VARIABLE WEATHER
I had the cold that is going around town for a few days so I had to spend a few days to make sure it did not rebound. There were too many things scheduled for Saturday, so I heading for the pond on Friday. There was frost on the windshield of the truck this morning and the wind was blowing about 20 mph. But it was time to head out and see if the fish would cooperate.
I selected two 5 weight rods to take out. I put a yellow Rubber Legged Dragon on one and a black furl tailed mohair leech on the other. I did this in the house before heading out, and since it had also rained a lot driving into a pond was not an option.
The wind was out of just west of due north so I went to a pond where I could cast into the wind and I chose a pond that was not too far from the road. The pond I chose was about 1.5 football fields in length and about the same width as the football field. The north forty feet of the pond is only about a foot deep. There are rarely any fish in this area.
I went to the dam and tried the yellow RLD first. I had made a few casts but nothing happened and when I cast again and got a knot in the fly line. By the time the knot was out there was a fish on the line. It turned out to be a nice bluegill. I cast out again and let the fly drop but nothing happened. I started to slowly retrieve the fly and felt some weight. I set the hook and had a nice crappie. On the next cast there was another nice bluegill. About half the fish hit the fly as it was dropping and the rest as it was retrieved. If the fly was shallow then a small bluegill would take it so by staying deeper the fish were larger.
I tied the furl tailed leech and picked up a few more fish. When it slowed down I moved along the dam. I started casting with each fly again and picked up a few more fish. There were no real strikes, just some weight or resistance on the line. By letting the fly drop and moving it slowly the fish were interested. I still miss many of them on the hook set. I was not sure if the fish were small or the hook set was happening to fast. If I waited to long after feeling the weight and there was nothing on the line.
I moved again and got to a place on the dam that has never been productive for me, but I made a few casts to make sure that things had not changed. I hooked these two fish on successive casts and then no more.
I moved down the pond a short distance and tried again. I picked up a few more fish that were just smaller than this. What great fun.
At this point the wind dropped and the sun came out and it got warm. I was wearing a winter coat, knit cap and fishing gloves. In 5 minutes all of that had to come off. It was a very abrupt weather change.
After that the fishing dropped off. I tried several casts with each of these flies and had very little luck. Then I tried some other flies and they did not work. I decided that it might be a good time to head home since I had several nice fish to take home. I had nice fillets to share and have for supper.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick