20110321 Give me no lip!
30 mph winds with additional gusts with temperatures in the high 60's make for a really interesting day out on the pond. Your casting must be adjusted to accommodate for the drag. No high angle tosses, otherwise the trailing line will be carried away taking your lure with it.
So heavier lures were the way to go.
Given the whitecaps and the gusts, I figured it was going to need to be something moving and making noise to get attention. So I tied up both a rattle trap type lipless lure along with a skirted spinner bait on the other rig. The 1/2 oz lures worked out better for casting in the wind.
My hunch worked out going big and loud. I was rewarded by the interest of a 17 inch LMB. I figured I had just snagged a submerged rock cause the retrieve just stopped. Within a second of the stopping of the lure the pole surged away from me with a solid pull. This fish didn't waste energy with head shaking, just protracted pulls. I really enjoy using the spinning reel as there is audible feedback when the drag is peeling. Although with the intensity of the wind blowing you really could not hear the drag.
When I got the fish to shore, I was impress both by the length and the girth. It was really wide! The entire abdomen cavity was quite swollen. Given that I keep the fussing with the lure to a minimum and gently returned it to the water with my thanks for playing! It is always good to be able to return it to the water where it gracefully swims off rather than a panic departure. I'm guessing it was over 3 lbs for sure. More interesting is the depth of the water was probably less than 3 feet where it hit the lure. Amazing how they are able to hide in the bottom vegetation.
My next cast pulled in about 2 lbs of green growth. Lately the pond has been developing this really fine filimentaous plants. The wind ends up concentrating these fibers into large clusters. I'm guessing that you could call this stuff algae in a generic sense. Fortunately it is not difficult to remove from the lure but it requires a diligent effort. Gotta watch out for those large sharp hooks!
Undaunted, I tossed out again. This time paralleling the shore line with about a 10 foot offset. As I got the lure moving back towards me, at 5 meters out I felt a welcome resistance on the line. This tug was more head shake and less physical loading. Given the speed and intensity of my retrieve, I just barely felt the fish. It was an easy into the shore. A very spunky 11 inch LMB. This one gave me a bit of tussle in getting the hooks out. With all the head shaking both trebble hooks were embedded. I'm glad to carry a handy dandy multi-tool set of pliers. Sure nice to have on these occasions. The spring loaded feature is welcome too!
So it just goes to show that even with all the wind, you can still catch fish!
30 mph winds with additional gusts with temperatures in the high 60's make for a really interesting day out on the pond. Your casting must be adjusted to accommodate for the drag. No high angle tosses, otherwise the trailing line will be carried away taking your lure with it.
So heavier lures were the way to go.
Given the whitecaps and the gusts, I figured it was going to need to be something moving and making noise to get attention. So I tied up both a rattle trap type lipless lure along with a skirted spinner bait on the other rig. The 1/2 oz lures worked out better for casting in the wind.
My hunch worked out going big and loud. I was rewarded by the interest of a 17 inch LMB. I figured I had just snagged a submerged rock cause the retrieve just stopped. Within a second of the stopping of the lure the pole surged away from me with a solid pull. This fish didn't waste energy with head shaking, just protracted pulls. I really enjoy using the spinning reel as there is audible feedback when the drag is peeling. Although with the intensity of the wind blowing you really could not hear the drag.
When I got the fish to shore, I was impress both by the length and the girth. It was really wide! The entire abdomen cavity was quite swollen. Given that I keep the fussing with the lure to a minimum and gently returned it to the water with my thanks for playing! It is always good to be able to return it to the water where it gracefully swims off rather than a panic departure. I'm guessing it was over 3 lbs for sure. More interesting is the depth of the water was probably less than 3 feet where it hit the lure. Amazing how they are able to hide in the bottom vegetation.
My next cast pulled in about 2 lbs of green growth. Lately the pond has been developing this really fine filimentaous plants. The wind ends up concentrating these fibers into large clusters. I'm guessing that you could call this stuff algae in a generic sense. Fortunately it is not difficult to remove from the lure but it requires a diligent effort. Gotta watch out for those large sharp hooks!
Undaunted, I tossed out again. This time paralleling the shore line with about a 10 foot offset. As I got the lure moving back towards me, at 5 meters out I felt a welcome resistance on the line. This tug was more head shake and less physical loading. Given the speed and intensity of my retrieve, I just barely felt the fish. It was an easy into the shore. A very spunky 11 inch LMB. This one gave me a bit of tussle in getting the hooks out. With all the head shaking both trebble hooks were embedded. I'm glad to carry a handy dandy multi-tool set of pliers. Sure nice to have on these occasions. The spring loaded feature is welcome too!
So it just goes to show that even with all the wind, you can still catch fish!
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