I Got a chance to fish a pond that I have not been to for a few years. I knew that there are a lot of small trees around this pond; way to many to try to cast, but there is room to roll cast. So I head out with one rod, an 8 foot 6 weight number, perhaps a little heavy for panfish, but easier for me to roll cast.
I got to the pond after about a half mile hike, and saw that it was rimmed with weeds out about 12 feet all around the pond. I knew that the water slopes out to about three feet deep at the point where the weeds stop. It then drops to about 5 to 6 feet deep and slopes out deeper from there.
I went to the far end of the pond so I moving closer to the truck as I fished. A yellow Only fly was on the rod and I roll cast it out so it was about 25 feet off the weed line. I wa about half way out in the weeds. I retrieved it in and thought that I would get a hit on the fly but no fish. This happened a few more times so I decided to change the fly to a yellow boa yarn fly and see what happened. With more yellow in the fly in the murky water maybe they will see it better.
On the third cast a nice crappie took the fly. The next few casts that are off to the side of where the crappie hit produced no fish. I cast to where I got the crappie and got another one. I cast out in that area again and got another fish to take the fly. This was a bluegill that cut several didos.
That was it for fish there; no more on any casts around that area. I moved about 15 feet to cast again. There was a break in the trees there that makes it easier to roll cast. On the second cast, with the fly a little deeper, another nice crappie took the fly. I tried a few cast on each side of the place the crappie came from and nothing happened. I cast back in that spot and picked up a nice bluegill. Over the next 10 casts in that area, coming in perpendicular to the shore, two more crappie and three bluegills came to hand.
I was beginning so see a pattern so I movee about 20 feet to the next opening in the trees. I tried some casts off perpendicular in this area and got nothing. Then I made the perpendicular casts and picked up four more bluegills and four more crappie.
I moved about 7 feet in the wide opening in the trees and tried again. This produced no fish so I moved and tried again. I arrived at the next place and did the perpendicular cast first. I picked up six nice bluegill in that place; each fish came with the fly down about two feet and coming in with long slow strips with a very short pause between. Then the casts to the side produced nothing.
I moved and the next place produced nothing. I tried about 20 casts and it appeared that this was not the place. I Moved about 40 feet to the next place. As the moves have gone toward the dam the water off shore has been getting deeper. I gOt a few fish, but they were very close to the weed edge. The fly still had to come in perpendicular to the weed line. There was a place about 15 feet to my right where the weed line cuts in almost up to the shore line. I knew the water was deeper there and I would not try to wade through it. I did make a few roll casts with my left hand, and it kept me away from the limbs and I picked up two nice crappie doing that. I moved to the other side of the pond and worked my way back toward the dam. I found places there where I picked up from 5 to 10 fish in a three foot wide corridor coming in perpendicular to the weed edges. It was possible to roll cast most of this shore line. I found some three foot wide corridors where fish would be. The rest of the area appeared to be barren. I got to near the dam and needed to take the fish basket out of the water. I did not remember catching that many fish.
It was a long hike out to the truck, but had lots of fillets to share.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick
Originally published Oct 5, 2015 on Fly Anglers Online by Rick Zieger.