The Best Fishing

This morning I checked out a location that was given by a friend.   The water was like most around this area.  There are many small bodies of water that are on the fence between lakes and ponds.  They usually have the same species of fish.  A higher end neighborhood was near the lake and I expected to see a no fishing or a residents only sign.   Luckily there was no sign and I could see small brim fleeing from the banks as I walked closer.  The sun was just coming up and the reflection of the trees were broken by carp fins.   I made my way around looking for panfish and bass beds.  There was a place where a creek fed in and a grass carp was mudding.  I had a popper on and decided to give it a try.  There's no way to properly explain the excitement of a big fish going towards a popper.  The time between the fish started moving towards the fly and it actually eating it I was in disbelief.  I only believed the fish actually ate the popper when I stripped to set the hook and saw an explosion of water and fins.  Grass carp fight very strange.   I have only caught two but both behaved the exact same way.   They would fight for a few seconds then let you bring them close to shore.  Once you had them close enough to almost touch they turn around and sprint for deeper water.   These sprints show their power and they happen over and over.  After about 7 rounds of this scenario I was able to land the fish.  I couldn't get that great of a picture because of the lighting and my crappy camera.

When the fish took off it doused my legs with water soaking my feet. Last May was the last time I caught a grass carp and strangely enough it was also on a popper.

Later I headed to a familiar pond that usually has monster gills. The action was slow in the beginning. I ended up trying something I'm not fond of but works. Panfish often succumb to peer pressure. If they see other fish chasing something they follow along. I dropped my popper size down to get the smaller to medium size fishes attention. Then sure enough the bigger fish started to investigate. The monsters seemed to be located in a small 6foot radius. They hit hard and almost swallowed the fly ever single time. I'm not sure why these gills get so big and I don't really care as long as I can catch them.

Even with a 5wt these fish can put a nice bend in the rod. In between catches I had a grass carp rise for the popper and refuse the fly. I'm starting to wonder which carp are more aggressive, commons or grassies. May is usually my favorite month to fish. This type of start is only making me believe that more.

Nothing Pretty

I had to navigate a ton of goose crap and 90 degree weather but it was worth it in the end.

From Summer2011

Not a pretty fish but it was rather large. One of the biggest gills I have caught this summer. It was caught on a cone headed muddler minnow.

Good Size Gills

While hunting bass I found a bed of nice sized gills. They were aggressive but when I'd catch one it would put the others down. I had to wait about 5min before they would get brave enough to hit flies again. I was using a good size foam popper. There were smaller sunfish hitting that weren't quite big enough to swallow the popper. Then I came to a bed where a huge shadow charged the popper and slammed it. I jerked the fly out of the fishes mouth on the first take. I wasn't quite sure what just happened. That was either one of the biggest bluegill I have ever seen or my lack of sleep from the new baby is making me see things.The gills were so large they had teeth. It made me think twice about lipping them. Once I found these fish I forgot about bass. I did see a bass chasing fish out of the shallows. I threw a frog popper at it. It charged the fly but I think it figured out something was wrong at the last second. It hit the fly but it just didn't seem right. It seem to stop the strike short. Usually if they want the fly they inhale it. It was fun to watch.

Gills you can lip

You know a sunfish is a good size if you can lip it. A friend invited me to a pond where he said there are huge bluegill. He showed me the location before hand and when I first viewed it via google maps I figured it was going to be a nasty rancid smelly type pond. It was quite the opposite. The water was clear and had looked almost pristine. It wasn't the type of gill water I'm used too. I didn't see any craters that signify the sunfish had started bedding. The shallows seemed to be a shelf that dropped off immediately. The water was very dark and it made the bottom invisible to make out. I cast a couple times at a log then I saw a shadow come up and inspect my fly. It was the usual shape of a gill and it sucked the fly in. After it turned and I saw the bright flash of orange and the mass of the fish I could see it was a good size.The fish wasn't really long but it was tall and fat. One of the biggest gills I have caught in awhile. I caught a couple more but the bite slowed down after that. There were fish busting shad in the shallows but I couldn't get them to hit anything I was throwing. The weather was at the peak of a high pressure system. I caught a few much bigger than the one in the picture. The pond was also full of grass carp. I tried casting at a few but they weren't interested. I mostly just spooked them and saw their mud cloud as they bolted into deeper water. This pond is way to good to only fish once. I'll definitely be back.