I got you!!

It is one of those Chamber of Commerce days here, mid 70s, light winds, 13 mph, the visibility is getting better about 15 miles.  Still don't quite know what is causing all this shmutz in the air.  Sure wish it would clear up a touch. 

It is warm and clear enough that you can feel the sunburn coming and you can see deep into the water.  It looks like another start of some floating weed blooms again.  Several of the shallow areas had small clumps building up again.   Makes casting through it a bother.  Since the wind direction has changed, I decided to head over to deeper water and try there first.

I get into a good position and fire out a shot with a weightless lizard.  I let it settle from the long cast and get surprised by a rapid tug.  It is so strong but short in duration that it catches me off guard.  About 10 minutes of repetitive casting doesn't produce anything else.  So it is time to try something else as an alternative.  I go on to the skirted jig and send one way out towards the center of the dam.  Again, it settles from the initial drop and I get that all too familiar peck and pull.  Again, it is toying with my emotions, as just when I think it is suitable to load up on it, the whole show's off and it gets slack from the drop. 

Ok, we've played this game and they have played it well.  Time for a change of strategy, time for those fast reflexes, right?   Nope, that wasn't doing it at all.  Several cycles of that produced nothing but muddy shoes from mis-stepping on the bank.  Ooops!  Back to brute force and stupidity, I'm just going to stay on target and wait for it.  I really observe the pattern, it is only happening on the initial drop.  If I make attempts to move it from that initial location all bets are off.   So I fire and prep while it drops.  Easier said than done as these are really 90% or more long casts to reach this location.  I can only toss so far with that current setup. 

I send it out there and manage the slack line to a slight bow to minimize any tension on the bait.  There it is peck and pull.  It is about 4 seconds between cycles of this.   An interesting point the pulls are getting a bit more every time.  So maybe it is more interested than I realize.  I wait a few more cycles of this and then it comes where there are two concurrent cycles with very little 'down' time.  That is my queue!  I point the rod tip down, start reeling and haul back on the line and pull through all that 40+ yards of line cast out in the water.  I can feel some weight at the other end but since I'm using mono I'm not sure of the stretch factor so I'll figure it all out in a moment.   Right now I'm winding like a mad man.  Through the windings I can start to feel shock and awe on the distant end.  Apparently I caught it by surprise as it took a moment to figure out we are ON!  Funny how the most prominent thought for me was, " I GOT YOU! ". 

A side bar benefit for this type of hook up is that you have extended time goofing with the fish.  Once again my drag on the bait caster was not quite as tight as I would have liked for the hook set but it was good enough.   About half way back the fight was really on for the two of us.  At this point a frequent fellow fisherman who was nearby was now watching intently as he saw the little pole in my hand bow with every surge.  It was even  more exciting as things got airborne and when it got close to shore.  There were several really strong surges right at shore where I had to ease up and let the situation play out for a bit longer. 

Clear water is a both fun and helpful.  I could see the jig securely impaled in the corner of the jaw plate.  Love those jigs!  That weed guard appears to keep things held fast in place too.  This was a heavy fish for the way the playing about at the initial bite.   Who would have guessed that this 15 inch LMB was the culprit for playing with my emotions.  I GOT YOU!

I eased it to shore and gave it a quick look over as I lifted the hook gently out.  Thanks for playing the game.  I lowered it to the water and let it swim off.  The colors were pretty but light in contrast so I'm guessing this was a deeper water fish. 

Considering where I put the lure, there must be shelf or ledge that I'm not aware of as it doesn't seem very long of a drop.  Should be interesting to see if I can find more out that way in the days to follow. 

I also got a chance to haul out the fish whip and goof with that too.  I ended up wearing out one of my newer flies.  It was frazzling quite a bit.  Must be from all that abrasion from fish teeth.  I got  a whole bunch of bites but only a couple that stay on long enough for me to connect.  Even then I was only able to bring one to shore.  Most of them were extended releases.  I'm getting good at those.  The cool part is that your hands don't get gummy or fishy.  So it goes.  I'll need to tie on a different fly, one that is not frazzled.