Hey all,
Been a while since I have posted anything. I have recently been dealt some difficult life situations and fishing fell far to the back burner. This is really only the second outing that I have been on this year. I started out with such optimism too...
I digress. I got out on the northern DPR around 7 AM Sunday morning. Temperature was cool, upper 60's and there was still a light rain in the air. Water level was low and flow was quite manageable. I typically bring two rods, one rigged for top water and one for sub-surface. Early into the outing, I throw a 3/8 oz chartreuse spinner into a slack water hole and got hit hard. A few acrobatic jumps and I could tell it was a LMB and quite a hefty one. I got him to the yak side but he gave one last thrash and freed himself from the hook (damn you single hooks!
). Obviously didn't get a measurement, but if I had to guesstimate, it would have been 16-18". Really great looking bass.
I continued on, hitting all the likely spots and fortunately connecting up with 5 pike over the next 2 hours. All of them were on top water (man, I love top water). All fish were between 21-25" and all seemed very healthy and full. I only had one top water strike/miss that I wasn't able to reconnect on. I did see a few follows and strike/misses on my other rod (was a black/blue chatterbait most of the time) but overall pretty good action out on the river.
I spent some time enjoying the natural setting. Watched a pair of hawks fly around and land in a tree near me (they left before I could get a picture). Some great views of woodpeckers, cranes and I even spent some time watching a small crayfish go about its daily business in some hollowed out tree roots when I was parked on the shoreline. I could have been skunked and I would have considered it a successful outing. It was a great reminder of why I like fishing so much. A chance to step away from everything, clear the mind for a bit and just reconnect with nature.
I plan to make a definitive effort to get out more for the year and hope I have more reports to share. Here's hoping to tight lines for us all.
Been a while since I have posted anything. I have recently been dealt some difficult life situations and fishing fell far to the back burner. This is really only the second outing that I have been on this year. I started out with such optimism too...
I digress. I got out on the northern DPR around 7 AM Sunday morning. Temperature was cool, upper 60's and there was still a light rain in the air. Water level was low and flow was quite manageable. I typically bring two rods, one rigged for top water and one for sub-surface. Early into the outing, I throw a 3/8 oz chartreuse spinner into a slack water hole and got hit hard. A few acrobatic jumps and I could tell it was a LMB and quite a hefty one. I got him to the yak side but he gave one last thrash and freed himself from the hook (damn you single hooks!
). Obviously didn't get a measurement, but if I had to guesstimate, it would have been 16-18". Really great looking bass.I continued on, hitting all the likely spots and fortunately connecting up with 5 pike over the next 2 hours. All of them were on top water (man, I love top water). All fish were between 21-25" and all seemed very healthy and full. I only had one top water strike/miss that I wasn't able to reconnect on. I did see a few follows and strike/misses on my other rod (was a black/blue chatterbait most of the time) but overall pretty good action out on the river.
I spent some time enjoying the natural setting. Watched a pair of hawks fly around and land in a tree near me (they left before I could get a picture). Some great views of woodpeckers, cranes and I even spent some time watching a small crayfish go about its daily business in some hollowed out tree roots when I was parked on the shoreline. I could have been skunked and I would have considered it a successful outing. It was a great reminder of why I like fishing so much. A chance to step away from everything, clear the mind for a bit and just reconnect with nature.
I plan to make a definitive effort to get out more for the year and hope I have more reports to share. Here's hoping to tight lines for us all.
