Little Panfish and Big Bugs

Yesterday I only had a little bit of time to fish so I just went for red breast sunfish, crappie, and bluegills. I caught a little largemouth to go with the panfish. It was fun but this time of year I'd rather be fishing for carp or walleye. I got some good photos of fishing coming up for grass hoppers, that was definitely a highlight!

The real hope of the short outing was to get a golden pond shiner. Of course even though I saw a few of them I couldn't get them to eat. The other fish I caught were all perfect little specimens. 

There are many times that the best part of a fishing trip isn't actually fish related. Yesterday it was insect related. There weren't only grass hoppers in the little meadow by the millpond, there were also a few praying mantis. I love big bugs. Stick insects, stag beetles, millipedes, and particularly mantids. A praying mantis moves and looks around in such a way that implies intelligence. They are beautiful little animals.