MORNING BASS

There is something calming about a small pond in the early morning, just before direct sunlight changes the reflection and thermals begin to ripple the surface. The yellow of the lilies stand out in isolation as if painted by Picasso himself on a glass canvas. Watching for a few moments in order to take it all in, you begin to see small rises among the lily pad clusters. Than a run-and-chase on a bluegill bed by marauding pickerels catches your eye. Yet no sound aside from the songbirds scattered about and the gobble of a roosted turkey in the timber behind you.  As you begin to strip and extend line with false casts, the sound of the click-pawl reel feels both foreign and yet oddly perfect in the moment. Watching as the rings from your fly dissipate your mind is telling you to move the fly when suddenly it is gone in a boil.…...morning Bass.

Friday Networking

Fishing Creek PA

Not often does a full weekday to fish, perfect water conditions & perfect weather coincide with a good friend being free for the day.  Rare though it may be....yesterday, it happened.

Jim High-sticking

It wasn't planned, but given the day we took advantage of the opportunity.  Nymphing was the order of the day & the fish cooperated. March Brown patterns proved the most productive.

The Far-and-Fine reminded me of just why it has remained my favorite rod.

My most productive pattern was the RP Starling

The best kind of network

The best fish on the day went to Jim.  

This Bow won for the best run of the day when hooked as well. A 50 yard rocket downstream.

There are times when everything just comes together.  Yesterday was one of those times. 

Great fish & even better company.

Hunting the Clusters

Hunting the Clusters

Not a single gill this afternoon. 

All the bass were staged in the clusters and feeding aggressively.  Get the fly within 6" of a cluster and things would happen.  A foot away brought nothing.

The two flies on the day were the Blonde FBC.

The Blonde FBC is tied identical to the original below, with the substitution of Olive Centipede legs and Barred Ginger hackle. 

And the Gurgling Wog

Tying the Firecracker Popper

The Firecracker Popper / Diver

The Firecracker Popper has been in my box since early 1990's in this form or with similar materials.  It produces on every piece of warmwater haunt I have wet a line on. I refer to it as a "popper" due the fact that whether trimmed as a popper, slider or diver, the tying process remains the same. The original version was a popper.

A Short Pond Walk

The CGR and X-Gurgler

With the evening landing me 5 minutes from a favorite pond, it only seemed right to take a walk around with the CGR and a few bugs.  

Tying on a #6 Black & White X-Gurgler, a 1/2 dozen fish were caught looking up around the lily clusters. Same fly all night. 

Valley Creek Jewels 2019

The 1st Valley Creek Jewel of 2019

With 24hrs since the last thunderstorm, I thought the water in Valley Creek should be lower and hopefully clear.  It was settled down when I arrived at 7am but a tad bit off color. SO, the decision was to go with nymphs.  

The stream held to its reputation as being a fickle piece of water, causing me to repeatedly go back to my boxes.  In the end, a #16 Squirrels Nest is what brought all of my fish to hand.

Tying the Squirrels Nest Nymph

Upstream I was able to pull a matched pair on 2 consecutive casts just before the pool was attacked by a a pair of labs and a retrieval dummy.  I was hidden behind the near-side support wall, but they were fun to watch.

They both had nice color

I always enjoy visits to Valley

The wild browns are beautiful

Four fish on the morning isn't bad for water that can leave you wanting for a single fish on any given day.

Kickin' Among the Lilies

By the look on this guys face, he is not a fan of Gamakatsu Stinger hooks.  

This weekend found the Bull Gills colored up and aggressive, along with almost every other fish in the pads.

I love the myriad of colors found when Gills are spawning

Rust Breast and Blue

Black and Green

Yellow Hen

Red and Bronze

Even the Pickerel were chasing the WOG

After a half dozen of these I was tired of retying chewed tippet

It was the first trip to this particular water where the bass were looking up as well. A welcome sight to see them cutting beds in the shallows.