Walking the edge of a small body of water on a warm July morning brings forth a sense of nostalgia in me that many other fly fishers are probably just as familiar with. Many of us cut our teeth on small farm and park ponds, casting foam beetles and ants at bluegills, crappie, and largemouth bass. It's simple fishing, very simple. There isn't anything difficult about it at all. It's just fun- fly fishing in its most basic form.
Though this used to make up the bulk of my warm-water fishing and I still do a lot of it, it has changed from being all I could do because I was limited to waters within walking and biking distance from home to something I do when my time is too limited. Such was the case last week, on a day I had to run around to a couple tackle shops to re-stock necessities. I had very little time between finishing those tasks and the day simply becoming too hot to fish, so I made a quick stop at a pond on the way home. The pond was one I used to walk to from where my Dad lived at the time. It has always been loaded with bluegills and crappie. It also has one large koi and a few pretty big bass. However this time I was just interested in getting a few panfish before the interior of my 4Runner was hotter than the surface of the sun. I fished a muddler, which is of course a tremendously effective fly for many purposes. With a dozen fish to hand I was soon satisfied and ready to head home.
Of course, small ponds like this often hold a few very large, educated fish. I once caught a 6 pound largemouth out of this particular pond, and of course there's that big old koi. Aside from convenience and nostalgia there is still plenty of reasons to fish places like this. But I'll happily take a few bluegills and crappie and be perfectly satisfied too.
Until next time,
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