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Woke up early on Sunday morning and decided to have another go at catching my first MA LMB of the year using my new 7' jigging pole (Note to self - 7' poles are much harder to re-string on a float tube after a hang-up than the 5 1/2 foot and 6 foot poles I usually use). Decided to head south to try to find "Lake 2X" again. Last time I tried to find "2X" I got lost and ended up at a familiar farm pond in Syracuse.
As fate would have it I drove right to "2X" this time. Upon arrival it was pretty clear that I would have the murky 15 acres all to my lonesome this day. Looks like I could have it to myself most days based on the lack of bank tangling locations except for a very primitive and rutted "boat ramp". The whole lake was surrounded by cover that would make it impossible for any shore anglers to make it a go. Launching anything bigger than my float tube would be impossible with the huge ruts in the road leading to the "ramp". A couple locals that I had talked to did say that because of the access and such, that this particular puddle was used mostly during ice-on season.
Although my main goal was to chase that elusive MA LMB -- I had my second pole along dragging a worm along the bottom just in case the Bass did not want to play. I soon found out that this second "don't get skunked" pole was going to create too big of a distraction to allow me to concentrate on the Bass. Within the first 15 minutes I had 3 pretty nice sized eater cats (16" - 20") pull me around and get in the way of my jig-fest on the other pole.
After putting away the worm pole I was finally able to concentrate on chasing bass. Nothing for about 20 minutes until the WIND started to kick up and move me right over a crappie hole. Not lucky enough to get into any big ones like last week at the farm pond -- but the little 8 to 11 inch ones I did catch sure seemed to be feisty when I got them on board. A few of them even managed to jump out of my lap. I did get a couple of pictures of the average sampling. (I ended up playing with them for about a half hour and caught about 15 or 16 of them in total, with the biggest just over 11 inches.
By this point the wind was really making it tougher to stay in one place, so I decided to give up on the bass and troll the worm on my other pole while I kicked back to my car. On the journey back, the bluegill decided to start playing and in the half hour it took me to kick against the wind back to where I started I brought in about 10 of them all between 8 and 9 inches. Most of them right at 8 inches.
All in all not a bad morning to fish, and I enjoyed the peaceful almost weird silence of this location.....Might try again one evening this week.
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DT...
great report and pics.. thank you for posting both...
MacFly [cool]
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[cool][#0000ff]Yep. That's what tubin' is all about. There are grundles of small ponds around the country that hardly get any action at all during the open water months, just because they are so hard to fish from shore or from a boat either. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is good that you showed up to exercise those poor fishies. They were probably very grateful for your help.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Too bad the largies didn't wanna play. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. Better luck next time.[/#0000ff]
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Yea....I don't want to limit myself just to BASS....I have found (mostly from lack of experience and the hard way) that a good day on the water is when you are throwing a generic jig that all species will give a look at and play around with rather than putting all of your eggs in one basket and going topwater, buzzbaits, 7 inch worms, etc...that most of the "serious" BASS guys do around here to catch the bigger ones....to many days of getting skunked trying for Bass only....Plus on a good day, I can catch just as many 12"-18" bass on a roadrunner than any of the fancy Bass hunters do with all of their wizbang lures and fancy baitcasters.....It is the elusive 20"+ Bass that have got my number. Oh well, after driving all of the way to the spot, inflation, gear up, launching, take down and clean up -- I am too lazy to take a skunking and just want to catch fish of any species I guess 
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[font "Tempus Sans ITC"][#005000][size 3]...isnt the idea to have fun and catch fish... ? if so.. sounds like you did a great job of it...[/size][/#005000][/font]
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[font "Tempus Sans ITC"][#005000][size 3]MacFly [cool][/size][/#005000][/font]
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[font "Tempus Sans ITC"][#005000][size 3] ...isnt the idea to have fun and catch fish... ? if so.. sounds like you did a great job of it...[/size][/#005000][/font]
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[font "Tempus Sans ITC"][#005000][size 3] MacFly [cool][/size][/#005000][/font][/reply]
You got it! A bad day on the water is better than a good day at work anytime
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Agreed and sweet. But there is no doubt that you're a bass huntin' fool!
-ABT
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Nice report Dusty! And good fishing too. I can't beleive your complaining about catching cats LOL.
Those little ponds are great and ment for tubers. Nobody else seems to be able to fish them. Awwww aint tubing the greatest!!! Peace and solitude at it's best.
A 7 foot rod? What did your arms grow since the last time I seem ya? Re-stringing it you must of had half the rod dangling in the pond. Wish I was there. My 6'6" is all I can handle on the tube.
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Thanks Marty. I am "coming around" to chasing after the cats a little more lately....(since they seem to be more than willing to surrender this time of year.)
As for the 7 foot rod...It is a monster to try to manage on the tube, but I got such a good deal on it....and I can "feel" the roadrunners bounce really good with it.
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7' rod is short in my world. I use 9', 9 1/2', and my favorite 10' for float tubing. But then the quest for me is keeping the line off the water till I am ready.[ ]
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I can see it now FG........... reeling back all the form in the world. She starts the whip forward the fly dances just above the water........... all of a sudden the elusive gloden toothless walleye leaps for the Heavens............ snatches that prised trout fly and heads for Davey Jones locker..........nearly pulling rod and reel from the unsepecting FG's hand.............. quiclky she spins the toon and plink the snippet breaks (can they even do that).......... the backlash from the force unravles her line from the pole ................. We're all watching to see how ya re-string that 10 footer kiddo LOL
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[black][size 3]Being serious, it is actually easy to "restring" a long rod from a tube/toon.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]Just stand the rod vertically, and drop the butt end of the rod in the water as you go up the guides with the line.[/size]
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Works much better than trying to do it with the outfit out of the water. The fresh water doesn't hurt the reel and cork handle any more than a rain storm.
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So I take it it's a light action rod? I'm currently using a 6'6" UL. Mostly cause I was careless and broke my lil UL at Willard. So now I have to build me a new one. But I also got such a good deal on it I couldn't pass it up. Hell I can't build one for what I paid for it. But it is not the same as one I will be making.
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[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]Post:[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]I can see it now FG........... reeling back all the form in the world. She starts the whip forward the fly dances just above the water........... all of a sudden the elusive gloden toothless walleye leaps for the Heavens............ snatches that prised trout fly and heads for Davey Jones locker..........nearly pulling rod and reel from the unsepecting FG's hand.............. quiclky she spins the toon and plink the snippet breaks (can they even do that).......... the backlash from the force unravles her line from the pole ................. We're all watching to see how ya re-string that 10 footer kiddo LOL
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I can almost see that in my head LMAO.
Saber is right, it is easy to restring a rod in water. One thing though, I have had no break offs (knock on wood). The length of the rod absorbs a lot, plus with the drag set right, no back lash and a sweat wizzing sound. Then I turn around and go in reverse as fast as I can to catch up. The Only time a fish has broke me off was flipping out of the net while I was holding the line and rod, then dive straight down, and the other time of course, the underwater tree.
Patience is a must in FF.
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Road: Yep it is a light action from Cabelas. (The [url "http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20374_TGP&id=0043143121685a&navCount=1&podId=0043143&parentId=cat20374&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=7IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20374&hasJS=true"]gold label[/url] series)
I was looking for a good light action jigging rod....and since I only had 12 or 13 other rods, I just needed another one. (Just like the wife always needs that 1 more pair of shoes right?)
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[cool][#0000ff]A little water in a fly reel usually does not mess it up much. However, there are a lot of spinning reels that have close tolerances with line spools, etc., and are adversely affected by getting water in the works. Not good to dip them in the drink.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I can't believe nobody has suggested taking the rod apart on longer rods if you have to restring them. On the one or two occasions I have had to change spools or otherwise restring a rod, that is what I do. Of course, if you have a long one piece rod, that makes a difference.[/#0000ff]
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[black][size 3]Right On, TD.[/size][/black]
[black][size 3]When I gave my method of restringing a rod, I was thinking of a fly rod. I have never had to restring a spinning rod on the water.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]If I have only one or on occasion two rods with me on a fishing outing, I will quite often change spools/line to fish at different depths in the water column.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Most of my fly reels are nothing special, metalists, cheep Okumas, and STH with plastic spools. I have always looked at a fly reel as just a place to store line, and even though I'll spend several hundred dollars on the rod, I'm pretty cheap when it comes to reels. (Even though I use and appreciate a good drag system on a fly reel, I have never been taken into my backing by a fish. Maybe I need to start fishing for larger fish.)[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]In retrospect, I think that any problem that I have had with spinning reels, has been caused by dust and dirt rather than water.[/size][/black]
[black][size 3]Bait casting reels that I use seem to be about bullet proof and I think that they are more complex with tighter tolerances than any others.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Sorry about the rambling, but like any old man, I tend to impart more detail than necessary to convey a thought.[/size][/black]
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[cool][#0000ff]On most of my jaunts, where fly fishing gear is a part of my rod ensemble, the reels are usually good ol' Pflueger Medalists. Like yourself, I view them as line storage contrivances...not bling to be flashed as a status symbol. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the past, I have flung feathers for larger fish...like salmon, steelhead, stripers, etc...that sometimes tried to relieve me of all the extra line I had on my reel. On those trips I usually had a better quality reel, with good drags and plenty of backing to "back my play". But, for average trout and the warm water species I play with, with my fairy wand, I have never had the need for more than a Medalist.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On the subject of the spinning reels, I have had several models over the years that would turn balky and sticky whenever I dunked them in the water. If I happened to be carrying my little can of WD40, I could quickly correct the problem by spraying a little up under the line spool. Hard to believe that they would be that touchy, but having it happen a few times was enough to make me more careful...and was reason for me to keep carrying WD40 in my tube emergency kit. However, unlike many Utah anglers, I do not believe in using this petroleum product as a fish attractant. It is poisonous to humans so I doubt it would do a fish any good to swipe some WD40 laced bait and swim off with it.[/#0000ff]
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