4/7/2016

Rule #38:  Having a hero is a great responsibility.  Others will always try to recall the negative sides of your hero's character.  Your job is to recall those accurately, but to focus always on your hero's greatness.  Remember stories about him and tell them often.



I know that when I was a kid, or maybe some time in college, fishing with the Doc, that I have fished under worse weather conditions--but I can't remember when.

It was about 33 degrees, with winds gusting up to 30 mph when I first got out to the Fisher Ponds.   I had my Notre Dame hoodie, and the lined rain jacket Todd gave me.  I thought that bringing both was overkill, but, thank goodness I did, because I needed them both!  I even had toe warmers stuck to the inside of the left pocket of my rain jacket.  I needed those as well!

From 1-2:00, I thought I would stay warmest by baitfishing a nightcrawler on a "Galati Rig," where I could cast out and just huddle down into my jacket with my hands in my pockets.  I positioned my chair so that I could reach what seems like cover between the shore by "Groundhog Hill" and "Goose Shit Point."  It had been sprinkling while I ran errands in the morning, but about 15 minutes into soaking that 'crawler, the snow and sleet started coming in HARD.  At one point I turned to look at my truck which was about 15-20 yards away, and could only see its vague outline through the snow!  Again, I was so happy to have that rain jacket Todd gave me--the hood, layered over the hood from my ND sweatshirt--saved me today!  After getting no hits for about 40 minutes, I moved my chair so that I was pointed straight across the mouth of that little cove to the left of Groundhog Hill.  I thought that would give me access to the deep water I imagined the fish were in given how cold it was.  Twenty minutes later, I realized I was wrong, and frozen.

I left my bait rod and virtually ran to my truck where I fumbled frozen fingers to get the keys out of my pocket, actually get one into the ignition, and turn the engine on.  Blessed, blessed hot air started blowing out of the vents by the time I got my gloves off!  Fifteen minutes later, I was ready to try again.  While I was thawing, I entertained the thought that I would be better off casting a lure and walking around the pond--partly because it was beginning to appear that the fish had not read the "Solunar Tables" which indicated they should be active by now, and partly because I thought the walking and casting might keep my blood circulating better!

I put on a 5 inch, wacky-rigged Yum! "senko-type" plastic worm in Watermelon Pearl because I thought it looked like a Bass fingerling that might provoke an aggression strike, especially this time of year when it looked like some of the younger bass were starting to stake out their nesting sites.

I started at the cove I had left off right by Groundhog Hill, and right away started getting hit in the shallower parts of the cove.  I caught 2 out of that cove--and honestly, probably missed at least 2 more.  Unusual for this time of year, the retrieve that worked best was a relatively fast twitch, which is lucky, because the typical slow finesse retrieve that depends so much on watching my line for tell-tale twitches was NOT going to work in this kind of wind!  After I caught those two, things went cold in the cove--like they often do once you stir things up on a small body of water, so rather than fight it, I moved to the furthest east of the pits.  I saw at least ten huge Channel Cats in the shallowest (eastern) shore of this pit.  I caught my third bass here.  He hit the worm before I'd retrieved it 5 feet, really quickly.  This was the biggest of my day, probably 14 inches or so.  I added him to the stringer and then walked toward the furthest western pit.  There are 3 areas on Fisher Ponds where the water is shallow, at least 3 that I feel comfortable fishing.  (There are a few places closer to our friends' house, but I don't feel like I should "invade" their space by fishing too close to their home.)  So on the furthest eastern pit, I don't go beyond where the diving board once was, and on the northwestern corner, I fish "Goose Shit" point, but don't turn there where my great Uncle once had his kennels.

I had just untangled my line, and was getting a little frustrated, so I said to myself, "One last cast."  I tossed the worm toward the northern end of that cove, and got a nice strike about halfway through my retrieve.  So, when you catch a fish on the "last cast," you have to quit--if you don't, you can truly jinx your next trip.  Didn't you know that?  Oh, yeah.  It's very reliable--at least as much so as the freekin' Solunar Tables!!

Four bass, from 11"-14".   I'm going to fillet them tonight and put them in the freezer for the upcoming days when Peg is at her conferences, and I can cook fish in the house!!

TALLY:

Outings:  I've been fishing six times this season.
Fish:  So far, I've caught ten Largemouth Bass.