It's not the boat, It's not the gear

Some time ago I was at my sister's cottage on the Pamlico River at Bayview, NC. Hot day, so I put on some old shoes, stuck some beetle spins in my hat and waded out a ways. I was chunking around some old, semisubmerged pilings when some guys in a very nice Ranger Bass Boat came up. I could hear them talking about me out in the water and what I didn't know, and how much better their gear was. While they were watching I caught 3 puppy drum and three flounder, they caught none. I told them that I was going to get my boat so I could really fish, but they were welcome to my hole.

I think they were a bit surprised when I putted back in a 10-foot plywood jon boat with a 3 hp motor. Best thing in the world to be around pilings you can't see. Let them have my hole and found another. The flounder were moving that day and they liked beetle spins (white) and red-head jigs with white grubs. They didn't like what-ever the guys in the Ranger were tossing. Cheap rod, cheap lures and a bit of luck trumped nice boat, great equipment and knowing what you were doing, at least on one day.