Most of the armada observing Brent Chapman has been courteous. But when Chapman recently moved 100 yards to the west side of this standing timber section, another boater drove right next to where Chapman had left a marker buoy, punched a GPS waypoint, then sped off. That was followed by another boater who trolled over to the marker buoy and started fishing.
Chapman moved back near the buoy, and the fisherman promptly pulled up his trolling motor and left.
"Come on fish, wake up," Chapman said as he continued to work a variety of lures with just one small fish in the boat.
"(Mark) Zona is fixing to leave," Chapman said. "As soon as he leaves they'll start biting."
Dennis Tietje idled up to Chapman's boat to pick up Zona. "Take him very far away," Chapman told Tietje, the former Elite Series angler who took a medical leave of absence this season while recovering from back surgery.
Now that Zona is gone, we'll see if Chapman's luck changes. The weather conditions — breezy and overcast — remain perfect for bass fishing.