Deering Resevior – July 23rd, 2006

My nephew Nelson was up for the day. You know what that means right? FISHING!

We contemplated a saltwater trip or a freshwater trip. Wow, what a tough decision with the weather. It was supposed to rain and be soggy out. That is my favorite type of weather. Think about it, the weekend fairweather hoo-hahs won’t be out, the fishing is typically good during storm front, and only the hard-core anglers will be out and they typically are a curtious and respectful folk.

Nelson has expressed interest in learning how to fish freshwater better so we went to Deering resevior in search of largemouth and smallmouth bass. It was little late start to the day as we ate a good breakfeast (thanks to my loving wife) and we spent some time getting our gear ready. I explained the gear as we rigged up in my basement over a cup of coffee and looked at different lures. All the gear ready for a rainy day we headed out.

About 10 minutes into the ride I saw the sun. Darn, I forgot my sunglasses and all of my gear was setup for raining weather like we were supposed to get. Well the front was past us which means that the fish would be a bit more of a challenge to catch. I had my doubts as we headed there but was still optomistic. I know how to fish for these guys and know this lake well. Hopefully, I can still put us on some fish, even if we got into some small ones I would be happy.
As we launched the boat there was a woman from the lakes assoication checking trailers for milfoil. I think that it is good that they do this to protect the waters but sometimes get annoyed that they treat you like you are a criminal that is dragging milfoil around looking for a place to dump it. If they want to stop people from doing this, they need to procecute a few people. While they are at it, maybe get a few of those jet skiis that are illegally using them on waters that say “no jet skiis allowed”. I am going to start calling marine patrol from now on when I see them out there.

We headed to a rocky and stumpy area that I knew of between some islands. I was hoping for a topwater bite but by the looks of things it was more like a spinnerbait or crankbait bite if one existed at all. I still tried topwater for a few casts and so did Neslon. Nothing doing. Did get to see an idiot go through a no wake zone in his little boat at about 15-20 mph and an annoyed waterfront property owner on shore screaming at him to slow down. Hey, if you have a small boat YOU STILL NEED TO FOLLOW THE LAWS ON THE WATER – JERK! Sorry, I’m just getting frustrated with the stupidity of some people on the water. And they think a speed limit law is going to help? Please marine patrol, start to stop some people and prosecute them for the smallest stuff so that WE as a boating comunity learn to follow the laws. Too many people think that once you are on water that you can act like a fool.

I switched to spinnerbaits and crankbaits as we went between the islands and around fishing 5-10 feet of water still with no success. Explaining the lake and structure to Nelson I told him that we will likely have to go deaper to find fish on a day like today. He said bring it on and we headed to my spot out in 20-25 feet of water that has always been special to me.

We used carolina rigs and fish the edge of a point that meets up out to a hump with a 15 foot on top. I was using a watermelon seed lizard and Nelson went through my stuff to find what interested him which was a Zoom brush hog in watermelon / gold flake. He quickly bent his rod in half and so did I for our 1st set of fish for the day. A double for both our 1st fish – had to be good sign! I had a smallmouth and he had a largemouth. His fish was about 2.5 pounds and mine was a pound if I was lucky. But still, a double for our 1st fish? Yeah!

Nelson’s next fish was a surprise for him. An even bigger largemouth that was over 3 pounds. I caught a couple more fish and we were both steadily into them with a greater than 3 pound average. But real the quality came when Nelson 1st thought he was stuck then realized there was a pig on the end of his line. Guess what, we got another double at that moment too. Both fish fought hard and when his fish got near I saw that it was a net job for that big girl. I pulled out the net to get his fish and scooped up both of our fish in one swipe. Wow, that was cool. His fish was a 4 pound largemouth and mine was about 3 pounds. Nelson was pumped! I was pumped too seeing him so excited to be boating such great fish.

I joined the 4 pound club with Nelson a little later when we teased some more quality fish. We each got about 6 fish but the quality of each was awesome. 6 good fish each can’t compare to numbers (well, maybe some times ;)).

 

It was another great day on the water with Nelson. Hope to get out with him again real soon.

Brian

Gorham Pond – July 22nd, 2006

Hit the pond again today. This time with my daughter Jennifer and my neice Holly. Got the worms in the water with bobbers and started trolling slow. I got a bass pretty much right away on an all black spinnerbait with a huge colorado type blade.

Holly got the next fish with a worm / bobber. A nice (and good sized) sunfish. Great hooksett in the mouth and we got our picks in and sent him off back into the water.
After that I switched to a topwater bait and began to takover the fish catching for the boat. 🙂 I swear I did not mean too do this. After I caught a few I figured I would lure in some fish for the girls by casting to near their bobbers and hopefully bringing the fish near their baits. Instead I started catching more fish from doing this.

I gave the spinning outfit to Jenn so she could catch some this way. As I did I was showing her how to cast it and retreive it and bang, I hooked into another. Giving her the rod she reeled in the fish. Quick pic and back the fish went.

Setting Holly up with a topwater bait as well (a jitterbug) she started fishing this way too. Not much luck on the jitterbug, I switched her bait over to a pop-r style topwater bait. She eventually had one on and got it all the way to the boat. We did a quick release 😉 at the boat so no picture but she had a blast.

I got another topwater fish (ok, I was up to 9 or 10 now) and this one was a good one. It was between 3 and 3.5 pounds. On topwater that is an awesome fish. I have not caught a decent largie like that in a while. What a hoot! That fish also had another hook in it from another angler that must of broke it off. I was able to remove that hook safely and send her back with an unobstructed smile.

We switched the girls back over to worms in hopes that they would catch some more sunfish. Holly got another even bigger sunfish this time and her line was way out. She did a great job and landing it. That girl loves to fish and does a great job at it too.
I switched spinnerbaits as we had a steady drizzle going to a white and red bait with silver willow blades. BANG! another fish just as it hit the water. This time it was an airplane fish. Out of the water for several big jumps. The girls had fun watching that fish make some noise. So did I. I did not weigh it but did get a picture. It was probably between 3.5 and 4 pounds.

The rain picked up and started to get kind of bad out so we left. It was pouring out by the time we got back to the ramp. Putting the boat in the trailer I got soaked. The girls were pretty wet too. But it was not cold so it was a good old summer shower for us.
I set out to make a good trip for the girls and they had fun and so did I. We all caught fish and I caught more than I expected. It is sometimes a hard balance to keep the kids into the fish and fish yourself, especially when the action is so good. I tried to teach them how to fish topwater today and they both did a great job of casting as well as presenting the bait. They kept saying how I was so lucky and maybe I was but I kept telling them that it was because I was focussing on casting and presenting the bait to the fish and that is what allows you to have a better chance of catching more and better fish. I guess we are all learning including me.
Brian

Prayer for Molly

My friend needed some help today,
From someone other than me.
The Vet said her surgery went well,
And we just need to wait and see.
You don’t realize how special she is until times like these are here.
She is the only friend I know that is really happy when I’m near.
We hope that she recovers from this and comes home to stay.
We know she has a ways to go and we will continue to pray.

Get well Molly girl! We need you back in our lives.