Topwater Bass on the Fly

This evening I took my daughter to a small park pond by my house, and kept catching these little green sunfish about 2-3 inches long.  Didn't take long for us to leave for better waters.


She had some homework to do, so I dropped her off and hit up my go-to pond in Garland.  I had a couple of strikes from some bluegill but did not connect.  I was fishing with a popper dropper rig.  The popper was a small, yellow popper, and the dropper was a bead head pheasant tail nymph.  Caught three bass this evening, and really loved watching them hit the popper.  It's a real thrill to see them hit topwater.

Scouting

The other day I went to a local pond  that's right by an old client's office.  I always thought it looked fishy, and my scouting confirmed that.   I only had time to take a few pictures when I was there the other day,  but I'm really looking forward to fishing this place.

Unique Strike Indicator

When my oldest son bought his fly rod last Summer at Dan's Fly Shop, Dan himself made sure we knew two things:  1.  The long slender piece of graphite in his hands was not a pole, but a rod.  2.  The small piece of equipment that helps detect a strike is not a bobber, but a strike indicator.  So, with that in mind, I wanted to share this video of a unique STRIKE INDICATOR.  Y'all have a great day.

Fly Casting and Inquisitive Kids

The other day I was at my go-to fishing hole in Garland, and got into some bluegill and a bass.  They gill's were really hitting the popper I was throwing.  I slowed down a little, as a very inquisitive couple of kids started asking me questions.  "Why are you going back and forth like that?  Why is the string yellow? How come that fish is so sticky?  My Uncle Artie Fishes, too!  Why does your string have heathers on the end?"  Those kids were pretty entertaining.  After a while, their mom gathered them up, and as they left that looked back and yelled, "Good luck catching more fish", and "Have fun fish-catching!"  It was a really nice afternoon.  Here are a couple of pictures of some of the fish I caught. I was using a small black and yellow popper, and a silver/red crappie bully.

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.