4-23-03 - Chromeseeker was putting out some really LONG casts; that's what you needed this evening to get to the fish!

The reel-sized Bluegill that smacked a mayfly imitation on the surface. Fun, but not what we were really after.

4-23-03 - Bluegills on the Rise

Rivers Fished: Axehead Lake
Fish Caught: 2 (but not what we were "targeting")
Outing Date: 4-23-03
Weather: Sunny
Air Temp: 50's
Water Temp: 46F
Water Level: normal
Water Color: KRYTSAL Clear
Fish Species: Bluegill (we were after stocker-bows with a smattering of over-zealous baby largemouths)
Pattern Fished: Olive Spey, Glo Bug, White Marabou Bait Spey, Olive Mayfly Patttern
Pattern Color: Gold & Olive, Orange/Yellow, White & dark purple, Olive Mayfly Patttern
Fishing Quality: fun

Not quite prepared for another sprint to Racine after yesterday, I asked Bart if he'd like to hit Axehead Lake after work for some stocker rainbows. He got there before I did (as usual); while on the phone through a miscommunication I thought he said he had landed a crappie. Ha! When I got there at 6:30, it turned out that the "FISHING" was "crappie"!

We fished all sorts of rigs, mostly strip retrieving on long casts. The water was basically glass; just a touch of a breeze from our backs helped us to really make the long hauls.

As sunset approached we started to notice small rises far offshore over the deeper water. I switched up from my various prior offerings (consisting of speys being stripped and a glo bug trailer) and tied on the only dry fly I had readily handy in my box; a parachute mayfly pattern in olive tied by Peter McKatten. A quick addition of 4lb test tippet got me ready to go.

Fishing on the lake with drys is just about as tedious as fishing with a float; you cast; get a good float, and WAIT! The slight breeze slowly moves your offering over various spots until you get the attention of a willing biter. Well, after about a 5 minute float on the glass something NAILED my fly. Whooping and hollering, I retrieved the fish and found not a trout, but a BLUEGILL! Well, it was the first fish of the evening, and was a "respecatable" fish (I can't REMEMBER the last time I caught a gilly). Shot the pic...man the fish was just barely larger than my REEL!

After seeing this, Bart switched up to a slightly larger dry and we spent the remainder of the evening floating flies in the sunset-dappled water. I managed a second hit, again a bluegill, that I lauched over the water for about 30 feet when I set the hook! Ok, when the really little fish are biting, ya probably shouldn't be fishing with a 7 wt.! Anyways, we left at sunset (park closes) and for once I outfished Bart! Unfortunately it wasn't on steelhead or trout LOL!

  MP