Finally Got On the Water Last Weekend

Finally!  I finally got to go fishing for a little while last weekend.  I almost go the boat out but decided to keep things simple and just do some bank fishing at a local HOA pond.  I've fished this pond for long enough that I understand the spring pattern that it follows.  I thought that I had a chance to catch a mixed bag of species if I threw some flies along the dam of the lake.  

This particular lake has a great population of bluegill and small largemouth bass as well as a population of crappie.  I can't figure out how many crappie they have but I have caught healthy crappie that are 12 inches long and even saw a guy catch a 14 inch crappie on a stick worm that was wacky rigged.  There are also white bass in the lake but I don't catch them very often.  They move around a lot and I struggle to get a fly to them because of distance from the bank (usually) and the depth they hang out in (sometimes).

I decided to throw a 1/80 ounce jig under a strike indicator because it is a good "search fly".  It can help me cover a lot of parts of the water column and give a slow presentation as well.  I used this fly over streamers when I am trying to figure out where the fish are (or are not) and what they want (a fast retrieve vs. slow retrieve).  This fly did exactly what I wanted it to do and produced the mixed bag that I was expecting.

I ended up catching about 12-15 fish.  Some of them were largemouth (that all under a pound), some bluegill, some small crappie, and some nice (to me) crappie.  I don't target crappie other than during the prespawn that takes place about this time of year.  I choose to target them at this time because they tend to be accessible from the bank and you can get into some fish that are in the 12-14 inch range which is what I like.  I don't like wasting my time on smaller crappie as I don't find them particularly fun to catch.  I also don't eat crappie so I just want to catch the big ones for fun.

I was fortunate enough to get into, what I consider, nice crappie.  I caught a white crappie that was 12 inches long and a black crappie that was 12 inches long as well.  Both fish were really healthy and I decided to throw the black crappie on a scale because I was curious what a 12 inch, healthy crappie weighed.  The scale went right to one pound, which was a surprise to me.  After a little research online, I found out that a healthy crappie that is 12 inches long has an average weight of 1 pound.  

Overall, it was a great morning on a pond that I really like to fish.  My time on the water allowed me to block out some of the stresses that everyday life (and the end of the school year) can present.  I found myself just focusing on my casting and catching.  I'm hopeful to get some more time on the water soon and to get that feeling of refreshment back.  I hope you are able to do the same and that you have a wonderful start to your week!