Panfish

BOA DAY

Rick Zieger - May 17, 2010

I went out to a pond to fish, and I had not used a boa yarn fly yet this year. Not sure why, but it was time to change that statistic. I tied on a white boa yarn fly and a Goldie Jr. It was a nice day and a good time to be out.

The dam is at the far end on this pond. Part of the pond is not accessible from shore. I went to the point where this starts and headed back. Guess I’m getting smarter in my old age. As the basket fills, hopefully, I will be getting closer to the place where I head for the truck.

I began casting with the boas yarn fly first. Took several casts before I got the first fish, but the fly had to drop a long time before a fish took it. It was a nice gill that did not like the idea of being on the line. I will admit that it took me a little while to figure out that the fish wanted the fly dropping and not being retrieved.

There were not many fish at any place, but by moving I continued to get some fish here and there. I began to wonder if the fish might be farther away from the dam. Most of the pond is about 4 to 7 feet deep. The last third of the pond, toward the dam, is the deeper water.

I headed up the pond from the dam. I worked various areas to see where the fish were holding. It took some time before I found that the fish were farther off shore than I thought that they might be. When I dropped the fly about thirty feet off shore the fish were waiting for it. I let the fly drop and then would just barely move it. When I saw the line move to the side it was time to set the hook. I was getting a strike on every cast. I was not getting all the fish to shore, but they were hitting the fly.

I wondered if I might be having some crappie hit the fly and those were the fish I was losing, so I decided to try something different. I made the cast and let the fly drop. I then started a very fast retrieve to see what might happen.

This is the result of what happened. Not the largest fish, but still fun to catch.

Rick Zieger - Panfish - May 17, 2010

I continued to cast, varying the retrieves all the time. I have a hard time leaving well enough alone when I am out fishing. I always want to know if something else will work.

I was doing a long strip with a short pause when this guy hit the fly. I wanted to put this fish back in the pond , but the gills on one side were badly damaged and I figured the fish was gone anyway. I really do like to leave these genetics in the pond.

Rick Zieger - Panfish - May 17, 2010

The rest of the gills were not that large, but they were numerous.

All in all it was a great day to be out. I caught a lot of fish and had a good time and I had the opportunity to share fish with a large number of people.

Hope you can get out on the water.

Rick

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