I am new to fly fishing; just started piddling about 2 years ago, tying too. Too darned busy to do it more often (thus, is exactly what I need). Don’t have much available in terms of mentors/buddies, even my kids & wife have no interest, so of course, I first hit books for getting-started research.
My initial/current interest is fresh water, ideally trout in spring-fed streams, but I’ll take whatever bites, and ponds will do, especially if they are closer. I’m in central Maryland, so trout fishing is limited. A so-so C&R stream is a 45-minute drive; have only seen 1 trout there. A better one is 1.5 hours away. Not worth it except for an all-day trip, and the better one is very, um, popular on weekends (no thanks).
The books I read discussed temperatures for trout and warm-water fish. They lead me to believe that l/m bass and other warm fish are almost entirely dormant in colder seasons, and you’d be unusually lucky (and skilled) to get any action from them. So I wrote them off outside of summer.
But then I came across this site, and read articles by Joe Hyde and others about fishing blue gill, crappie, and bass in ponds in the winter months. Huh?
Ok, definately worth a try. Last fall I discovered a pond at a park not 5 miles away with blue gill, and it’s small, surrounded by trees and brush, adjacent to soccer and football fields. There are some bobbers and lures in the branches, but I don’t think many people bother with this little bog, especially with all the trees and brush. This stuff is thick, growing and overhanging well into the water. There are 2 spots cleared enough to walk to the edge without hopeless entanglement in stickers 7-feet high. OK, 1 is cleared 6-feet wide, the other 6-inches wide. No back cast, and tree clearance is 10-feet up (tough with a 9-ft rod).
Work is killing me right now (60-70 hour weeks). I’m currently doing some remote computer work from home, very important stuff, of course. Saturday, I had errands in the morning and needed to help a guy flying in to the remote site from 1PM 'till whenever we finish. The weather here suddenly went from 30s/40s to 60s starting a few days ago. Driving me crazy (last fishing was once in December (1 brown) and once in November). At 4:30PM I got tired of waiting by the phone (and steamed) and put the rod/vest in the car to sneak in an hour of fishing . Went to grab the hat and go, and voila, he calls. Grrrr (GRRRRRR).
Sunday, finally sneak out for 2 hours in the afternoon, nobody around the pond except for 2 games in the fields. Since casting is difficult, and I’m new (and not a natural), I stick on an orange foam indicator fly with black rubber micro legs, looks like an orange Japanese beetle. No dropper (to start), no saturated feathers, no snagging/fouling on the bottom. Plus, I’m probably going to snag a tree and loose it quickly, so no great investment (was pretty easy and cheap to tie).
Went to the 6-inch wide zig-zag path and got some line out. Learned last fall to ungracefully wiggle some line out in a pile and then roll cast it. Remember, 10-ft up to braches, couple feet wide up there maybe, so it’s squat on the ground, toes in the water rod butt a couple inches above the ground/water, and roll it out (no clearance behind, either).
Bingo, blue gill right away, yeeha! Warm fish in the cold water does work. Again, again, again! Every cast a strike, almost every cast a landing. Yippee! Blow out those frustrations, this is a blast.
OK, this is WF5F and a 3X 7.5-ft Hi-Flote leader, no extra tippet (the fish don’t seem to be picky here). The fly is a 16, I think. In other words, casts relatively easy for my weak skill. I’ve only been going out 10-20 feet, trying to minimize snags and tangles. The strikes are slowing a little, so lets try to roll further. Yes, it worked; very happy; at least 30 feet, and almost straight. Bang. Hey, a skinny silver gill(?). No, I know what this is, it’s a large mouth bass. Very cool, a little guy, but I’m very happy, my first.
Let’s try that again. I had noticed that some of the takes were weak, and had learned that if I did a set, I could usually land the tentative taster. No rod set, or the whole thing comes out of the water and becomes an instant bird nest. OK, about my second cast out in the middle, got one of those sort-of strikes. Strip set, and hey, this guy is hooked and is heavier. Yippiekayay, a beautiful 10" large-mouth bass (good-sized pond fish in my book; shoot, the pond is only 60 X 100 feet). I am elated, a super hour.
I moved over to the more open spot and continued to bring in a gill every cast, and got another small bass. Sun is long gone, the county park closes (with gates) at dusk, and I’ve pushed it (figured I could since there was still noise from the gamers), but time to go. I have also shirked duty by missing the grocery unload and dinner prep., but my lady is knows I need a little slack now and then, and son was instructed to help.
Took off the fly I had tyed on when I got there. What a happy day. Thanks to God for some time, ability, and success playing with his fish and being in his nice yard.
This is pretty long, hopefully someone will enjoy it and maybe get past the warm fish/cold water misunderstanding I had.
[This message has been edited by DavidInMD (edited 12 March 2006).]
[This message has been edited by DavidInMD (edited 13 March 2006).]
