I took the day off from work yesterday. Lilly had a Halloween parade & party at her pre-school and I wanted to go. Lilly is going trick or treating as a zebra this year, and she really loves the costume her Mom made her.
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the Halloween stuff…well, because the real thing is on Sunday, and you know a post outlining Halloween night from A-to-Z will surely follow thereafter.
After school, I wanted to try and do something special with Lilly since I was home – go out to lunch, go to the movies, or maybe even go to the zoo – but she just wanted to stay home. Oh well. After lounging on the sofa and watching Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, she went upstairs to take a nap around 1:30.
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| When you love your kid, even this is tolerable. |
I had nothing to do for the next few hours. Despite the steady rain, I grabbed the fly rod, a box of flies, and headed over to Sanatoga Park to target some bass…yes, I said bass, as well as other warmwater species.
Sanatoga Park is where I usually take Lilly fishing. It’s less than 10 minutes from our house and there’s tons of sunfish & bluegill in the large pond/lake/whatever you want to call it. It’s a very kid-friendly setting with huge flat rocks surrounding the impoundment. I planned on fishing below the stone dam that holds all of that water up. Not so kid friendly.
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| It was wet. |
I was using a 6’6″ L.L. Bean Quest II fly rod (the same one I plan on upgrading at some point this winter), & an Albright Topwater click n’ pawl reel. Tossed a small woolly bugger on 4-wt line. Not sure if the fish were hungry or just partying in the rain, but it was by far the most fishing action I’ve had in a long time.
Cast, strip-strip, BAM!
They weren’t the largest fish, but this sequence repeated itself pretty much every other cast for about 2 solid hours.
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| $29.99 Tevas gripping rocks and repelling water like a champ |
By 4:00, I was waterlogged from head to ankle (my feet were fine), and decided it was time to head home to dry off. I’ll probably be back soon though…just waiting for more rain.
And a very cute zebra she is. Halloween was always fun when the kids were little. Nice bunch of crappie, bass, etc from the pond. Mark
Nice job on the costume Mom!!Mike what a day!…time w/Lilly and then fishing like that….awesome!!These guys have been sick all week, but any luck I'm gonna get out w/the fishing gear Saturday (that statement will jinx that somehow, lol)
Good fishing! Size doesn't matter when you're slayin' em.How can you still wear shorts in this weather? Is it the fur leggings you were sporting?
@Shoreman – Thanks. I'm looking forward to Sunday. It rained last year so it wasn't the most fun for the kids.@Dennis – I'm sure you'll get the clan up and at 'em for the weekend.@Clif – It was in the low 70s yesterday despite the clouds & rain, felt nice, and the fur leggings did help. I have no way to confirm this, but much like Burt Reynolds, I believe I'm of Neanderthal descent.
Sweet catches! That rock bass is a pretty nice one, along with the 'gills! I'll be sure to stock up on those Woollies when my time comes.Are Woolly Buggers easy to tie?
I would say that was a fantastic few hours of fishing. Lets see, Bluegill, Bass, Crappie, all on a 4wt. That's just too much fun!
@Casey – Buggers aren't that difficult, I have confidence in you should you give it a try. There's lots of good YouTube videos that show it step by step.@Mel – It was fun. Those panfish aren't quite as selective as those brownies I usually chase.
What a wonderful variety of fish.Great colors on the sunfish.