NO IDEA
It has rained again. That means that the canoe is out for getting almost anywhere. Many of the places I might hike into are just too muddy to make it in. We’ve had a lot of rain quick and then a steady rain after that.
I am offered the chance to fish a pond that I have not been to. The landowner is not sure if there are any fish in this pond. If nothing else it will be casting practice. Also it is a challenge to find fish when the conditions are not good. It is great fun to catch fish when it is a strike a cast or anything near that. To me, it is also great fun to find fish when it is difficult. To find the fly, depth, retrieve that will interest the fish is also great fun.
I got to the pond and found that it is slightly smaller than a football field. The information I received said that the deepest water is about 12 feet in a channel, which winds through the one-half of the pond near the dam. The rest of the water slopes slowly to the channel and then drops almost straight down to the maximum depth.
The pond is at the end of a pasture, and I think it was built to stop erosion. In any case, I get to try and see if I can find any fish. The water is really fairly clear. Much clearer than I thought it would be with all the rain we got.
I wore my vest in to fish this pond since I wanted the full armament of flies that I have to try to fool the fish. I also feel a little guilty since I have not worn the vest many times this year. When I got to the pond and just watched it for a few minutes. I see no activity on the surface, but there are balls of midges flying around the edge of the pond.
I change the fly on one rod to a midge pattern and put that in the water. After several cast with no results I come to the conclusion that the midge hatch is over. As with many things I should have been here earlier. Probably not the last time that will happen to me.
I fish several flies and have no results. I have let the flies drop too many depths and brought them back with a variety of retrieves so it’s time to get weird. Go with strange colors and crazy action with the rod and line.
I have tied some flies up with small tungsten beads. These drop faster, but the slow drop had not worked. I tie a red furled tailed mohair leech on one rod and I increased the leader length about 4 feet. This will let the fly drop to very near the bottom. I might have to put leader material in the rod, but that is OK if it is the only way to get fish.
I made my first cast and let the fly drop for a long, long time. As I started to retrieve the line it felt funny so I did a hook set. A very nice bluegill did not like the idea of being on the end of the line. Getting a fish out of 10 to 12 feet of water does take some time. I also wanted to be careful as the leader material came in the rod tip so I could get the fish.
It was a nice fat fish and it went into the fish basket. I tried another cast and let the fly drop for a long time. When I started to retrieve the line I had another fish on. This time it was a crappie, a nice size fish that fortunately was hooked in the roof of the mouth.
I increased the leader length on the second rod and cast it out with an un-weighted fly to see what might happen. Cast the first rod and let the fly drop, but watched the line more carefully. Saw a twitch and set the hook, had another nice bluegill that did not like the sting of the hook.
Cast the first rod again and saw the line on the second rod moving. Grabbed it and set the hook. This was another crappie that came to hand. Odd that it hit on a black and orange woven body, grub style fly. But who am I to argue.
I got a few more fish in this area and then either ran out of fish or the fish turned off. It took a while to find the channel at another place but I picked up some more fish doing the same thing there.
I had promised to help move a few things for a friend so I needed to head home to have time to clean the fish and get myself cleaned up a little. I had nice sized fillets to share as the gills were about 10 inches long and the crappie about 14 inches long. I had fillets to share and the fun of catching them.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick