Downpour

Last night while my son's baseball team warmed up before the game, I got out fishing. I managed to hook and release 4 bass and 1 bluegill in the 20 minutes I fished.

T trying to take credit for my fish

The only bluegill of the night

We headed back across the parking lot to the baseball fields and watched a few inning. Then, once the fields manager in charge saw lightening in the distance she blew the air horn and the game was over. We strolled back to the car and were fortunate to get inside before it poured. It was the hardest rain I've seen all year.

Incoming

Waiting for the traffic to die down

On our way out we went back to the pond and it was amazing to see all the water running into the pond. This raging water wasn't even a trickle when I was fishing it an hour before. In 10 minutes or less it went from nothing to this raging "river."

Unfortunately, when a game is canceled because of lightening, it's also not safe to go out and fish. I have to admit, once I was home and had most of the kids in bed, I thought about going back out...but random strikes of lightening kept me home and dry.

Oh, and one of the best parts....we started off the evening with some official Guys, Flies & Pies pizza!

Pepperoni Pizza Pie

NY DEC wants your input on regulation changes

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is asking for input on propose changes to various fishing regulations.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/73762.html

Here's your chance to get your voice heard. Send them some emails and tell them if you like what they are proposing! Emails need to be received before June 24, 2011 so get on it!

A Good Week For Fishing

Last week was a good week for fishing. Some how the stars aligned and I got out 4 times! As noted in previous posts I was able to get out with 2 of my boys and my wife....and the fourth trip was another one of my sons.

Seth and I got out after his baseball team photo session. He called mom and asked if we could go fishing. No, I did not pressure him to do this, unless saying "it smells like fishing out here" counts. Mom said "yes" and we were off. After a quick trip to the post office to send out a shipment of GFP t-shirts (a few left if anyone is interested in one), we hit Twin Rock pond.

All of the 4, 1 hour trips this past week were to Twin Rock, and were all successful, so we had high hopes. After a few minutes of pounding the water I caught a bass and Seth reeled him in.

A standard size bass

 Soon after he was into a fish or two of his own!

Seth's bass on a Clouser minnow

Bass on a new popper

The fat one of the day

Seth's second

Bass on the fly

That fly caught at least 10 bass, and on one of the last casts A fish snapped the line. I saw the popper floating on the surface just a few feet from the shore. I walked over to it and with a new fly on the line I was able to wrap the tippet around the lost popper and recover it!

Unfortunately the rain is back. And it's not just back for a day or so.....it's been raining for two days straight and looks like there is rain in the forecast for the next few. I still may make a trip to the pond but it would be nice to have the clouds stop dripping first.

Quick Shots

This time of year I do a lot of quick shot fishing "trips." See, I am married and have 5 kids, so other responsibilities get in the way of fishing. I have been known to grab the rod from the back of the van and fish for 15 minutes while my wife and kids wait for me. Sometimes that 15 minutes is all I got to fish for the week. Thankfully this week has been better than a 15 minute fishing "trip."

As previous posts show, I've been able to get out twice this week with 2 of my boys. Last night, my wife and I got a chance to get out and fish together....for one hour. So, I took her to the pond I knew was doing well based on the last two quick shots I did.

It was still going well. Within a few minutes I caught a bass. Most of the bass seem to be about 10 inches or so...but I'm still searching for the monster of the pond. My wife was slow to start, but she finally got herself two small sunfish.

Hey Fishy Fishy

She ended up coining a new phrase after loosing a bass and having the line come back and whack her in the face. "I've been bass whacked!"

Protecting Their Investment

Twice in the last week I've fished a small pond that is tucked in a group of homes. These are my favorite ponds because they are often overlooked and under fished. In fact, in all the times I've been there, I've never seen anyone else fishing it, other than those friends and family I take with me.

Well, twice this week I've had home owners from the neighborhood sneak up behind me and start a conversation. I don't think they realize that sneaking up on a guy casting a hook and 30 foot of line isn't a good idea. In fact one guy started to step back behind me mid cast. I swear he almost got a sharp reminder not to do that again.

Both times these guys came up to talk to me with one thing in mind. Money! Cold hard cash! See, both of them have put in $23 each (presumably with the whole neighborhood) and purchased 7 grass carp. Their hope is that these carp will keep the weeds down and help make the pond "cleaner." The truth is, I wish they hadn't done this. My favorite bass ponds do not have carp and DO have weeds, and moss, and scum, and everything else possible that gets stuck to my hook. The reality, to me, is that this vegetation helps keep the water clear and that helps when it comes to spotting fish, or fish spotting a fly.

"In a pond where largemouth bass-bream sport fishing is an important goal, it is desirable for aquatic plants to dominate 5-25% of the pond. Grass carp are probably not a good choice for a bass-bream sport fishing pond where plants cover less than 25% of the pond." (Source)

Both of the men where very polite, but wanted to ask me to release any carp I caught. I agreed I would, but deep down I think putting them in was a mistake. They have a water fountain they put in during the summer, and I feel that does enough to help maintain the ponds beauty.

I'm not an expert on grass carp and what they do to a pond, but it seems like I might have a year or two before I start to lose this great bass pond to the muddy waters of the carp.  .....I better go fishing!

Sneaking Out At Bedtime

After hearing that I took my 13 year old son out to fish Saturday night, my 4 year old said to my wife "I never get to go alone in dad's car."  In the same conversation he told her he wanted to go fishing. He's one of my best fishing buddies and loves to go.

So, last night after the kids where in bed (yes, most of my kids go to bed on school nights at 7:30pm) I told Tyler to go down stairs and see his mom....where she was going to tell him to get his shoes on. The Facebomb post my wife wrote said "Mike and Tyler are off to go fishing and Tyler is just about jumping out of his skin with excitement!"

This kid knows his stuff (or was given insight from his mom), because when I came back downstairs he said "Daddy and I are going fishing at Bronze Leaf."  I told him my reconnaissance from Saturday showed that wasn't a good bet, so we'd set sail for Twin Rock. Then, after that he was all talk about Twin Rock this and Twin Rock that!

We had an hour, and we pulled it off. Leaving at 8:05pm we hit the pond and quickly I caught a bass. About 20 minutes later he cast his bobber and crayfish (same that his brother used Saturday) and while I had my back turned he said something about having a tug (a word I rarely use in fishing, but again....this kid knows his stuff.) I turn around to find him fighting a fish! He casted and caught this fish all by himself! After I removed the hook he put two tiny hands around it and threw it back! Fly fish fly!

Bass Attack!

 After the sun set we headed home, but stopped for a treat. He picked out a baseball bat that had gum inside.

Baseball bat with gum inside.

When we got home, I'm pretty sure the first thing he told his mom about was the baseball bat with gum....second thing was the fish!

From Cleaning Lockers to Fishing for Bass

First, how about a picture of a bass to keep your interest?

One of 9 bass for him that night

This past week, my 13 (and a 1/2.....I want the credit) year old son and I went out fishing. It was a looooong time in the making considering earlier in the week we had to clean out his locker to find homework that was due WEEKS ago. Hopefully he'll get some credit for those assignments. Kids keep testing your patience for sure!

His locker

So, after cleaning the locker, and spending the next 5 days trying to get him to do the work, he finally finished and we were able to go fishing!

We first went to Lake Ontario to a place where an old power plant sits. Years ago, and all through my teenage years, this plant use to be in operation and this place use to be a favorite place for me to fish. Since then, I realized there were better places to fish, and the shut down of the plant killed the flow of water, and a recent copper theft led to an oil spill. So, we weren't too hopeful for much luck at this location. We ended up fishing the lake side for about 10 minutes before giving up and taking off to another place.

Stop two was one of my favorite local ponds. Unfortunately, a day or two can make all the difference. This pond just a week ago was clear on the surface, but this weekend, after a few days of sun, and lack of rain, the pond was 80% covered in scum. So, we took off.

Our third stop was at a place I call Twin Rock pond. It was a good decision to go to this place since the water was pretty much clear, and this pond often give up a good number of bass.

We ended up having a great 2 hours on this pond and we each caught 9 bass a piece. One of my favorite fish, was the one that got away. I had a huge hit right as my fly landed and before I could get a second cast at it, my son tossed his fly under bobber rig out and had the fish hit. We both lost the same fish and  had a good time recounting our attempt. A while later, we had a double.

This was the first night he released all his fish alone. He got pretty good, and with a little encouragement he lipped even the biggest fish he caught. 

Bass Thumb

A nice 10 inch bass

 I even convinced him to take my picture.

It was a great night and he was telling me we need to go more often. I resisted saying he has to do his homework more often. Hopefully he'll realize the more he does his homework ON TIME, the greater the chance he can get out fishing!

And, I learned that I have to use stronger tippet when using poppers that I spent a long time to make. Small tippet likes to give poppers away to weeds.

The Tailing Loop Contest to Benefit PHW

I got an email a few minutes ago from Christian over at The Tailing Loop. He's just announced a new contest to win a 5/7 reel or a fly box from Allen Fly Co.

The contest is pretty simple and you can join in by either buying a raffle ticket or by sending in 3 flies to help fill the fly box. All money raised in this contest will be donated to Project Healing Waters.

So, help out a great cause and get a chance to win a new reel or a fly box with flies.

Click here for full details