A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure to wake up early and head up to our family farm. I am currently on spring break (I'm a public school teacher) but for some reason I didn't have a problem getting out of bed when my alarm went off at 5:45. I was on the road by 6 with my new (to me) 8 weight fly rod, my new (to me) Moonshine reel, and some streamers. I was hoping that the smaller bodies of water were warming up a little faster than some of the larger lakes that I fish. I was also of the opinion that some of the larger fish might be moving into the shallows and starting to put on the feed bag for the upcoming spawn. I also felt like I had a chance to catch some of these fish if I twitched a gamechanger fly in front of them and worked it like a jerk bait rather than a swim bait.
Well, as luck would have it, I was at least partially right. While I didn't catch a ridiculous number of fish, I did catch a few quality ones. I ended up fishing 6 ponds and caught fish out of 5 of them. The first pond that I hit had the highest fish count (6 fish) and the largest fish with the heaviest being close to 3 pounds by my estimation. I fished with floating line as I wanted to fish shallow water. The game changer that I threw had an incredibly slow sink rate which meant I wasn't dredging the bottom or getting many snags. In other words, my plan worked what was even more rewarding than the pictures suggest.
While I had caught some stocker trout this year, catching some farm pond bass felt like my first outing of the year. It was a long, cold weather with especially crummy weather this year. I've waited a long time for lakes and ponds to become more active but I can unequivocally state that in my neck of the woods, fishing season is here! I'm grateful for the season change and for the chance to do something that I love so deeply.
On another note, if you would like to purchase some of your own game changers, I have a few for sale in the online store. White worked for me on this particular day but I have chartreuse changers as well. Some of the eats were visual, which was particularly exciting. This fly is easy to cast on an 8 weight and has a great action when either twitched or on a steady retrieve. The eyes are HIGHLY reflective on a sunny day and not only get the attention of fish but also help you locate your fly and keep track of its location. No pressure to buy but wanted to offer to folks in case they are interested. Have a good day and I hope you get a chance to spend some time on the water. The fishing is heating up in the midwest and should only get better in the coming weeks!
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