An Incredible Multispecies Day

After revenge on the bowfin lost two days before, I returned to the scene of the crime. I'd told myself I wasn't going to target pike this time and that I'd focus on bowfin. But I just couldn't help myself. I've not caught a lot of pike. I rigged up the Christmas Ornament and ripped it allong the weed lines. It didn't take long. I was two hand retrieving when the first fish waked up on the fly then blew up. It was a nice clean little fish and fought hard.

The next fish blew up much harder, and turned my attention away from trying to spot a bowfin while working the fly. I jammeed it and immediately felt that it was solid fish. Not a monster but my new personal best, the second in two days (the previous day is written up in a patrons only post on Patreon).

I got right back to it after that watching that fish motor off and sight fished a third pike. 

This was now my best pike day it CT, but I wanted to see what else I could squeeze out of the morning. I wasn't seeing bowfin here, so I changed spots.

Musk turtle

Not long after switching locations, I stuck a fish I really didn't expect; a beautiful little walleye.

I followed up the walleye with two decent bass, one 18 incher and one 16 incher. Both took fairly small flies off the bottom. I find that when sight fiahing for largemouth I can best get an uncertain and picky fish to commit by letting the fly settle on the bottom for as long as 30 seconds, then giving it a series of quick hops. Both of these fish slammed the fly as soon as it came off the bottom. The first and bigger of the two had a unique two-tone face and hyperpigmentation melanosis. I've named hime Harvey Dent.

I've caught a lot of bass though so these fish weren't really getting my that excited. When I saw a channel cat nosing through the rocks looking for food though, that got my heart rate up. I dropped the fly in front of it and it took. A few minutes later I missed a take fron another. Now this was turning into something of an interesting day.

Still seeing no bowfin, I moved again. I worked my way up a bank where Noah and I had found a number of bowfin eating a sucker carcass last year. For most of it there were no signs of bowfin but plenty of bass and yellow perch. I hooked one largemouth on a laydown that was no question north of 20 inches. Would have like to have touched that one.

12 inch perch

Then I found bowfin. They were a real pain in the ass for about an hour though. I lead one in circles for five minutes straight and it just would not commit. Eventually though the tide turned, literally, and fish that would not commit suddenly were everywhere and very willing. I stuck six bowfin total. Now I was on my best bowfin day ever too!

With more black bass, some big bluegills, rockbass, amd redbreast sunfish in the mix, I ended the trip far later than I'd intended and with way more fish to hand, including a lot of trophies. I had seen some pretty wicked things too. I had a huge largemouth come out from a laydown and t-bone a perch I'd hooked. If I carried a net I'd have caught that fish. It would have been a personal best for me I'm certain, though degraded by not bei g a fair catch.

In a nutshell, that morning was lunacy. I haven't come close to covering it all in detail, but this is what you get when I have to write up a post on my phone in a coffee shop in Rangeley. I hope you can fill in some of the gaps. 

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