Runoff Blues!

Runoff blues, runoff blues. Go bass fishing! Take a boat, fish from shore. Topwater, sub-surface. The possibilities are endless. The flies are big, the takes are cool, and the fish fight hard. What more could you ask for? Ya I know, a small flowing stream. But no dice, not for another couple weeks. So go out and fish the bass. My best luck has been at Sawhill Ponds and Pella Crossing, but mostly Pella. Get out there early with some topwater poppers, hitting the shores with them from a belly boat if you can. Once the heat starts building and the fish stop hitting, take out a nice big fly (my favorite is the Meat Whistle), tie it on, and catch some more! Take away those runoff blues!

Confessions, Worms, and Spring Fishing Blues

The weather report was predicting snow, I already felt like I had a cold, and my fly box was looking kind of skimpy. I still felt like there was a need to go fishing though. I'm a teen, so I guess I'm as crazy as all other teens. I just put my crazy into fishing. Anyway, I managed to find another crazy friend to go fishing with me. It was definitely going to be to cold for trout, and carp don't usually seem to be fond of blizzards. So that left bass. I woke up at around 5:30 and got my gear together saturday morning, and tied a few flies for the day. We got out to the water, and I got in with a mixed idea of what the day would bring. Luckily, it wasn't snowing, or quite as cold as the weatherman had said. So there I am, waist deep in water, the people walking by in coats and sweatpants, and i was in shorts and a tee shirt. Then, I see bass number one. A nice fish, probably around 4 pounds. A cast, nothing, Three more casts, nothing. The fish swims away. I must have tried casting to these fish a thousand times with a dozen flies, and they just would not touch it. I was cold, wet, and not happy with how the day had panned out. Me and my crazy friend drove back to his house, not sure what to do next. After the saying of something along the lines of "How 'bout that lake next door?" and a grilled cheese sandwich to think over, I found myself digging up worms from my friend's back yard. He was next to me, stringing up some old spinning rods and putting on bobbers. After a ten minute motor scooter ride, (which can be very sketchy with a rod in your hands) we were at the lake. It was sunny now, and the bobbers were in the water. As I watched and thought about the times I used to do this a lot, my bobber disappeared. I reeled in a nice little pond bass. We fished for awhile, until a thunderstorm rolled in and it was time to leave. It was nice to bring back some memories from my early childhood, and it turned an awful day into an okay day. Can't wait for Summer though, where I can catch bass, trout, and carp in a day on the fly!