The pictures shown above was my first view of Krug Park Lagoon. I parked nearby and quickly surmised that I had two spots to fish: the waterfall on the right and the fountain on the left. Everything else was frozen but these spots were open so when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I have circled the locations in the picture below that I previously mentioned.
As I approached the waterfall, I noticed that I wouldn't be able to fish the right side. The wall was too steep and too high above the water. While I had a net on the end of a long pole, it wasn't tall enough. On the left side though, I found an access point that allowed me to get closer to the water. I also spotted about 30 fish cruising the shallows. It was a nice, big glass of metaphorical lemonade. It wasn't an easy path and I knew if things went wrong, then I would be driving home with wet clothes and my truck's heater on high very soon. Thankfully I didn't fall and the rocks didn't give way. I also managed a few roll casts that produced four fish. They were just stocker rainbows but early success on new water can really breed some confidence.
I missed a few more bites and thought it might be best if I "rest the water" and returned later to maybe catch a few more. My next stop was the fountain. As I walked, I looked for fish in the shallows but didn't see anything. After some fan casting, I finally walked to the side of the lake that would allow me to put a cast really close to the fountain. Between the wind and my casting abilities, it was a chore to get a cast to the fountain but my efforts were rewarded. After my first bite, I reeled off 14 more fish. Every one hit with aggression and decisiveness and I'm proud to say that I probably only missed three fish that I should have landed. That's not bragging but rather a testament to how tenacious the fish were hitting my fly. Most of the time, I just let the fly sit but they would occasionally hit on slow retrieves with long pauses as well.
Eventually, the spot stopped producing strikes and that was fine because the sun was starting to set anyway and I was due home for supper. However, the path that I chose to take back to my truck just happened to past by that waterfall that I had done well at earlier. To make a long story short, I caught 11 more fish at that spot. Three of them came close to the waterfall but the rest came right off the rocky point nearby. I was actually able to site fish there some because I could see the chartreuse head of my fly get engulfed by a shadow that passed nearby.
In all I caught 30 fish at Krug. I am still in shock at that because fishing new water can be tough. What I learned however was that past performance can breed confidence and that relying on proven tactics can sometimes lead to success on new water. I also learned that when you get a chance to go fishing, and the conditions re less than ideal, then you make the most of it anyway. Part of the joy in fishing comes from the unknown and that uncertainty is what keeps us coming back to the water. It is also this uncertainty that we should lean on when confidence, conditions, or new water are staring at you.
No comments:
Post a Comment