Summer Fishing

Even though it has been summer, and I haven't gotten much time to fish or to tie flies. Every so often I have taken some time at night to tie a fly or two. I have tons of fun doing it, though I think some formal training might help... and some decent materials. Right now I have been tying with feathers I find at a local petting zoo, and a few materials I have bought. I'm hoping to get some decent hackle soon.

I have been fishing twice this summer, and I can proudly say that I can add two more fish to my long list of fish caught. One was a bream that I caught on a camp out with some friends from church. We were in Rutherfordton on the Broad river. I was using a children's rod I bought for J-Man. I cut up some freshwater clam and was casting and reeling it in. It was a little thing, but I was happy with it. Janet and J had hit the hay about an hour earlier, and I wanted to join them.

The second was actually this morning at a friend's pond. We were over there to help chaperon a camp out for Activity Day Girls. It was an awesome experience for the girls (about 15-20 between 8-11 years old). It was a clear night so they all crowed in under a giant tarp that helped to keep the dew off of them. They went swimming, fishing, got on the pond in a little boat, helped cook, baited for snapping turtles, and the list goes on. Janet had to sleep under the tarp with them (it was set up like a tent) because Lara needed another woman to have the two deep leadership. I was there to be a priesthood holder along with Tony. He slept in the house, and I slept in their camper with J. Everyone was teasing us because it seemed backwards having the pregnant lady sleep on the ground (we brought three pads for her), but being a male I am not allowed to sleep with the girls.

Anyway, it went super well, and I ended up catching a bass that was around 10 inches. I fished for a while with a hopper-popper, but had very little luck with it. One bass slurped it up, but I didn't set the hook quick enough. I noticed the bass were sneaking up on minnows at the water's edge and then they would strike and storm off. So I tied on a zonker that I had tied that looked like the minnows. I hooked up on the second cast, but alas, the bass shook it off. I kept trying and finally hooked another bass. This time I brought it to hand. I'm super inexperienced with taking the hook out, and this one was deep so it took me a while to get it out. The fish seemed to be fine though as I released it. I love feeling that rod bend. It is so much fun. It seems like spin casting/bait casting rods don't let you feel the fight as well. I have so much fun fighting to bring them in. It totally made my day catching a decent fish, and seeing that my zonker was so effective.

I think the shirt may have been good mojo.

The culprit