DUMB MOVE TWO
The landowner asked me to come back and fish the pond again. He has been using water out of the pond. It was down another couple of feet. I went in with two bamboo rods. I am addicted to them. I have to go out some days and use the other rods. If I have a bamboo with me I don't use the graphite rods much. I have a yellow boa yarn leech and a black furl tailed leech on the two rods.
I got out on the pond and made a cast using the yellow boa yarn fly. I let it drop for a while and then slowly retrieved it in. On the next cast a fish hit it just under the surface. It was a nice gill. Could I be fishing to deep?
On the next cast I kept the fly near the surface and retrieved it in. The fly had moved a couple of feet when the rod tip dropped. The fish was hooked. It was another nice fat gill that made the rod tip dance a lot.
I got another half dozen gills around the canoe. I decided to try the black furl tailed leech, and I cast it out and brought it in just under the surface. Nothing happened, so I let the fly drop a little father on each successive cast. When the fly got down about two feet a fish took it. I thought that I had tied into a fairly good bass, and it turned out I needed to get the net in hand to land a very nice crappie.
I cast into another area and let the fly drop. It got it down a couple of feet and I slowly retrieved it. Another fish took it. It turned out to be another crappie that fought like a bass. This was fun.
Each time a hook a fish the canoe moves a little. With no breeze I don't have an anchor down. This keeps me fishing water that I have not covered before.
I was getting a fish to hit on about every other cast. The crappies are deeper on the black fly and gills just under the surface on the yellow fly. Seems like it should be the other way, but I fish the flies the way the fish will take them.
The sun got up higher in the sky and the fishing slowly down. I let the flies drop farther and tried other flies, but didn't figure out what would work.
It was not a problem since I caught a lot of fish. I had a lot to fillet so I thought it might be a good idea to get it done before it got very hot out.
I raised my fish basket and found that I have made a dumb move. It is a mesh basket with a long tube and a barbell bottom. Near the bottom is a zipper that lets you get fish out of the bottom of the basket easier. The zipper failed me. There were only a few fish in the basket when I raised it.
When I got home I looked at the zipper. The handle will not stay down now. Twisting the basket some causes the zipper to move down so it opens up to let fish out. I like this basket, and can't find another. So it was time to fix it.
There is a way to put a metal ring on the zipper and attach it to the net. This keeps the zipper from opening.
Next week I will be back at this pond. More water is going out for the cattle. The zipper will stay shut.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick