rb608 wrote:
As I said when I bared my soul earlier, I've pretty much put the rods
away for a while; but happenstance gives me a chance to relate at
least a minor TR. Thanks to SWMBO, we had the task of an overnight a
babysitting gig for my two nephews, ages 3 & 8. Part of the deal was
that I needed to take the older one to a Cub Scout meeting on Friday
night, about a half hour away up in PA. Fine.

In getting home after work, the details were revealed to me. It
wasn't a meeting exactly, but a fishing expedition in a local farm
pond. Now, I had just moved my rods & other gear top another room in
the basement, so I knew where almost everything was. Why not, I
figured; and I grabbed the 6 wt. & the nearest box of flies I could
find. That turned out to be a brief assortment of small Clousers and
deer hair spiders. I'd tied up for the Rappahannock a few years back.

Got the kid to the pond about 2 hrs before dark. About a dozen
similar urchins were already harassing the local sunny population
with an assortment of Zebcos, bobbers, & garden hackles. The older,
grandfatherly fellow on site said howdy & began telling me of the
large bass & other fish hiding in this 1/3 acre puddle. Yeah, sure;
but I have hours to kill, so I rig up.
I don't have much of a selection, but I tied on about a #2 brown/white
Clouser & start working the center edges, with no effect. The Cub
Scouts are hauling in sunnies one after another. It's been a while
for casting at all; even longer for tossing Clousers, and smoothness
is not a word anyone would use to describe my style. Still, this
ain't exactlt technical fishing, and I'm good enough.

Eventually, as I'm stripping in, there's suddenly a weight at the end
of my line. Sonofabitch, I've hooked something. It's soon clear
this is no little sunny as the thing actually strips line from the
drag. By now, I've got everyone's attention as the fish keeps a good
bend in the graphite and the reel sings. Cool.

It only takes about a minute befor the roll at the surface reveals a
surprisingly large catfish; and a minute later, the monster is
shoreside. Thing must have gone 2 or 3 pounds. In trying to lift him
onto the bank, the #5 leader parts easily, and he's gone before Den
Mother can snap a picture. Lost the Clouser, damn. I know that
catfish in these ponds will eat damn near anything, but I was
surprised to pick one up on a fly; I've never caught a catfish on a
fly before.
Otherwise, it was uneventful, except for launching a 3" sunny on a
backcast. It was good feeling the rhythm again, & good to see little
kids getting excited about catching little fishies.

Hey, welcome back, Joe. I mean *really* back. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/