Insane Fishing day with Bobby and Josh

Sorry I didn't update before now.

Last week I went fishing with Bobby.  I noticed some bluegill beds a few feet from the bank and just like that, we couldn't keep them off the hook.  I would say the minimum size of these guys was about six inches.  It was pretty fun because I couldn't find a fly they wouldn't hit.  Didn't get many pictures of them, but all you need to know is they were plentiful and large.

You know it's gonna be a good day when the bass start patrolling and picking off bluegill.  Some even chased the ones I had hooked!   Somehow in my mind this translated to topwater flies, so I switched over to a Hellboy given to me by Cecil Guidry.  It worked well for a few fish

Unfortunately, I broke it off on a two pounder at the bank.  That was depressing.  We continued fishing for awhile until we learned that Josh, a friend from school, was riding to the pond to meet us.  Bobby tried to teach him bass fishing.  Let's just say that he had to learn to rotate the rod first.  However, after dozens of missed fish, he finally got the hang of it.  You wouldn't believe it, but one of the fish he caught on a plastic worm had my hellboy in its mouth!!!

After a few more nice fish, we went to bluegill fishing to keep interested.  The bass were no longer fired up and it got slightly boring.  Bobby went to work waiting for hours while I slammed bluegill and was rewarded with a decent catfish.

After that, there was some decent evening fly fishing.  I put on a Flyfishfood hambone streamer and missed probably 3 fish on the set.  Then, I connected with an incredible bass!  I fought it for a few minutes and was able to bring it in through the dense weed mat surrounding the pond.  I didn't get a weight, but I measured her against the fly rod.  My estimate is 21 inches.


Overall, the highlight of the day is definitely all the GoPro footage of fish releases we got.  Expect some videos up on my youtube channel soon.

Tight lines!!

A Day to Remember

So last Saturday, I called Charles for some afternoon and evening fly fishing at location X.  Things started well.  My jig bugger drew a strike on the first cast, but afterwards I switched to Flyfishfood's Low Fat Minnow.  We caught some nice fish.  The biggest went about three pounds.

Of course, after a while the fishing slowed, and we had noticed some bluegill bedding on the other side of the pond.  We sat down with some beadhead nymphs and a bag of deer jerky Charles got from Texas.  Each fish seemed to have a different color.

Then again, the fishing slowed...  We went back to bass fishing, both using a new fly shown to us by a guide friend of mine that works at the local fly shop.  We had fished all the way around the pond with nothing, then suddenly we cast into a school of bass.  One peeled off of the school to grab Charles' fly, while another came all the way from the bank for mine!!  Both fish were over 4 pounds and it was the second best double up we've ever had.

I went back to the bank to retie and change to some topwater flies when Charles yelled.  "Carp!!"  I immediately knew it was the large orange koi that we could never get to eat anything.  He yelled at the perfect moment and I wasted no time getting a backstabber on my line.  I crept to the water, knowing I would only get about three chances at the fish.  On the first two, he swerved past the fly.  On my third drop in front of him, he sprinted away from the bank.  I felt my line tighten, and as the fish hooked himself on my fly, I felt the true power of carp on the fly.  

The fish never got out past fifty feet, but every time I worked him to within 15, he would charge back to the open water.  After about five minutes of fighting this fish on my trusty TFO 6-weight, Charles pulled off his shoes and socks and hopped into the pond.  Five full minutes later, the fish was tired enough to grab and Charlie did it first try!!  I never would have gotten this fish without him!!!

I was able to get some "hero" shots with my fish and then Charles released him back into the pond.  Three years of chasing this fish and I did it on the fly!!!

The best day of fly fishing I've ever experienced at my pond, right here in my own backyard, would have been a sad "one that got away" story if not for my friend, who was willing to jump into a pond for me.

UPDATE:

We recently saw this fish swimming around on a nest, so the long fight and photo session we had was fine.  He is still swimming!!