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We had gotten just enough rain to cause
the fields to be slick. No going to many
of my normal ponds. They were still a
little muddy from the rain we had
received earlier. But I was over the
cold (thanks to some antibiotics) and
in need of wetting a line.
I decided the place to go was the water
supply for the town. You can drive right
up to this and launch your boat if you
want. I can park close to the water and
then I can get the canoe in the water that
is only about 20 feet away.
I don't fish here often but beggars can't
be choosers. I am hopping that the crappie
might have moved in along the rip-rap of
the dam. I find that this is not the case.
I spend the first hour casting in many
different places and at many different depths.
All with no success.
Now it begins to become more difficult. The
wind begins to blow harder. In fifteen minutes
it goes from a gently 5 mph breeze to about
20 mph. This is not good for my casting,
especially when trying to cast into the
wind. So I cast with the wind. I think
that I had some strikes but could not
really see the fly line move. There was
too much wave action to tell if the fish
were moving the line.
Time to change tactics. I paddle, slowly, to
the east side of the pond. I let the wind push
me across the pond with two fly lines out. I am
going to see if a slow drift will work. Nothing
else has, so it is worth a try.
I am about a quarter of the way across the pond
when the line goes under water. This is an
indication that there is a fish on the line.
I get an eight-inch crappie to the canoe. My
first fish, after about one and a half hours
of trying.
I cast that line out again and continue to
drift. The canoe has moved about another 30
feet and there is another fish on the other
rod. It is a carbon copy crappie. I get two
more as I go across the pond.
As I am paddling back the wind continues to
increase in speed. I decided that this might
not be the best time to be out on the pond.
I head to shore and get the canoe loaded. By
the time I am ready to leave the wind is gusting
to 35 mph.
I get home and get the canoe put away. I
get the fished cleaned and put in the
refrigerator. I then decided to try to get
part of my garden ready to plant. I can get
the tomato cages in and get some mulch out.
As I am putting the cages up the wind stops.
It is hard to tell there is a breeze.
But the garden is going in and that
needs to be done.
Hope you can get out on the water. ~ Rick Zieger
(Written 04/12/08)
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