It's a start....
Yesterday the temp was in the 40's for the second or third day in a row and the ice was off the pond. So, I figured why not and headed out thinking that, if nothing else I could work the Winter kinks out of my casting stroke. I was fishing a #14 olive soft hackle and a #16 copper john as a tandem rig over a shallow dark bottomed bay in the northeast corner of the pond. It was a text book scenario and after a few minutes of experimenting to find the right depth, was into some feisty bluegill. I kept fishing until I felt my fly snag on something. I pulled a little and it moved. I thought, oh, a stick, at least it doesn't seem rooted in. However, as soon as I started to pull it in, it started to move sideways. Sure enough, the first Largemouth of the year. He wasn't a terribly big fellow at about 11", but he was a nice surprise and a surer sign than a groundhog's shadow that Spring isn't that far away after all. He was sluggish and not really in the mood for a tussle, but he was at least active enough to eat that copper john, and that's good enough for me in early February.
Now I can read the posts you southern folk again without getting the twitches
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. Luckily the list's author share's my aquatic addictions and understands the need to escape now and again for an hour or two. Especially when the Shack Nasties descend like they have this winter.
Originally Posted by Rick Z
