Saturday, August 6th, 2005
I took Linus up to Westlake pond around 11am, to try our luck on the bluegill, using our flies. I think maybe next time I'll bring some worms for the kid that is with me. I've been told to cut them up into smaller pieces and double the piece up on the hook. Maybe even dough bait, as it seemed to keep the kids more entertained last time, though it kept me busy putting more bait on the hook as the fish got it off.
The bluegill were really pretty, as usual, many still on their spawning beds. A huge school of them were there on the east side of the pond, and a few bass too. The bass aren't 'on the bite' apparently, during the heat of the day, though I saw the big one chase after a pair of dragonflies that were 'dipping', laying their eggs. It even jumped partially out of the water trying to get them. I tried tossing the bluegill a small dry fly first (a light cahill that happened to be on the loop-tippet from the last trip), but they didn't take any notice of it. Maybe they need the good 'plop' of a terrestrial to get their attention. The bluegill liked my new poppers just fine. Green body, yellow hackle, and a light green marabou tail. It is on the big side for the small fish, which is ok. I noticed that I got a lot more takes if I cast out a bit, instead of close in where I could see the fish easier (and the fish could see me..). I was using the 3wt rod again.
One of the poppers came off in a fish, due to a bad knot. I feel badly about this; it was a simple clinch knot, out of sheer laziness. I will never again do that. I hope the fish was able to eventually get the fly out of it's mount, as I didn't see it floating on the pond. It was barbless, so maybe..
Linus didn't catch any himself.. the timing of the strike is too hard for him still, as the fish are quick to spit out the fly. We tried a wetfly too, but those are hard for him to see and the fish spit them out really fast too. I haven't quite figured out how to use flies with a bobber yet; the bobber acting as a casting float. More experimenting is required. Seems the big bobber is spooking the fish somewhat, but maybe not. Like I said before, the big splash alerts them to that there may be food around. Anyway, I let him reel in one of the bluegill I hooked. At the end of the outing he seemed to have enjoyed himself, so I guess we did ok.
Maybe I should get a cheap flyrod for the boys to try. It would be longer than their little casting rods, so they could get a fly out a little further even without casting. Or, I could cast it out for them and hand it to them. With their casting rods, I have to cast the float out for them anyway, if they want to get their fly/bait further out. Possibly a 7' flyrod could also double as a bait-fishing pole.
I've noticed that I don't go into fishing trance much when I'm with the boys.