The temperature is 101 degrees here today. The heat index is over 110, so I guess that is why my fishing partner (Mel) has not called. I?m a little bored. The warm water board is a little slow today, so this is just a report some may find interesting.
Last weekend Mel and I fished a lake that was drained 6 years ago and restocked the cheap way. The lake is 20 acres, not over 7 feet deep in any place, and is absolutely consumed with vegetation. We were able to fish top water because the rains from Dennis had beat down the vegetation or else raised the water lever so there was about 4 to 6 inches between water surface and weeds.
The lake was stocked with fish caught at another lake over the course of two years. I was told that sixty Florida strain bass, and about the same number of blue gill and shellcrakers were introduced. The lake is now loaded with fish. I have seen an 8 pound LMB caught and the bluegills that I have caught are as large as 8 to 9 ounces. The bluegills seem to be growing 2 to 3 ounces a year. The water is very clear and the lake is never fertilized, but the fish are thriving. Everything we caught looked healthy.
We started fishing for bass. Due to trees and undergrowth along the bank we ?wet waded.? Mel insisted I use a black top water bug he bought from Wal Mart. He bought it only because it was labeled ?Made in U.S.A.? Hundreds if not thousands of dragon flies were buzzing the surface of the lake and Mel thought the black popping bug would do well because it was at least the same color as the dragon flies. He was right.
My first two casts I caught two 3.5 lb bass. The cast were not five feet apart. Mel?s largest bass was 5.5 lbs. I ended up with 6 bass before a thunderstorm scared us off the lake. Mel caught 8.
As we fished we observed bass after bass jump out of the water attempting to catch a dragon fly. Some of the bass looked to be as large as 3 lbs and jumped as high as 4 feet. I have never seen a dragon fly on the water?s surface, but have often wondered if an imitation dragon fly could be presented in a way that would be productive. I think I will try it one day.
After the storm passed, the bass stopped feeding. I caught 20 or 30 bluegill while Mel cleaned the fish for a neighbor. A moccasin apparently interested in the struggling fish stuck his head out of the water 10 feet away and observed my casting for a couple of minutes. Needless to say I also observed him. He tested the air with his flicking tongue and casually swam away.