Lucky Accidents
Late last week I started off the evening flyfishing a local public pond for bass. Had one tiny bass follow the big topwater. Switched to flyfishing for Crappies and Bluegills, and started catching plenty of fish, including a few bass.
Then I saw some Grass Carp in the shallows, and started fishing for them. I was watching a Grass Carp near my fly, when this invisible fish hit...a nice chunky 20" Largemouth Bass!
![](http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c221/FishnDave/2014FishPics/8C5A7BFD-0714-4337-82C8-9BC14AA2F6C5_zpsh8g6jvtt.jpg)
Later, after I finally spooked the Grass Carp, I switched back to catching crappies and bluegills, then put on an unweighted chartreuse Woolly Bugger to cast around an area where I suspected a bass might be. Instead, a big fish (not quite Grass Carp-sized) hit and headed for deeper water, spooking some other large fish. It turned out to be a 26" Channel Catfish!
![](http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c221/FishnDave/2014FishPics/D8D2CA61-B7DC-4FAE-83CA-FC0200E76D9B_zpsltasl5mj.jpg)
I wish I could actually catch what I'm fishing for, but since I can't its nice to catch some big fish by accident once in awhile!
David Merical
St. Louis, MO