CRAPPIE-ORAMA
I Headed for a pond; one that I had not visited for quite a while. When I drove passed the place where I usually go in I could see there were a few cars there. I decided that this just not be a good place to be so I drove to another spot where the pond can be accessed. This pond has a lot of trees around it so I had two 6 weight rods with me. I find these rods easier to roll cast and this pond requires a lot of roll casting.
I got in and found that the water was fairly clear, but was a foot or so shallower than I have ever seen. I hiked to the outlet and saw that the pipe under the straining basket on the top had rotted out. With this happening the weeds were out about 12 feet. Good thing that the feet were shod with a grungy pair of teeny runners. This was time to wet wade.
I had a yellow Rubber Legged Dragon (RLD) on one rod and a woven soft hackle on the other. I roll cast with each of these and got several fish to hit, but I was having troubled hooking them. I decided to change these flies to a version that did not have weight. That seemed to be the ticket and I hooked many more fish. I lost some of them trying to slide them over the weeds. The weeds seemed to give them enough support to flip the hook.
Several fish came to hand and I got fish on one fly and then I went to the other. Several more fish came in and I alternated the flies three times before the interest seems to wane or the fish were gone.
I moved about thirty feet to get around trees and tried again. It was the same story here. I got several fish on each fly, and I could alternate them three times before the action stopped.
I had to roll cast the flies out about 25 to 30 feet to bring them in. At times the fish hit just after the fly hit the water and other times after it came in a short distance. In any case, a number of fish liked the flies.
I decided to change to other flies and see what happens. If nothing else my curiosity would be satisfied and I could put the working flies back on. I put on a bead body minnow and a perch-a-bou. I had not fished these flies in a while, but they have treated me well before. They treat me nicely this time. The fish hit them just like the other two flies. After using the perch-a-bou three times, in to rotation, the fly was looking beat up. Not sure why fish still hit it but they did.
It was getting warm. I lifted up the fish basket and decide that it was time to head home. I had lots of fish to fillet.
I got home, water up and took care of the fish. I caught more than I thought and I had lots of fillets to share and every one of them a crappie. I did not get a single bluegill and I did catch bass of all sizes.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick