This has been a wet and late spring. I have been
out to the lake five times over my lunch hour. I
have only been out on one Saturday. I picked up a
throat infection and have been on a course of
antibiotics to get that straightened out. Besides
that last Saturday it was spitting snow in the 35mph
winds. It was not the best time to try to go out,
especially when my significant other was not in
favor of the idea.
I did try to explain that my mental outlook would
be so much better that my physical health would
improve from that. The condensed version of the
reply was along the lines of, "If you want to live
long and die happy, you will not even think of it."
We have had rain once or twice a week since the
beginning of March. Not the gentle rains but the
gully washers that cause all of the ditches to
fill up and the rivers to go out of their banks.
The other thing that happens is that a lot of
dirt gets washed into the rivers and ponds as
this is going on.
Visibility at the lake has been about three inches.
That is how far down I can see the stems from last
years weeds. I have fished bright flies and dark
flies. I have fished big flies and small flies. I
fished them at all depths in the water. I fished
fast, I fished slowly, and a bunch of things in-between.
My total for the whole time was the loss of three flies.
I lost the flies when I snagged things on the bottom
and could not get them off. This is the time when you
can justify tying flies to save money. The bead heads
came from some stuff out of an estate sale. A whole
box of stuff for I think $5.00. So the cost of
anything in the box is negligible. I got the hooks
for about 2.5 cents apiece by going with quantity
and catching sale online. So the hooks did not cost
me much. The material for the flies came from some
llamas and alpacas. I get to go out and collect the
stuff that is caught on the fences and some other
places. That is if the folks who own these animals
don't gather and give it to me in a bag. This makes
nice hares ears type flies. So the flies cost me
less than a nickel to make.
Don't ask me about the vice, the scissors (8 pairs),
bobbins (15), hackle pliers (4), and various other
tools I have. I figure those will get depreciated
over a large number of flies. This will not add
much to the cost. It makes as much sense to me
as what my CPA tells me very year with our taxes.
Today I finally caught a fish out at the lake.
It poured buckets three times yesterday. The
lake is up about two feet. The visibility was
about one inch. But the weather was warm and
felt good. I had the need to put a line in
the water.
Several other folks had the same idea and there
were cars along the road and at the far jetty.
I pulled into the near jetty and got my rods
out. I figured the best place would be between
the jetty and the road. It is a broad flat
expanse and some fish might be rotating through
the area looking for food. Even if it doesn't
work, it sure sounds authoritative to write
things like that. The other thing is that the
fly might be a little more visible to fish with
the water being shallower.
I was casting out and retrieving very slowly
so the fish could see anything that was near
them. I am not sure if I missed two hits or
if I nudged some weed stalks. But I kept on
casting. On one of the retrieves the line felt
different and I set the hook. I had a fish on
and it took me a minute to figure out what it
was. I got a carp of about seven inches.
That is the only fish that I caught today.
With the four bass that I managed on a
Saturday outing that almost makes a fish
an outing. Not what I am use to having
in the spring.
The rain will stop sometime, the water will clear
and I will, hopefully, get into some more fish. I
am glad to see the reports on the board of some
of you catching fish.
Hope you can get out on the water. ~ Rick
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