|
I woke up on a Saturday morning to a rain storm. There was thunder and
lightening all around us. I decided that it was not a good time to try to
hit a pond. Later in the day the rain stopped and I decided to head out.
The number of ponds was limited because of the rain. I would have to pick
one that had a good road into it.
I went to one that fit this description. The only thing is that this pond
sits in a valley that was funneling the wind. With the size of the waves on
the pond I decided that the canoe was staying on the rack. I swim like a
rock, so I don't take any chances.
I decided to fish along the one shore that I know has a drop off about 10
feet out that drops about 5 feet. The water goes from four feet to nine
feet in about a three-foot distance. I thought I might find a few fish
swimming along this break line.
I had a black leech pattern, boa yarn on the one rod and on the other I
decided to put a white woolly bugger on it. I went with the woolly bugger
first and cast it out about 30 feet. Not bad for the head wind that was
coming in at about 20 mph. I slowly moved this fly in. I had it near the
breakline when the line moved forward. I had a foot long bass on the line.
I released this fish back into the pond.
I continued to cast and got a few more bass on each fly. I decided to
change to other flies and try things again. I put on a white peacock sword
tail nymph and a Gilly (Ricks favorites in the panfish archives) to try. I
went with the white fly first.
The wind was beginning to blow harder and it was starting to sprinkle a
little bit. I was having a harder time getting the flies out far enough to
get the retrieve I felt would be needed to catch anything. I need to
practice more into the wind casting for the times I can't use the canoe.
When I could get either fly out far enough to be able to retrieve it about
10 feet before it hit the breakline, I was catching a crappie. These fish
were about 7 inches long, but beggars can't be choosers. I had about 8 fish
when the clouds cut loose and it was a downpour. I decided that I had a
good raincoat and that I might catch some more fish.
I did continue to catch fish and was not really paying any attention to the
rain. I got to the point where I wanted to shake my arm out, to relax it
after casting for a while. When I dropped my arm, the water ran out of the
sleeve of the rain jacket. I guess the waterproofing had worn out and I
was drenched. With a flu bug going around I decided that maybe I should
head home.
I did have 21 crappie to take care of when I got home. Fortunately I had
left my wallet in the pickup so it was not wet, but everything else was.
In fact after I left it rained harder. We ended up with more than 3 inches.
A great help to the crops.
It was still a fun day and I hope to get back to the pond and try again.
Maybe next time I won't get soaked.
Hope you can get out on the water. ~ Rick ziegeria@grm.net
|
