Not what I went looking for
As with many of us, I only get a little time to fish and make the best of it. It's pre or spawn time here and they are being caught by some in good numbers. I, on the other hand, can't quite seem to find the pattern for the Crappie in the river near where I live. So I set out today in search of the Crappie in the usual places for what the timing dictated. I wont say that I caught no crappie, but of the many I caught only one measured long enough for the ride home. Not what I had hoped for, and I went through the paces, but my day was far from disappointing.
Once I figured out that I wasn't going to get what I went after, it was back to basics to find out what was going to keep me busy this day. If I pitched the tiny jigs that I've spent so much time with lately I would find every snag and catch a lot of smaller fish. Fish were popping bait everywhere I fished for the last two trips, and from what I could gather, every fish big enough to eat the small minnows that were everywhere was doing just that. Very distracting. LMB, gills of different varieties, crappie, gar, and from the ferociousness of some of the surface activity, Bowfin were also in the mix. I used a jig and float, 1/64 jig, #5 rapala, 1/32 jig and Bobby Garland, and dipped with a 10' rod also. Nothing showed itself to be the magic bullet. One thing left to try was on the last rod in the 6 I had prepared for the day, 1/32 white beetle spin with a red dot on the body. Tried and true over the years, it didn't let me down today. Smaller Gills don't fool with it and the larger ones hit it with abandon. 2lb mono with a 4lb leader for the branches and other grabby stuff, the casts could be long and covered several places they might be hanging out. That paid off a lot.
All totaled I had about 40 fish through the boat, some not as long as my hand is wide. A gorgeous Red Breasted Sunfish came to visit that had a tab on it's gill plate about 3/4" long, bigger than I have ever seen. That alone got him a pass for another day. 7 very nice CNBG made the invitation to dinner, along with the one Crappie that measured. All that kept were fillet size with 3 of the gills over 8" and hard to get my hand around.
I have always said that the act of fishing is the distraction to get us out where we want to be, among the quiet and natural things that gives us that feeling inside that keeps us coming back. Today was an exceptional day for that. Limpkins are everywhere on this area of the river and their calls were part of the serenade that seemed to be for me alone. Turkeys carried on for a long time as I began the day. Osprey and Ibis are also thick and noisy. I also had some unusual visits come very close. A Kingfisher picked up a snack less than ten feet in front of me. A Barred Owl landed in a branch less than 15' away and intently watched the cork I was using, no matter where I cast it. I had been warned about some owls that had been fed that would swoop down and take the fish out of folks hands, and they sometimes missed a little. Some fish they took weren't intended for them and scared the daylights out of the person holding up the fish to admire it. I believe this might have been one of those owls. I've never seen one so close for the ten or fifteen minutes he was there in the middle of the day. Stunningly beautiful creatures. A Manatee cruised on by on his way to find a snack. Not a full sized adult but always good to see one. And so this was how it went for me today. I even met a real nice young man that had his new to him boat out and a nice skiff it was. 18 years old he was. My first boat came to me at about 20 years old in the form of a 10' jon with some holes to repair. He was way ahead of where I began. All in all a very relaxing day and a good bag of fillets now rest in the frozer for another day. Thanks for going along with me today, I never feel alone knowing everyone comes along. Hope you get out soon and even if your rods don't get bent much, have as good a day as I had today. Til next time......Skeet
