Taking a Beating From Bentley

Did you get out over the weekend, or one afternoon, and do any fishing?

I had to go over to Wilna Wednesday to work on some of the fishing related gear for the Kids Fishing Day. My grandson Bentley came with me, and we met up with Eric Hentges and Steve Colangelo. We got all the fishing poles ready and packed goody bags for the kids. We made sure that all the supplies were together and ready.

Once we got done, Bentley and I slipped down to the pond for a little fishing fun. It started off slow, but I found the first bass, about a 2 pound beauty, on a wacky rigged worm.

We continued to move around hunting for that big bite, and it happened. Bentley was throwing a Texas rigged worm, and I thought he had gotten hung up in some limbs. His rod was bent good, but nothing was moving.

I asked him if he was hung, but he said, “No, I have a fish.”

He kept the pressure on it. Then, I saw the pole bounce as she pulled on it. She was in the limbs and trying to get free. Bentley kept the pressure on and slowly she was convinced to come out of the sticks and into the open, but she didn’t give up.

She tried to go under the boat, bending his rod over, but he kept pulling her back out. He finally got her up to the surface and I slipped the net under her.

What a smile!! Bentley was super pumped. Looking at just her head, you would think she was a solid 7 or 8 pound bass, but the belly just wasn’t full yet. We slipped her onto the scales and she was still a beautiful 5.53 pounds.

I had the first, but this could be the biggest of the day. A quick picture of Bentley holding her and he let her swim off to grow even bigger.

Bentley then caught a nice 3 pound bass to take the lead on most bass. He had switched over to one of my creature baits and was happy he did. We continued to fish down the bank and I caught another beautiful 2 pound bass to even us up. But it was getting close to dinner time, so we called it a day and headed home, happy to have had the chance to have fun. I don’t like getting beat, but this one I enjoyed more than you would believe.

Friday we thought about slipping out to do a little fishing, but we had a few things we had to do first. One of those was slipping over to buy plenty of worms for Saturday. I can’t believe how much they have gone up. It is always a guessing game as to how many you will need.

Last year we went through eight containers of nightcrawlers. I bought nine this year, hoping we wouldn’t run out too early.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed over to Wilna Pond so we could get everything down to the pier and set up before the kids started to arrive. Right before 9, the first child arrived and we awaited the first catch to happen. We ended up having 37 kids attending and they had a great time.

The catching was slow, but we had some good catches. We even had our first eel caught. And we cooked up 64 hot dogs for everyone there. What a great day. Unfortunately, we didn’t go through as many worms as normal, only using half of them.

We will be back at it this Saturday up in Port Royal. It is going to be a great day!

Around the Pond

In the local ponds, the bass are still feeding up. A wacky rigged worm, Texas rigged worm or creature bait, or a jig are great ways to work along the shore. And they all work great around laydowns. A wacky rig is not always a great choice in the brush or lily pads.

A topwater bait is a good choice all day long. A frog is a great choice and can be worked in the lily pads, but for open water, go with a popper, walking bait, or even a buzz bait. Work the drop off into deeper water with moving baits like a jerkbait, a spinnerbait, or a crankbait. I like both a squarebill and a lipless crankbait for covering water. Just be patient and keep covering water.

River Action

In the Rappahannock River, the large cobia are being caught inside the Chesapeake Bay, but the season for keeping them doesn’t start until June 15, so we wait.

Some big reds are being caught in the Bay inside the mouth of the river and up into the Corrotoman River. Puppy drum are also being caught along the shore along with some flounder.

Some nice size stripers are being caught in the river still. Around the Downing Bridge, stripers are being caught mixed in with some nice catfish. And the outside bends of the river channel and the deeper holes upriver have been producing some big catfish.

Safety in Mind

The weather has been hot, but the lack of meaningful rain has dropped water levels in areas. Make sure to keep an eye out for hidden dangers on the river. Make sure to leave a float/bank plan with someone and let them know if you make changes to it. Wear your life jacket; it is there to save your life. And have the kill switch attached to it so you will kill the motor if you are thrown out.

While it is not cheap, a valuable asset is a leash on your big motor. It stops the motor from flying into the boat if you hit something.

Respect others on the water. Think safety first, have fun, and live to fish another day!

If you get to go fishing one afternoon/ evening, or this coming weekend, take some pictures of your catch or the kids having fun. I want to see them and share them here for everyone to see just how beautiful the Northern Neck is for fishing. Send your pictures, fishing reports, questions, or comments to FishingNNK@gmail.com. This column is about you and for you and fishing in the Northern Neck. Remember, “Do yourself a favor, take a kid fishing.” Make a memory to last a lifetime.