Bass Fishing at Coon Creek Club

Yesterday I left Dallas for Athens to fish at the Coon Creek Club with a couple of  friends.  Didn't see much fishing actions last night (the steak dinner more than made up for that), but managed to catch a few today.  We started early by throwing buzz-baits - the two bladed type that you can retrieve much slower.  A buddy and I each caught one on the buzz-baits, each one 2-3 pounds.  After about 45 minutes we switched to plastics. I caught my two larger fish on a 6" plastic worm, Christmas color. It was a really great time, and a super-nice getaway.  Here are some pictures - all taken with my Iphone.

[caption id="attachment_91" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="6 Pound Largemouth Bass"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_90" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="4 Pound Largemouth Bass"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_88" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Sunrise"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_89" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Morning Sun on the Sawgrass"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_92" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Boathouse at Coon Creek"][/caption]

No Fish is Too Small to Photograph

When I was a kid, I remember one of my brothers used to say that the first fish you catch is ALWAYS a keeper.  If it's on the small side, and you catch a larger fish, the first one becomes "Badly hooked, and would have died anyway".  So with that logic, I would also submit that there is no fish too small to photograph.  (Maybe I'll post later about some photographic techniques to actually make the fish appear larger then they really are).

That's the nice thing about fly fishing.  Fly Fisherman seem to be content with catching smaller fish.  Or, at least they're not so disappointed with the smaller ones.  That light tackle really makes catching anything fun.  Here are a couple of pictures from this evening's outing.  I fish this pond every couple of weeks while waiting for my youngest son at his violin lesson.  I have fished this place probably 5 times and this was my first time to catch anything.  I caught this bass on a bead head autumn bugger.

[caption id="attachment_81" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Proof that no fish is too small to photograph"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_82" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Two Mallards on the pond"][/caption]

Fishing with my Son

My youngest and I got to get out tonight, and he spent a few minutes learning how to cast.  This was at our regular pond in North Garland.  I think he's going to pick it up pretty fast.  There's a storm coming in, so the bite wasn't really on.  All I caught was this one bass.  He hit an Autumn Bugger.  this has become my favorite fly on this pond.

Some of The Most Fun I've Ever Had While Fishing

Digging back into the archives a few years for these photos. I went to Lake City. Colorado with one of my brothers, Mike.  Depending on the Salmon population, they have a 3 day snagging season.  This is not about outsmarting a fish.  It's about muscle, heavy tackle, and table fare.  Casting up and across stream, we threw 5/0 treble hooks with 3 ounce weights molded to the shank of the hook. Let it sink, then jerk like you're setting the hook on a bass.  Keep doing this until you snag a Salmon, or have to cast again.  You'll know when you have a fish, and when you do - HANG ON!  These all ended up on the table, either right away, or in our freezers.

Pre-Front Fly Casting

I went back to the North Garland place and fished for about 45 minutes, when a friend and his wife showed up.  We fished for about an hour, with Jonathan and Emily each catching a Largemouth.  Jonathan hooked me up with a few clousers to try, and also a popper/dropper rig.  Thanks Jonathan!  After he and his wife left, I caught one bass on the dropper (Crappie Bully).  Good times.  The fishing was pretty slow, ahead of the rain that was on the way, but still worth getting out and casting for a while.

It was also my first time out with the furled leader I twisted the other day.  So far, so good.  I like it because I can pre-cut sections of tippet material and tie a small loop in the end, and attach to my leader in a knot-less fashion, never shortening my leader.

Furled Leaders

I've been reading about Furled Leaders for a while and been wanting to try one.  I looked around on YouTube and found a method of furling monofilament, and decided to try that method.  So after church today, I furled my first leader.  It's really just twisted.  I'll post later on how well it works.  Meanwhile, I'd love to hear from you if you've had success or improved casting/presentation from the use of fulred leaders.  Here's a video showing how to do it . . .

A New Pond and a couple of Crappie

I went fishing this evening with someone I met through WarmFly.Com.  We went to a place I've been before several times.  He caught a couple of Bass and I was skunked.  We left with about an hour of light left for another pond nearby.  When the sun went down, the mosquitoes came out and the fish started feeding topwater.  I caught this small bluegill, and these Crappie on a Royal Wulff dry fly.  I love catching fish topwater!

One Bream Friday

I fished for a few hours today, and this is the only fish I caught.  It was caught on my 7'0" 4 wt.  I was fishing with many flies, but caught this bream on a Bead Head  Autumn Bugger.

[caption id="attachment_34" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Bream caught on BH Autumn Bugger"][/caption]

Casting Video

Every now and then I'm able to get out after work and stop by a local pond.  The other day I had my camera with me, and thought I'd get a few shots.  I wish there were fish to show, but, alas, it was just casting.

Video of Urban Pond in Garland, Texas

This very short video is from last Fall.  I sate in the video that I don't know what kind of fish I'm looking at.  I've since identified it as a Warmouth (with the help of a member at WarmFly.Com).