COLD DAY
It was 45 degrees outside with a 25 mph wind. It was time to go out to a pond and try my luck. The next four days are supposed to be marked by heavy rain with thunderstorms. That's not a good time to be waving a graphite stick with lead in my behind.
I walked into a pond. I decided to try the east end of the dam where there is a small bay that is flat this is about four feet deep. I wondered if fish would be in there feeding. I got a crappie on my second cast. Then nothing happened. Well, not quite true. There was an amazing amount of water on the fly line as you retrieve it in the cold. Wet hands cool of in the wind.
I moved across the dam making some casts. I had the wind coming in from about 70 degrees to my left. The bass were stacked up along the break line of the dam. I was not sure if any other fish were there, but got several small bass.
I got to the west end of the dam and decided it was time to change flies. I had been using a boa yarn fly and a damsel pattern. I decided to put on a hares ear and a woven wire Prince Nymph I learned at Sow Bug. I cast out in an area where the water slopes out from about two feet to six feet, forty feet offshore. I tried the Prince Nymph first and picked up a few gills. I think I missed many more as I kept getting a bow in my line.
I moved to the west side of the pond and moved up about 100 feet. There were three geese on nests along the shore between where I stopped and the dam and I did not want to disturb them. When I got to this place I could make longer casts. The wind was good for 20 feet by itself. I hooked several fish in this area. However, I lost many of them and I assume they were crappies. But I did get some nice gills.
My hands were going numb , so I decided to move up the pond and try another spot. I was curious to know if the fish would be near shore here also. I made several casts with each fly, and it was not until I let the fly drop when it hit the water that I started catching fish. Why they wanted it on the drop here and not the other places in the pond is beyond me. But it was fun to pick up a few more fish. I did get a few nice bass that I returned.
Sanity started to return to my head. Catching fish always makes it feel warmer, but when my fingers will not really work to take the algae off the fly hook it is probably time to head home. But I had fun catching those fish. They were also good eating coming out of cold water. I am writing this the next day. It is 42 degrees with a 20 mph wind and misting. Yesterday was better than this.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick