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It turned out that I was not able to get out
until Sunday afternoon. But it was a nice
afternoon until I got to the pond. Then the
wind picked up to about 30 mph. That meant
that I was using the 6/7 weight rod that I had
brought along just in case.
After getting the canoe loaded and launched I
started off with the black leech I had used the
week before. No such luck. Not a single strike. I
changed to a couple of other flies and had no
luck with them. I went through several of my
favorites and nothing happened. Time to try
the flies that I usually don't use.
Since the black leech fly had not worked, I
decided to start at the other end of the spectrum
and tie on an all white fly. I had tied it like a
Marabou Miss but all in white on a size 8 hook.
I cast this fly out toward where I know a stump
is. The fly had barely hit the water when the
gill engulfed it. No setting the hook just
holding on and trying to get the fish away
from the stump. I finally got the fish out
from the stump and up to the canoe. A nice
bull gill that had the hook way down his
throat. I had to use forceps to get the
hook out so this fish went into the fish
basket.
I cast back into the same area and had
another gill hammer the fly. This fish
must have taken the fly on the run,
because he was hooked in the lip.
Now it seemed that I might be onto
something. I cast toward the stump
again and nothing happened.
I started casting up and down the shore
line. There seemed to be a gill or bass
about every 5 feet or so along the shore.
They sure did like the white-colored fly.
There was no doubt about the strike. They
just hammered the fly.
As you know, I am a crappie fanatic and
decided to fish further out from
shore to see if I might get some crappie.
I know, on this pond, that about 20 feet
out from shore there is a sloping drop that
goes to about 6 feet deep from about 2.5 feet
over about 6 feet of distance. I decided to cast
along the middle of the slope first to see if
there were any fish in the area.
I cast about 15 feet and let the fly drop.
There was a flash of silver and the line was
tight. My mind yelled, CRAPPIE, and I started
to fight the fish. After about 10 to 15 seconds
the fish was off. The mind yelled, NO.
I tried again with a slightly longer cast.
The same thing happened. Iwould see the fish
flash, the line would tighten and then the
fish would be off. If I tried to strike to
set the hook better then the fish was off
immediately.
I knew that I was hooking the crappie in
the thin part of their mouth. This is supposed
to happen later in the year, not now. But
still if you don't hook them you can't land
them. I tried other flies but nothing worked like
the white fly.
I finally did manage to land two crappie,
but both were hooked in the thin membrane
on the side of the mouth. Lucky for me it
was close to the front of the mouth and
then hook slide up to that point and held
the fish.
I have come up with an idea of how to make
flies that lay horizontal. I just need to
get some barbell eyes and then start
experimenting to see how the flies have
to be put together. I will have to play
with different size barbell eyes to see
which work better. I should get this done
within the next month.
I did end up with 37 gills going home,
tossed 7 that were from 11 to 12
inches back in, released several bass
and my two lonely crappie. Still, it
was fun to be out.
Hope you can get out on the water. ~ Rick ziegeria@grm.net
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