An Appomattox River Skunking

My dad and I headed down to Jordan Point Marina to put the boat in the water as the sun came up. We were running up the James River into the Appomattox by about 7 A.M.

            It was a beautiful morning. The river was calm and almost glassy. It was a cool morning for late September about 62 degrees. While we were running it even felt a little cold. There was a little cloud cover but a mostly sunny day.

            We stopped at a boat dock where we have often found fish on our way to the main creek we wanted to fish. We casted chatterbaits up under the dock with no real action. Although, there was action and activity in the water all around us. We were seeing minnows swimming around and being chased and hearing bass splash as they came up and ate.

            Right behind the dock was a creek that you can only get the boat into on up water. We had always thought about going in there but hadn’t risked getting stuck. At this point in the morning, the tide was full so we explored it. In the creek there was still a lot of bait fish and bass activity. And it was a great environment for bass.

            There was a couple of down trees right at the mouth of the creek but besides that it was just grassy edges. My dad switched to a top water and after only a few casts got the first bite of the day. It came up and pulled the bait under the water and seemed to be hooked but as he was reeling it in, it came off. That’s bass fishing for you. A couple of casts later he did pull in the first fish of the day. A small bass but we had accomplished our reconnaissance mission of finding out if there were fish in this creek and there definitely were.

            We fished fairly deep into the creek and then back out. My dad had one more strike that simply pulled the bait under the water than immediately came off. I was throwing a spinner bait and had one fish follow it and bite it as I was pulling it into the boat. I think it was just a small fish and didn’t get a good look at him. And with me pulling the bait out of the water as he bit, I couldn’t really set the hook.

            That was the only real action I had in that creek. We fished our way out and decided to pack up and head up the river to the main creek we planned to fish.

            We ran up the river and made it to a creek where we hadn’t caught many fish over the spring in summer. But every Fall we seem to do well in there. The opening of the creek is very wide with just some grassy edges and a couple of old duck blinds. The creek gets thinner as you go back.

            We fished the grassy edge and didn’t have much action near the mouth of the creek but as it got thinner the action started to pick up. We got to a down tree that stretches about halfway across the creek where it first gets thin.

            Directly across from the tree I saw my dead said the hook and start the fight and said “this is a good fish” He pulled up about a 3 pounder. Only a couple casts later he caught another small bass from under the tree.

            We were both throwing chatterbaits and he caught another bass but they seemed to have no interest in mine. So, he had caught three in quick succession and four total on the day. I was having zero luck.

            We fished our way past the tree and were working the grass edges. We got to a cut in the creek that almost created a pool of water. I was saying to my dad “this pool is perfect for bass but we never seem to catch anything in them”. There is grass and wood way in the back. It gives them the opportunity to get out of the tide. Almost as soon as I said we don’t catch any in here my dad caught a small bass out of it. I still had no luck.

            We fished to the next bend in the creek. My dad caught two more fish; I was still having no luck. Jealousy started to set in slightly and I wondered what I was doing wrong. I was throwing the same bait in the same areas and could not get a bite.

            We made our way back to that tree and I decided to try a different strategy. I tossed a worm into the tree and bounced it twice. Then felt it being pulled down. I set the hook hard and the fight was on. I started reeling quickly and the bass came to the top of the water, jumped, and came off the hook. I finally had some action but still hadn’t put a fish in the boat.

            We fished out of this creek and decided to run up the river to another long stretch where we have both caught some good-sized bass. This stretch of river has some very deep banks with a lot of wood on it. We fished our way down it with very little action. Until all the sudden my dad set the hook hard.

            I thought he was hung on a tree because it seemed like whatever he hooked wasn’t moving. Then a little bit of movement happened and I grabbed the net. My dad said “if this is a bass it’s a big one” He fought this unidentified fish for a good few minutes. He couldn’t really move the fish and it was definitely dragging the boat. He got it close but it came off the hook before we could see it.

            He pulled the line it and we saw the slime on it. It had to have been a catfish and a large one at that. It would have been cool to see but sometimes it is even more fun to imagine. That was the only real action we had in that creek.

            We made our way out toward the main river and at a corner of the river there was a place with a lot of rocks. Someone had told my dad they had fished there and caught some bass a week before. So, we decided to give it a try.

            It was basically a shallow rock bank with a few really large rocks in front. My dad caught two more bass in the rocks and I did not get another bite. Again, still throwing the same baits in the same area.

            I finished the day losing ten fish to nothing to my dad. I was a little jealous but there are worse things than going out fishing and taking a loss. If I let jealousy get the best of me I would have to refuse to go fishing. If you don’t go fishing you won’t have any stories.