THIRD TIME IS A CHARM
The phone rang as I was getting my Epi pen to head out the door to go fishing. A gentleman asked me when the next time I was going out fishing was going to be. His wife did not like him going out alone. When I stated I was heading out the door, he asked if I would come and fish one of his ponds with him. I am not the sort to turn down fishing a new pond.
When I got to his place he said that we would need to walk into the pond.
He had almost got his tractor stuck the day before taking some hay into cattle in another field, but through the same gate. Not getting stuck seemed to be a very good idea.
We got to the pond after about a half a mile hike. Part of that was because we did not want to walk through all the mud in the one low place. It is a fairly long detour around the mud, but worth the time and distance.
The pond is nearly a football field in size, a little wider than the football field at the dam and a little narrower at the opposite end. The deepest water appeared that it would be about 15 feet deep according to the ravine on the non-water side of the dam. The landowner said that the pond was made to stop erosion and that the channel was nearly the same depth the whole length of the pond. The rest of the land sloped to the channel like the hillsides that surround the pond. He said that there were some bushes that were covered by the water. The pond had been stocked with bass, catfish, bluegill and crappie had been added.
We came in at the shallow end of the pond and I decided that this was a good place to start casting. It was the north end of the pond and had been receiving the most sunlight, hopefully making the water warmer.
I had two rods with me and two boxes of flies. I had my box of PTN and Hares Ears type flies. I had tied up some Prince nymphs variations and some other flies that were more like naturals. Early in the year, naturals seem to work better for me. I had the two boxes in a fanny pack.
I had made a few casts when I felt the first tap. I waited a few seconds and set the hook. Whatever was on the other end of the line had some weight to it. After a few minutes I could see that it was a good size bass. It took a few minutes to get it in. The landowner had come down to see what I latched on to. When I landed the fish he was surprised that a fish that large would take flies that small and that a fly rod would land the fish. He was even more surprised when I put the fish back in. I was using a size 10 Hares ear on the rod at the time the bass hit.
No more fish seemed to be in the area. As I moved along I kept casting and retrieving very slowly. I had several taps, but no hookups. Time to downsize the fly so I went to a size 14 Hares Ear, same color and material.
In a few casts I had my first gill of the year. The throb of the rod felt very good. I hooked several more, but not well enough to get them landed. I tried a size 16 fly, but the fish would not take it, so it was back to the size 14.
After about an hour and a half the landowner said that he was tired and would need to head back. I went with him because I was on his land, by his invitation. I had enough fish for a couple of meals.
When we got back to his yard he asked how many I had caught. I had about a dozen fish. He said that he had not had fish in a few years. I had him get a fillet knife and I filleted a few out for him.
The upshot of all of this is that I can fish the ponds on his land. He said that he had gone fishing with five other folks and that I was the only one who put bass back in, left when he did, and gave him some fish. A few fillets when I fish his ponds are all he would like to have.
I have seen a few of his other ponds and can’t wait to get the canoe out on them. None of the ponds have been fished much for the past eight years.
A fun day to be out and get a few fish, and also very nice to get some more ponds to be able to fish. It will be a while before I will be able to take anyone else into these ponds. That is the way he wants it to be.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick