Rainy Days, Good Times!
This is a long post, but I just couldn't leave out any details here. If you've got a minute to live vicariously through this experience it will be well worth it....
Here in my neck of the woods it has been raining pretty much non-stop for 5 days now. The rivers have all swelled to class IV rapids, and look like Yoohoo (the drink). I've been dying to hit the water, any water, all week long. I got a phone call from my wife saying that my father-in-law had gone earlier in the day yesterday and caught a couple nice bass and some crappie as well. That was all I needed to hear
I decided I'd brave the rain and give her a go. As I pull into the parking lot of the Park Ranger station that sits in the pond and the rain slowes to a drizzle. You know the anticipation that hits right here, you practicly trip over yourself putting on your waders and stringing up the rod. By the time I get into my waders(I'm fishing from shore, but the rain directs me to don these bad boys to stay dry), however, the rain has picked up again and is now a thundering sound on top of the station's roof. I decide to string up underneath the awning there and stay dry. I wait for 20 minutes, hoping the rain will slow enough to fish. Finally I decide to give it a few casts in the downpour and see what happens. I missed a few little guys, then the rain drops again to a drizzle, then stops. As I am working the shore, picking up a few crappie, I decide to cast into an area of the pond that is milky from the influx of muddy water running in. There, I catch the day's first bass-a healthy 2 pounder. I think there may be more in the narrow stretch of muddy water so I cast again, let it sink almost to the bottom and strip all the way in--nothing. I drag my rod tip about a foot more just moving the two buggers on the end of my line thinking "maybe" and...BAM! Something absolutely HUGE takes a fly and runs (no exaggeration) close to 60 ft. before I can slow him down. The fight is on now! Whatever this thing is, its gigantic and it is staying down deep. This tug of war continues for the next 3 or so minutes. My 6 wt. rod is flexed to the max trying to turn this big fella and I can't make him budge. By this time he has taken 3 extremely long runs and I'm in danger of getting spooled. I decide its time to either brake him off or make him turn before I have no choice.
I just cannot make him turn and he takes one final run into a half sunken tree and...yep I'm snagged. After 5 minutes of self pity, I break off the tree branch my olive bugger is embedded in and drag it back to my side of the pond, feeling a little down.
I never even got to see what it was! Whatever is was, I'll bet it probably eats small children on a regular basis. So what kind of fish runs down deep stays down like that, and won't be turned with a 6 weight with 3x tippet? The pond is only supposed to have bream, LM bass, and crappie. I can only guess that it was either a monster bass or a big ole cat or maybe a carp.
Either way, I will definately be back soon, and when I catch him, I'll post some pictures.
Yep, I got soaked to the bone and I'm coughing and sniffling today, but it was worth it.
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