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This has been a very strange year at the lake. We have had
heavy rains and more wind than we want to think about. I have
not seen clear water in the lake for a long time. The crappie
have not come in and spawned like they normally have. Most of
the time you can see fish stacked up along the fishing jetting
or the rip rap, but not this year.
Tuesday was a fairly nice day. A gentle breeze was blowing as I
got to the lake. There were a few folks at each of the jetties.
I decided to fish along the rip rap and see what might be happening.
If there are more than two f people on a jetty I tend to stay away
from it. I don't have to worry about folks walking into my back cast
that way.
I had tied on a white boa yarn leech, with white rubber hackle legs,
to see how this might work. I had a Thief on the other rod. The Thief
is a muddler, but has a chenille head instead of a flared hair head.
If you saw how I flare hair you would know why I tie it this way.
I started with the boa fly first. I cast it about three feet out
from shore, let it drop for a few seconds and then started a slow
retrieve. The fly had not moved far when I felt some resistance on
the line. I set the hook and had a crappie on the line. This looked
promising, maybe the crappie were in. Six more casts in the area
produced nothing more.
I moved about 10 feet and cast again. Again the fly had barely moved
and a fish slammed it. This was another crappie, a carbon copy of the
first one. That was the only fish at this spot. I even tried the Thief
here and it did not work.
I moved again and caught a fish on the first cast with the Thief.
Again it was the only fish I got in the area. I think I am beginning
to see a pattern here. I decided to try moving a little more and not
casting again in that area after I caught a fish. I put one rod back
in the truck. This would make it easier to move, not having to pick
the other rod up.
It worked! About every 10 feet I would pick up a fish. There was
only one fish to the area.. I wish the water had been clearer so
I could tell if there were other fish there and they got turned
off when I caught the first one, or if that was the only fish
there. My ego wants to think that there was only one fish there.
I picked up twenty fish over the lunch hour.
Thursday was another ball of wax. There was a Tornado Warning
that was about 15 miles north of us. I looked at the radar and
saw a line of storms coming. I was not sure how fast it would
get here, but I could have some time at the lake. I am not
addicted to fishing. I could quit anytime I wanted to, but I
have never wanted to.
When I got to the lake there were whitecaps all over it. The
sky was dark and I could see the line of storms coming. I knew
there would not be a lot of time. I grabbed a rod and headed
for the water. I was on the jetty so I could cast with the wind.
I made the first cast and had a crappie try to take the fly to
the middle of Indiana. She really slammed the fly and hooked
herself. When I brought her out of the water she was spewing
eggs. I got her back in and made another cast. I had a fish
hit the fly, not as hard as the crappie had, but enough to know
that something was there. This fish went down and put a deep bend
in the rod. I thought I had hooked a bass. I have 6 X tippet on
the rod, so it is not time to horse anything. When I finally got
the fish up to the shore it has a huge bluegill. This fish was
so big that I did not try to swing it up, but I lipped it.
I could not put my hand around the fish like I normally do. I
usually put my thumb over the fins and the rest of my fingers
under the belly. This was the largest bluegill I have caught
in this lake and one of the largest gills that I have caught
anywhere. My forefinger went in this gills mouth with some
room to spare. I have got to start carrying my camera with me.
I put this fish back in the water. I turned to look and see
where the storms might be. I had the first few raindrops hit
me just as I reached the truck. I drove out of it on the way
back to the office. I had just got into the office when the
rain hit in town. I poured hard, but not for very long.
Friday was another trip to the lake. A cold front had come
through. That is what had spawned the storms Thursday. I had
the jetties and the rip rap to myself.
The fishing was very slow. Not very many fish and widely scattered.
I fished both jetties and the rip rap and caught fifteen fish. I
would make a cast or two in a place and then move. I had taken a
lesson from Tuesday. It worked about the same way as Tuesday. There
would be one fish to a spot and then nothing more.
Hope you can get out on the water. ~ Rick
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