Went fly fishing on 2 separate days. The first day, I was on the water around 4:30pm and fished 'til sundown. It was the first time this season that I caught a decent number of fish. Mostly Bluegills, Golden Shiners and a surprise LMB. I was fishing my favorite artificial bait, Berkeley Honey worms on #10 bait holder hook. I replaced the old leader from last year with a No Knot eyelet and a 6lb mono leader.
The action was slow at first but picked up around 6pm. That was about the time I hooked up with the LMB. I have noticed that if I fish the bluegill spawning beds I hook up with bluegills but also golden shiners that feed on the bluegill eggs and the LMBs follow the Golden shiners because they like to eat them.
I have to say that LMBs are super thrilling on fly fishing gear. You really "feel" the fish and you have to finesse the fight so that you don't break off the fish on a light leader. Just as I was about to land this fish the knot on the hook failed. Fortunately for me and the fish I had my landing net so I was able to recover the fish and remove the hook before taking some quick pictures and releasing him.
I also caught about 6 golden shiners all in the 5-8 inch range. For a bait fish they put up hard fight.
The next time out I again was on the water around 5pm and fished 'til sundown. This time out it was a warmer day and it was a steady stream of spawning bluegills and golden shiners.
I did observe an Asian family catching and keeping everything they caught. From the sound of it they must have landed a few LMBs. When people see me fishing the ask me questions and I answer them nicely. On the other hand I don't see people asking the same questions of the catch and keepers. You would think they would; since the fish that the keepers take out of the water are being removed from the gene pool.
I have been noticing lately how all my favorite fishing spots are now over fished and its not just game fish but like bluegills and what not. It's aggravating because I haven't been able to do much fishing this year and when I do get out the fishing is tough.
Anyway, I hope that once my life settles down I can get out on the water again and enjoy the fishing.
The action was slow at first but picked up around 6pm. That was about the time I hooked up with the LMB. I have noticed that if I fish the bluegill spawning beds I hook up with bluegills but also golden shiners that feed on the bluegill eggs and the LMBs follow the Golden shiners because they like to eat them.
I have to say that LMBs are super thrilling on fly fishing gear. You really "feel" the fish and you have to finesse the fight so that you don't break off the fish on a light leader. Just as I was about to land this fish the knot on the hook failed. Fortunately for me and the fish I had my landing net so I was able to recover the fish and remove the hook before taking some quick pictures and releasing him.
I also caught about 6 golden shiners all in the 5-8 inch range. For a bait fish they put up hard fight.
The next time out I again was on the water around 5pm and fished 'til sundown. This time out it was a warmer day and it was a steady stream of spawning bluegills and golden shiners.
I did observe an Asian family catching and keeping everything they caught. From the sound of it they must have landed a few LMBs. When people see me fishing the ask me questions and I answer them nicely. On the other hand I don't see people asking the same questions of the catch and keepers. You would think they would; since the fish that the keepers take out of the water are being removed from the gene pool.
I have been noticing lately how all my favorite fishing spots are now over fished and its not just game fish but like bluegills and what not. It's aggravating because I haven't been able to do much fishing this year and when I do get out the fishing is tough.
Anyway, I hope that once my life settles down I can get out on the water again and enjoy the fishing.
I have found that many of the places I like to fish tend to get over fished and crowded around now with spin casters. I suggest you start taking some nice hikes around new water, especially rivers.
I just spent the weekend fishing new water in CT with a friend, and the best fishing we had was a 15-20 minute walk from the car to a couple nice pools with no one around for several hours.
I can certainly sympathize with the desire to jump out of the car and start fishing, but looking at google maps and exploring new water on a nice day with a friend or significant other can also be enjoyable and eventually very productive.
Look for riffles in the water for trout, plunge pools and the flats below a riffle for small mouth and chubs. you can also get some nice smallies and chubs in the pools just above the riffles.
all of these are great fish to get on a 5, 6, or 7 wt rod...if you get a heavier rod at some point Carp on the fly can be quite the experience (or so I am told...looking to go carp fishing in the next couple weeks near Lowell, MA).
Enjoy the water, enjoy the weather, and enjoy the solitude while you fish.
I just spent the weekend fishing new water in CT with a friend, and the best fishing we had was a 15-20 minute walk from the car to a couple nice pools with no one around for several hours.
I can certainly sympathize with the desire to jump out of the car and start fishing, but looking at google maps and exploring new water on a nice day with a friend or significant other can also be enjoyable and eventually very productive.
Look for riffles in the water for trout, plunge pools and the flats below a riffle for small mouth and chubs. you can also get some nice smallies and chubs in the pools just above the riffles.
all of these are great fish to get on a 5, 6, or 7 wt rod...if you get a heavier rod at some point Carp on the fly can be quite the experience (or so I am told...looking to go carp fishing in the next couple weeks near Lowell, MA).
Enjoy the water, enjoy the weather, and enjoy the solitude while you fish.