-8)--all on the Whopper Plopper.

Charlie also is singing the praises of this bait now (just had a new email from him a few minutes ago about another haul he made today with the lure), as are different guys I've heard from and talked to in the Dewey Mullins Memorial Series.

As I continue reading and hearing all these reports about the success people are enjoying with Larry Dahlberg's Whopper Plopper, I can't help having flashbacks to the 2006-2007 timeframe, when another topwater bait, the Deps Buzzjet Jr. (see below), burst onto the scene in America, with an equally loud clamor.

After only a couple of memorable trips with the bait, I ran out and stocked up, despite a price tag that far eclipsed what I had paid for any other baits in my box up to that time...or since, either, for that matter. The going fare then--and now--for the "real deal" is $25 apiece. A little online research, however, soon revealed that I could buy unpainted knockoffs for a fraction of that cost, and even after having them custom painted, still walk away with a clear-cut savings.

Suffice it to say my supply, even if I never buy another one, will far outlast me. The unfortunate reality, though, is that these baits, regardless of what color I choose, rarely put a fish in my boat anymore. In fact, I can't even tell you the last time I caught a bass on one of them. It's really been that long.

While I readily admit to having some of these Whopper Ploppers in my own tacklebox, too, I assure you my experience to date with them could only be described, at best, as lackluster. Accordingly, I also can assure you that the numbers on hand don't even come close to my total stash of Buzzjet Jrs.

I'm fishing this hot, new bait, along with my INT, every trip, but until I see a dramatic increase in my success with the Whopper Plopper, there won't be a single addition to my current inventory. I'm not from Missouri, but you'll have to "show me" that these Whopper Ploppers are a bit better than the flash-in-the-pan my Buzzjet Jrs. have turned out to be before I go shopping for more of them.

Getting back to my original question, we all know it's impossible to predict whether the Whopper Plopper--or any lure, for that matter--will stay hot. I do believe that, in at least a few cases, fish become so used to seeing some baits, they automatically learn to identify them as being "bad news" and turn their noses up at the offerings.

As I've said many times over the years, I'm just waiting and hoping for the day when Bubba--you know what I mean, a fish similar to what you see in this photo--decides to strap on one of my lures, regardless of whether it's hot, cold or somewhere in between.

In the meantime, I'll remain content with the numbers I'm consistently putting up with my INT. Thanks to the effect that bait has had on my current season, I'm only 14 fish away from matching my totals for all of last year.

"Fisherman's Luck" Is Not a One-Size-Fits-All Term...

Far from it, actually. This past Wednesday, for example, kayaker Charlie boated 17 bass, the majority of which were over a pound, with two weighing more than 2 lbs. And that says nothing about the bucket full of white perch and crappie he also nailed. In his own words, "You could not ask for a better day than that."

But then we come to yesterday, when some river fishermen decided to try our luck. To say that we "struggled" would be an understatement.

Take Skip, whom I talked to by phone yesterday afternoon about the time he was calling it a day. I learned he had a total of one strike--no hookup, mind you, just a strike, and that was after fishing a host of different baits. Later, he told me he had talked to our mutual friend, Rob P., at the ramp yesterday afternoon, and he, too, said he and his partner had found it rough going.

And if it hadn't been for my INT bait, I very likely would have ended up in the same boat, as well. I stayed with the bait all day and managed to grind out a total of six bass, two white perch, and one bluegill after eight hours on the water. My four best bass weighed 1-0, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-6 (pictured here). I caught half the bass in Blackwater during the morning, with the remaining half coming in the afternoon from Albright's. I have found one area in the latter where there has been "catchable" fish for several trips in a row now, and yesterday was no exception.

In an email report from Ron, another kayaker, I learned he went bowfin fishing Thursday evening. After landing a couple of dinks and losing a decent-sized bowfin, he tied into a "monster" toothy critter. "Had him yak-side and tried to get the lip grip on the beast. He was thrashing around as bowfin do and threw the lure. Biggest I ever have seen, easily over 10 lbs., easy.

"Closer inspection revealed the cause of loss (see the front hook in photo at left)," continued Ron. "That was an upgraded 3X strong hook! Heartbroken," he lamented in closing.

Not one ever to be lacking for energy, as far as I can tell, Ron followed that trip up with one to Milldam yesterday evening, where he landed nine perch measuring between 11 and 12.4 inches--all on topwater. "Will make some tasty tacos," he said before adding, "I know that 13-inch citation is just hiding somewhere at the moment." He also caught a few dink bass, as well as the very healthy 4-4 pole-bender in the accompanying photo below. As Ron was quick to point out, "The fish came in just shy of a Virginia length citation (has to be 22 inches)."

And, finally, from a trip Ron took this morning, I received this report: "Went to Blackwater Trading Post, launched, and headed eastward to that long creek just south of Straight Creek. Caught a decent bowfin, weighing 3-14, on topwater, as well as a 1-4 and 1-6 bass on a fluke. Also tried a hollow-bodied frog, which was getting hit often, but I couldn't get a hookset. The frog is my least confident lure"--as it is mine, too, my friend.

Grand Opening Slated for This Fall

That's right--the old Capt. George's property is supposed to welcome visitors for the first time as Pungo Ferry Landing Park in the fall of 2016, according to what my friend, Charlie, told me yesterday. He found that info with the help of a Google search.

There undoubtedly are some local boaters anxious to see this new addition to the Virginia Beach Department of Parks and Recreation up and running. Pungo Ferry Landing Park will sport an improved launch ramp, as well as a paved parking lot, as evidenced in the photo below.

If outward appearances are any indication, the work must all be nearing an end, because Charlie says there are no more pieces of heavy equipment anywhere in sight.

Incidentally, Charlie took the pictures you see here while running around Pungo yesterday, looking for a launch site he could use today for his kayak. It seems the road to the one he had planned to use was underwater.

Here's hoping he had heard about the problem with the split rings on the Whopper Plopper before heading out today. I say that because Charlie had indicated in his email that he planned to use one of these lures for the first time today. (For a complete rundown of Charlie's stellar day, click on this link: www.vbfishguide.blogspot.com).

Why I Fish

That's the title ascribed to this sunset photo by kayak angler Ron Ameika, who took the shot last evening as he was wrapping up from spending a few hours on West Neck Creek after working all day. Mortal man can muck up a lot of things in this world, but thank God, beauty like this still is controlled solely by the Heavenly Father.

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't trade even one sunset or sunrise God has allowed me to see in my lifetime for anything whatsoever that man has created. There simply can be no comparison.

And just for the record--this is why I fish, too.

About Ron's fishing yesterday... Despite having only a "so-so" bite, he managed to catch a few dinks and a 1-3 north of the bridge in West Neck.

He lost his best one of the night, though, thanks in no small part to a problem a lot of folks are enduring with one of the latest sensations to hit the fishing-lure market: the River2Sea Whopper Plopper (see lure hanging in fish's mouth at right). It seems the split rings on this new bait tend to fail at the worst possible moment.

In Ron's case, the split ring had sprung open, allowing both the hook and the fish to go AWOL.

If you're smart and don't mind taking a little friendly advice, you'll replace all the split rings on these baits BEFORE you use one again. As I learned, you don't have to search the Internet very hard or long to find plenty of the same advice from other anglers who, just like Ron, have learned their lesson the hard way.

(NEW) About Ron's fishing Wednesday evening, Aug. 3... 'Twould seem that my two kayak buddies have figured out how to fish a Whopper Plopper. In a late-evening email, Ron sounded like he was doing cartwheels over the success he had in Cow Creek tonight between 1700 and 2030. He landed nine bass, all weighing between 1-2 and 1-14, and lost three more yak-side, with only the Whopper Plopper.

10 Bass in 1 Hour 45 Minutes...

That was my final tally from today's trip to Blackwater. My best four of those 10 weighed 1-3, 1-11, 1-13, and 1-14 (pictured here). Everything was caught on my INT bait between 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

I also missed a few strikes, including one that I happened to see sitting under my bait and sucking it downward. Once the bait was completely under the water, I did a sweep hookset but only momentarily was connected to the fish. Can't say if I've ever witnessed the same occurrence (where I actually could see the fish sucking the bait down) in the past. If so, it doesn't ring any bells.

The bass in the accompanying photo, like a couple others I caught today, was chasing baitfish in the grass when I spotted the activity. I simply dropped my INT into the middle of things, and the rest is history.

I had planned to stay out until about 2:30 today, but at 1:05, I heard a couple rumbles of thunder off in the direction of West Neck, and by 1:06, I was en route to the dock at full throttle. My timing couldn't have been much better. I just had stowed my boat in the shed when I heard the first raindrops hitting my metal building. Some sharp lightning and thunder accompanied the rain for about 30 minutes, but then things settled into just an on and off pattern of showers.

With all the cloud cover hanging around throughout the morning, it really never warmed up until about 11:30 or 12, when the first rays of sunshine popped out. The coolness of the morning certainly was welcome, given those conditions that we've been dealing with for the past couple of weeks or so. Would like to hope it lasts a spell but seriously doubt it will.

My inbox early this morning contained an email from Ron Ameika, telling me that he had headed to West Neck Marina at 6 p.m. yesterday with his kayak and fished till dark.

Just north of the bridge, he had a few blowups on topwater; however, he had to tie on the XTS before he could get the fish to commit. The 2-10 in the accompanying photo soon followed. "Caught one more dink on the Whopper to wrap up a beautiful evening," said Ron.

"Lightning was flashing well north, temps were nice, and no bugs," he concluded.

Got It In Before the Predicted T-Storms Hit

The weather folks had said we likely would get some thunderstorms in the local area today, starting about 3 o'clock, and I'll be darned if they weren't spot on with those predictions. Nevertheless, by the time the raindrops started falling, the 26 anglers in 15 boats had weighed in, the pay envelopes had been doled out, and everyone was in their vehicles headed home... everyone, that is, but a couple of folks, including yours truly, who still was trying to get their boats cleaned up. I ended up backing mine into its storage building and finishing the lick-and-a-promise job there.

That being said, here are the folks who claimed pay envelopes today:

1st Place, the team of (from left) Bob Glass and Randy Conkle. They weighed five bass with a total weight of 12.06 lbs. after a 0.25 deduction for one dead fish. Randy also had today's lunker at 3.48 lbs.

2nd Place, the team of (from left) Mike Miller and Chris Fretard. They weighed five bass with a total weight of 11.52 lbs. Their big fish weighed 3.20 lbs.

3rd Place, the team of (from left) Don Carter and Rob Peppers. They weighed five bass with a total weight of 10.88 lbs. Their big fish weighed 3.39 lbs.

4th Place, Ronnie McLaughlin. He weighed five bass with a total weight of 10.45 lbs. His big fish weighed 3.35 lbs.

Mystery Weight winners were the team of (from left) Sean Vitovich and Wayne Hayes. They weighed four bass with a total weight of 7.07 lbs., which was closest to the 5.90 weight that was drawn.





Here is how everyone else finished the day:

     * The team of Gary Coderre and Mitch Portervint, five bass, 8.72 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Kevin Love and Brian Skeens, five bass, 8.61 lbs. total weight after a 0.25 deduction for one dead fish, no big fish.
     * The team of Chris Vitovich and Ken Testorff, five bass, 8.58 lbs. total weight, 3.01-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Chris Napier and Al Napier, five bass, 7.29 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Paul Celentano, five bass, 7.16 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Jim Bauer, three bass, 3.86 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Jim Wilder and Darryl Dunn, three bass, 3.55 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Mike Speedy and Stephen Hardwick, three bass, total weight 3.42 lbs. after losing weight of their biggest and smallest fish because the small fish only measured 10 inches (instead of the required 12 inches).
     * Steve Bailey and the husband-wife team of Nathan and Marjorie Gottsch weighed no fish.

Overall, today's anglers weighed a total of 58 bass for a total weight of 103.17 lbs. The average weight was 1.77 lbs.

One more angler became eligible to participate in our season-ending two-day event, bringing the total number to 22.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to fish today. For planning purposes, our next scheduled event is Saturday, Aug. 13, from safe light (about 5:45) to 2 p.m. I hope you can join us.

While I had an off day (only boated a total of three bass), my partner for today's tournament, Chris Vitovich, was having a good one. I lost exact count but am fairly certain he must have caught nine or 10 bass. My biggest joy was watching him nail three fish in a row from the same small tree in Milldam. I've seen several anglers pick a couple off a tree, but it's been a good spell since I saw anyone make it three in a row. "Way to go!" my friend.

Today marked the maiden voyage to Milldam for Chris, but I'm fairly certain it certainly won't be his only trip there. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that he and his son, Sean, maybe have made a couple more trips there in the not-too-distant future.

I had the distinct impression that Chris was elated to find a fairly good crop of grass in Milldam. The fact we witnessed a lot of swirls in that grass throughout the day didn't hurt, either.

From my perspective, it was a fun day. Chris always is good company, and he's a good stick.