Scouting trip . Does size matter ?

I took a short scouting trip to a local water reservoir that only allows bank fishing for the public , from the maze of docks they have at the boat ramp .
I wanted to know if there was any shade , and if I could catch “ anything “ .
First there was no shade to be found , so I’ll limiting my trip to an hour , like today .
I did catch a few , twelve to be exact . All small, from maybe 3” to about 4.5” or so .
Does size matter ? Not to me . As long as I’m catching something with fins that has bitten my lure , it puts a smile on my face .
I was fishing with my 5’ St Croix Avid ULF , paired with a Daiwa Legalis 1000lt , spooled with 2# SOS .
I started out using a trout magnet , but only noticed one following it . When I took the chartreuse/black TM body off , I dropped it and it fell into the water . As I was rumbling through my tackle bag for a different color plastic , a small gill snatched the floating plastic body that had fallen into the water .
I decided then , I needed something near the surface , so I chose one of my rubber legged Spider flies .
First cast , I caught a tiny gill about 3” . On a good cast , I was getting about 20 feet . Far enough to keep my silhouette off the school . I was casting between the dock pilings .
I caught eleven from one wing of the dock , then I moved to the opposite side where near the shoreline was a fallen tree . Too far for my casts . Until I added a small 1” snap on float . First cast , I caught my biggest of the trip .
Tomorrow will be a float n fly trip .
My smallest and my biggest .

I’m going to be doing a YouTube video sometime in the future on this very subject. I think all of us want to catch large fish….but it just doesn’t happen like that. I follow several YouTube channels and many of them use gear way too big. They may be after fish in the 5 pound range but 98 percent of their catch is much much smaller. They could have had a ton of fun with UL gear…..and the overwhelming majority of the fish they caught could have been handled by UL gear. This is the reason I have the UL…SUL….XUL…and XXUL rods. I can get satisfaction sitting on a bucket just feeling a 5 inch bluegill thump my JDM rods. Made a trip to Dale Hollow with my nephew a few years back to chase Smallies in the 18-21 inch range. Both of us were fishing JDM UL rods. But funny thing happened. I found some 7 inch shell cracker stacked up and I was catching one every cast. I told him we aren’t going anywhere. Of course he didn’t like that…he is obsessed with big fish. I eventually moved on after another 1.5 hours and we did get into a lot of very good Smallies. But he was pretty much miserable when we were catching the shell cracker. Many will get bummed out if they don’t get into big fish. I would certainly like to catch 9 inch bluegill every time out but the 5 inch ones have saved my fishing day many a time.

Regards


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I will play around and catch those little ones and have a blast. Got to ha e good reflexes to catch those little ones. I can be a challenge at times. Keeps a fella on his game

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Originally Posted by Alphahawk

I’m going to be doing a YouTube video sometime in the future on this very subject. I think all of us want to catch large fish….but it just doesn’t happen like that. I follow several YouTube channels and many of them use gear way too big. They may be after fish in the 5 pound range but 98 percent of their catch is much much smaller. They could have had a ton of fun with UL gear…..and the overwhelming majority of the fish they caught could have been handled by UL gear. This is the reason I have the UL…SUL….XUL…and XXUL rods. I can get satisfaction sitting on a bucket just feeling a 5 inch bluegill thump my JDM rods. Made a trip to Dale Hollow with my nephew a few years back to chase Smallies in the 18-21 inch range. Both of us were fishing JDM UL rods. But funny thing happened. I found some 7 inch shell cracker stacked up and I was catching one every cast. I told him we aren’t going anywhere. Of course he didn’t like that…he is obsessed with big fish. I eventually moved on after another 1.5 hours and we did get into a lot of very good Smallies. But he was pretty much miserable when we were catching the shell cracker. Many will get bummed out if they don’t get into big fish. I would certainly like to catch 9 inch bluegill every time out but the 5 inch ones have saved my fishing day many a time.

Regards


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Randy , luckily , I have a fishing buddy who feels the same way I do .
I’ll be watching for your video.
He’s a 4# UL guy , I’m trying to convince him he can get by with 2# , especially the SOS 2# , which is actually around 3-3.5# test .

I would have stayed on those shellcracker. That size cracker are a lot of fun on ultralight.

Catching is better than not catching, no matter the size!


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Never know if ya don’t go. Glad you got out. Mid 90’s here is brutal!work is definitely a four letter word.

I think it makes for a fun day no matter the size.

I get bored quickly - a character flaw, maybe? I will cruise over an entire lake spending 5-10 minutes in each spot, and spend all day looking for big fish until I get tired and go home. That's just the way I am, the exception being if I am fishing with kids - I'll sit and let 'em catch the little ones all day.

Good report and a nice thread followed.
Bob

I’m heading back to the dock this evening for another go at it . I’m going to concentrate my efforts on the end of the dock I finished up on yesterday.
Taking a new combo with me today . A 5’ 13 Fishing Defy Silver Ultralight rod , paired with a Daiwa Tatula 2000lt , spooled with 2# SOS line .

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Originally Posted by StantheMan2567

Catching is better than not catching, no matter the size!


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I'm a firm believer in that philosophy myself