Spring White Bass Run

Every year, white bass make their annual spawning run up Eagle Creek.  The fish are ultra-aggressive and there are dozens of them.  It's not unusual to hear of people catching upwards of 50 in a day.

I went out for a few hours on Monday to Eagle Creek.  The water was very low and clear, and I didn't see much.  I spent awhile there, then moved up to a spot under a bridge.  I swung and stripped a "clouser" until I hooked up with one.  My first white bass on the fly fought well and was a pretty fish to behold.

The fish was about 12" which is about average for white bass.  

I casted a few more times under the bridge and moved to a different spot.  The "Clouser" I was fishing with was essentially a clouser tied with marabou and hackes along the sides.  Another fly of my own design, it will get more testing later in the week when I hit the spawn again.  

After heading to a different spot, I had a feisty little creek chub take my fly.  

I'm starting to really like taking these pictures of fish at the water level, or just closeups of them in my hands.  It adds an artistic flair to the pictures that really looks good.

I should be heading back to the creek with my uncle and maybe Charles on Friday.  Hopefully the run will be at full swing and we can enjoy some time pulling one fish after another out of the creek.  I may try to create another quick GoPro video with some white bass footage.  Until then, tight lines!!

Spring Streamer Fishing

On Friday, I went out fishing.  I know it was Good Friday, but in reality I think going out into nature helps me feel closer to God than prayer does.  Creation is a beautiful thing, and being in it allows me to relax and distance myself from my problems.

I went back to the original pond I usually fish.  I attempted to sight fish, but only ended up with one fish after a solid 2 hours.  That was really infuriating fishing because you could watch the fish just ignore everything you presented.

I was able to catch a few nice bluegill on nymphs and get some cool looking pictures out of it.

It started to rain eventually, so I tied on a black fly that was essentially a cone head with black marabou and ice dub.  It was a fly of my own design, so I'll be tweaking it as the season goes on.  Apparently blind casting dark streamers was the ticket.  Wow, it slayed fish.  I caught about 4 in the last hour I stayed.

Slow strips were the name of the game and that streamer caught all kinds of decent bass up to 2 pounds.  It was a solid day and a nice chance to relax.

Early Spring Bass and a New Pond

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with posts.  School and track season are in full swing.

At the end of my Spring break, I went back out fishing with Charles.  We went to the secret pond again.  The fish seemed very uninterested.  Charles ended up picking up 10 on senkos and one on some crazy giant swimbait, but they were all dinks.  Maybe two of the fish were over a pound.

We decided to try a neighbor with a pond behind her house.  She is very kind and lets us fish there.  We got there and saw the water was incredibly dark and muddy, so I put a black "versicraw" on the line while Charles tried his swimbait some more.  I made two casts and immediately hooked up with a 3 pounder.  We circled around the bank some more, and Charles picked up one.  

We came to an opposite bank under some trees and I started hammering fish.  I pulled out two more.  Then,  I fired another long cast and started my slow strip retrieve.  I felt something suck the fly in, so I made a hard strip set and lifted the rod on a massive fish.  I knew as soon as I hooked it it was different.  After a solid minute of tug-of-war, he gave in, and I landed the biggest bluegill I'd ever seen.  It was well over 11 inches.  What amazed me is that it had a mouth big enough to eat a size 1 jig hook!

I pulled out another nice four pounder, which my neighbor wanted to photograph, then decided to get one more fish before we had to leave.  

I circled back to the area I'd caught my first fish and immediately got a take, but I didn't set hard enough and the fish came loose before I saw it.  I thought i might have another chance at it, and sure enough, the fish aggressively grabbed my fly again.  This time, I set HARD and felt a massive fish pull the line through my fingers.  The power and aggressiveness of these fish was unlike anything I've seen in a long time.  The fish surfaced and attempted a jump, and thats when I yelled to Charles, "Bring the scale, this one's over 5!" You know how when a big fish jumps it can't get more than half of its body out of the water?  That's how I knew.  When I finally landed the beast, I couldn't believe I'd gotten it on the fly.  It was 5 pounds and 2 ounces and easily a personal best on the fly.  What a day!!!

If that wasn't enough, my neighbor told me that during the spawn huge carp come and eat off of the bass beds.  She wants them gone, so if we can't catch them on flies, she will let us use her bowfishing kit.  This sounds like something to stay tuned for!!

Tight lines!!!

Spring Break: Fishing in Asheville, NC

For Spring break, my family decided to travel to Asheville to stay and hike.   I was happy with the decision because it meant I could finally get some trout fishing in.  I borrowed some of my uncle's trout flies and waders to hopefully fish while I was there.  I went to a local fly shop, Hunter Banks Outfitters, bought some recommended flies, and got some intel on the surrounding streams.

The first day I was able to fish, I went to Graveyard Fields in the mountains, off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Yellowstone Prong of the East Fork of the Pigeon River runs through it, (complicated, right?) and it holds wild brookies.  I selected a size 18 Copper John from my uncle's box, tied it on under an yarn indicator, and on the first cast, hooked a 6 inch brookie.  After I brought that one to hand, I caught an 8 inch fish on the next cast.  The rest of the evening was fishless.  The brookies are very tricky to fool, and I was unable to catch more.

The next day, after climbing Mount Mitchell, I went to the South Toe River.  I donned the waders and put on a green Copper John in size 16.  I caught a small 5 inch rainbow out of the first pool and a smaller one at the end of the day to finish my fishing.

Two new species and a nice break from school.  I'd say it was a good week!