One Last Day

There's only so many fish you can catch in one spot within a few trips before it becomes questionable. So, as fun as it was to put up a couple of triple digit days in the holdover bass spot I've been fishing, today is probably the last trip there this winter. It might be worth visiting in spring when there could be larger fish there and possibly topwater eaters, but I don't want to or need to put any more pressure on the holdovers that are all over that place now. So today I caught a couple hundred more fish during some beautifully warm weather. Mark joined me, needing redemption for the skunk he got on Friday due in large part to a line that got way too stiff in the cold water.

Even with a lot of ice still in the vicinity we put on a clinic. What made me most happy was that us fly guys were far and away out-fishing the few spin fisherman there. But we were all catching, enjoying it, and treating the fish well. I recognized a couple guys from my first visit and we chatted about the odd schooling behavior of the fish.

Mid way through our outing two conservation officers showed up. Apparently someone had called in and reported people keeping short fish at the spot. We were a little surprised, Mark and I were the first ones there in the morning and we hadn't seen anybody do anything but release the fish. Our guess was that a local called in trying to get fisherman kicked out but fortunately I have yet to have a hard time with a conservation officer and in this was no different, the officer (whose name I have forgotten) and I had a short conversation about flies and fly tying, and before that his dog and I had a talk about the striper double I had when she came down to see what I was doing. She was curious but not too sure.

Despite not getting the same number of fish I did on the first visit it was still a serious quantity. A few decent sized schoolies were mixed in there too, and once again they were all healthy, beautiful specimens. God at putting a serious bend in the rod.

This is an amazing place, and I've had an amazing couple of visits. But I don't really have an urge to go for another day like that. If I  continue looking for holdover bass in March it will be in bigger water with more current and more tidal variability, where fish move and are unpredictable. And more importantly, less pressured.