05/28/2010
I had been hoping to hit a private section of The Bear, and I had finally gotten the go ahead for Friday. I had all sorts of images of giant prespawn smallmouth dancing through my head the night before I was to set foot on this glorious stretch of water. I awoke to a beautiful sunny day, and I quickly loaded up my car. After I arrived I loaded about 30lbs of gear into my vest and set out across the farmland and river bottoms. I made my way down to the water, tanagers flitting through the trees as I walked, and popped out at a small offshoot from the river. As I waded into the water, a rather perturbed crane came stumbling out of the bushes, cursing me all the way. I still had a 1/4 ounce chartreuse and orange curly tail jig on my jigging rod from my adventures downstream a couple of days earlier. I figured I'd toss it out and give it a try before re-tying. I placed it at the head of a gentle riffle, ticking it along the rocks, when something thumped it. I set the hook into a solid fish that bent my rod nicely. The bass went airborne a couple of times before calming down so I could lip her.
I was pretty excited to have caught a nice bass so quickly. I worked up to the main river and fished a likely run, but nothing happened. About this time a wall of dark clouds appeared to the south, and the wind began to kick up. I moved upstream to an area where I'd done well before, spotting an elusive wood duck along the way. I threw an X-Rap for a while, but I only caught weeds. By now it was completely cloudy and the wind was howling. I moved up above a nice shelf and fished the area with the jig. Still nothing, so I switched to a small tube. I wasn't having any better success until I drifted the tube straight down and crawled it back up to the shelf. A fish grabbed it but quickly pulled free. I went back to the chartreuse curly tail and tried the same trick. I quickly caught about a ten inch smallmouth. I worked my way across the shelf, and eventually hooked into another decent fish. It leaped clear of the water several times before I landed it.
I fished the area a while longer with no more fish. It was beginning to sprinkle now, and I had a decision to make. I could bag it, the water was still apparently on the cold side, or I could hike about a half mile upstream to a really nice looking run. I ended up going with the latter, the rain intensifying as I traversed the river banks and barbed wire. I arrived at my destination and worked my way across the river. I began working my jig down a shelf when I noticed two giant carp holding just below me. I presented my jig to them, and one appeared to go for it. I set the hook, and that was the beginning of the battle of the year. I stood there at the head of the run, watching my line retreat downstream. When the mongrel had pulled out roughly 100 feet of line I felt that it was time I go chase her. With my rod held high I labored back across The Mighty Bear until I hit some slack water on the opposite bank. I began trying to take in line and hike downstream. I would bring in five feet, and the fish would pull off ten. After about five minutes we found ourselves in some waste deep, but sluggish water. I could see that I had actually foul hooked the fish in the side, giving an already strong fish more leverage. I began putting a little more pressure on the carp, but whenever I grabbed my net, the fish would pull off ten or twenty feet of line and we'd start again. My hand was beginning to cramp and I was afraid my rod was going to be shattered on a scungey old carpon. After a good ten minutes I found myself about 100 yards downstream from where I'd started with a very heavy fish in my net. I could barely lift the thing with the stubby little handle on my landing net. I lay the beast down on the grass and taped it at 26 1/2".
I didn't get the girth, but it was substantial. I decided that any fish that could make my hand hurt and take me that far downstream deserved my respect. So I resisted the urge to have catfish bait for the rest of the year, and turned her loose. It was a steady soaking rain now, but I fished on. I snagged another carp, but it pulled loose after a mere moment of struggle. I covered the run extensively , but no smallmouth ever showed themselves. I hiked back downstream, visiting the areas where I'd caught bass previously, but to no avail. I tromped back to my car feeling pretty disappointed. A few smallmouth and a carp were not what I'd had in mind, but I guess Mother Nature just wasn't ready for summer yet.
Final Tally: 3 Smallmouth Bass, 1 Carp
Year Tally: 266 Fish
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