About 10 days ago, I had a late morning and early afternoon that was free of appointments or responsibilities. While I was sitting at home, I pondered what I would do with my free time. At first, I thought that the responsible thing to do was to tie flies for the online store. It seemed like a good idea. It would keep me at home, prevent me from going out and spending money on anything, and possibly generate some revenue from the flies that I would produce. On the other hand, it was an overcast late morning that wasn't too hot and almost no wind. If you live in the Midwest, you know that these days are rare and should be taken advantage of if possible.
At my wife's urging, I decided to go fishing. I started to gather my rods and tackle but still needed to formulate a plan. I didn't think I had time, nor did I have the desire to hook up my jon boat. I decided to load up my small 2 person boat but I still didn't know where to go. I settled on a small lake called Rocky Hollow in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. I hadn't fished there in a long time and remembered that it was a good fishery the last time I visited. I had caught largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, and catfish there before. I had also seen some gigantic grass carp there as well. I was curious to see if it was still a solid fishery and it's primitive boat ramp would be perfect to launch my small boat from.
I knew I had made the right decision when I saw the water. It was as smooth as glass and there wasn't a single other person at the lake. I don't mean that there wasn't another boat. I mean there wasn't another car in the parking lots. I had the lake to myself, a Redington Path 5 weight, and two streamers on the leader. I headed to the side of the lake that had rock and laydowns because I had caught bass, bluegill, and crappie there in the past. It seemed like a logical place to start and the results came quickly.
On my third cast, I felt a fish hit one of my streamers. From the head shakes and short but strong runs, I recognized it as a bass. It put a solid bend in my 5 weight and I managed to get him in the net after a fun fight. It was a healthy bass that was probably 13-14 inches long with a full belly. I remember telling myself that if that was the biggest fish that I caught for the day, I was happy because that fish made me feel like I had made the right call. It also showed me that maybe the fishery that I enjoyed fishing a few years ago was still a good one. I continued to fish and caught some smaller crappie as well as some more largemouth that were small but fun to catch.
I was hitting all of the usual spots with my fly like rocky areas, laydowns, and aquatic vegetation. A lot of times, I caught a bass right where I expected to find them. Other times, I came up empty but the bites were consistent and kept my attention. I didn't slip into a lackadaisical or inattentive frame of mind. I wasn't missing many takes which made my confidence soar and made me feel sharp. When I set the hook after casting to a fishy looking place, my first thought was that I was hung up. I had snagged some submerged sticks prior to this event so I wasn't shocked. What WAS shocking was that the thing I was snagged on started to swim to my right.
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