Fish Log Sept 14

Fished the pond by my work and the ones close to my house. Bass are still holding shallow. I have gotten a few on the gully fish. I walked around the pond at work and saw a something that made me extremely happy . A CARP! It was cruising the shallows. I saw it again today and it was tailing pretty good. I threw a nice bead headed bugger at it. My line twitched, I wasn't sure if the fish was on. I put some tension on the line slightly the fish slants and then bolted. I think it spit the fly just as I was putting tension on the line. I didn't see the carp again and had to resort to catching feisty gills. I also with the help of Preston classified bluegill as the most agressive fish. I used to think bass were very agressive. It's been my personal experience that bass are pretty lazy. Trout are more aggresive than bass. Maybe bass are smarter, I don't know but they haven't been the easiest fish to catch this year. Especially the larger ones. The Smallie Trip is next weekend and I plan to have lots of pics for that report. I also hope to have a carp pic.

Another delemma I have is figuring out whether to fish a certain pond or not. The sign says the pond is for residents only and the fishing is catch and release. I fit one of those criteria. Usually something like this wouldn't bother me, I'd just fish and not care. But I know how I get when someone fish's the pond by my house and I can tell they are not a resident. The pond by my house is for residents only as well. I don't really get mad and tell them to leave but I kind of feel like they are taking advantage of me. It's strange, it's not my personal lake. I guess I just feel I pay to the HOA that maintains it so in a round about way it is mine. I'm explaining all this to justify why I'm feeling a little guilty about fishing this other pond. I may fish it again but not for awhile. I really do take posted places seriously. Trespassing is not only againts the law but it is disrespectful.

Strange Bass Behavior

Or maybe this is normal bass behavior and I've just never seen it before. The nights have been getting colder, but the daytime average temperature has been in the 80's. I went fishing at a local pond by my house at around 8am. I was trying the gulley fish for the first time. After the second cast I had a little bass on but he came off quickly. While I worked my way around shore I saw bass here and there, then as the sun rose higher in the sky and I could see further into the water I noticed something strange. I've seen bass hold close to shore, but never this close. The shoreline was outlined with boulders to protect it from erosion. The bass were literally in the crevices of the boulders. Sometimes there would be a small school of 5-6 bass in inches of water. Just enough to cover them. I can only imagine they were getting into the warm water. Later in the day I saw some cruising, at one time there was a school of 20. I cast my gulley to them and they scattered in all directions. I gave the gulley a twitch and I saw a shadow dart from the side to inhale it. It was my first fish on the gulley. I was surprised by the take, if I was further away I'm not sure I would have seen the fish take the fly. Or been in a good position to set the hook. I hunted more bass along the shoreline and had many more hits and misses. The fish just weren't super aggressive. The gulley might have been a little to big for them. Right before I left I saw some more bass cruising. I cast again and they disappeared. Made a twitch of the fly and a shadow slowly rose to the gully and GLUMP! The fish was caught. I'm looking forward to trying this fly some more. I can't say it works better than a popper or other flies. But I can see why it works. I also can't wait to try this pond again. It seems like the perfect place for my favorite type of fishing, sight fishing.