Observations from the weekend

First off, I apologize for the lapse in posts.  Last week was incredibly busy and the next two weeks look like more of the same but I am working on some posts today while there is a lull in the action.  I am also working on a post that should go up Thursday that...let's just say will be bigger than a Jawa but not as big as a Death Star.  So let's get to some fishing observations that were made over the weekend.

I was able to hit a couple of farm ponds this weekend and caught about 15 bass.  4 of them came at the trophy pond (no Momo sightings) and the rest were caught Sunday morning.  While these two ponds are very different, all of the bass were behaving in a similar way in terms of patterns.  Every fish I caught was in shallow water near the bank and hiding in grass.  Now I will be the first to admit that I am not well versed when it comes to fall fishing.  In the past, I have typically hung up the fishing tackle around early October and started to scout whitetails for the November firearms deer season.  For whatever reason this year, I'm just not as fired up about deer season but I'm still wanting to land one more big fish for the year.  My wife supports such efforts and is quick to remind me that I am a fisherman that hunts, and not a hunter the fishes.

Another observation that I made was that the fish seemed more interested in hitting a spinnerbait than a fly.  Now maybe this had something to do with the fact that the ponds I was fishing had scattered pockets of grass and a strategic and accurate cast was required to run a lure between the patches.  A cast with a fly rod either had to be right on the money, an incredibly long cast, or both.  For the sake of making the most of my time and in an effort of efficiency, I opted to run a spinnerbait near the bank and between the patches.  It paid off really well and I landed a lot more fish as a result as well as a beautiful three pounder.

There was a second interesting observation about the spinnerbait versus fly conundrum.  I decided to try and catch one more fish on a fly.  I found a spot that I hadn't worked yet and it looked JUST LIKE the other spots that had held fish.  I got into a position there I could run a streamer along the edge of the grass, but there was no strike.  I made another cast and same result.  I made five more casts and didn't get a reaction.  While I was starting to think that maybe there just wasn't a fish there, my "fishy" sense was still saying otherwise.  I decided to see if switching to a spinnerbait would make a difference. While I didn't get a hit on the first pass, the second cast produced a pretty 1 and 1/2 pound bass.  It was interesting to see bass in a pond that receives next to no pressure get picky and want one lure over a fly.  I guess I just saw farm pond bass as opportunistic eating machines that were senseless killers.  Of course I have seem them respond to slower baits in the summer, but the fact that they wouldn't hit a streamer but would hit a spinnerbait of similar size and color was new to me.

Here's an even bigger head scratcher.  My dad owns some land that has a pond on it.  I remember fishing the pond when I was little but haven't fished it in years.  It is surrounded by trees and there's lots of submerged branches and brush to contend with.  After hearing the third person tell me, "Now there used to be some nice bass in that pond" I decided to see if I could get something to bite last fall.  I used a John Deere under a float on an ultralite spinning rod combo.  I figured if there was anything in the pond, it would hit a John Deere.  I didn't catch a single fish but saw some bluegill in the shallows that were about 1-2 inches long and not big enough to hit even the smallest jig I could throw.  Since I was catching a few bass Sunday morning, I decided throw a spinnerbait around the pond.  Nothin!  My buddy Pat even threw a casting net with only 3-4 fish getting caught and you guessed it, they were all little bitty bluegill about 1-2 inches long.  So here's where I am confused; how is it that this pond had fish years ago, but doesn't seem to now with the only exception being bluegill in the 1-2 inch range?  There have to be bigger bluegill that are making small bluegill.  I've also seen ponds overrun with bluegill, but when that happens they seem to be everywhere and easy to catch.  This story isn't over and I will post future findings.  I and going to run a trot line this fall or next spring and maybe even see if I can borrow a seine net from someone.  Also, if you have any thoughts or ideas, please don't hesitate to share.