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Chris_in_Louisiana

Playing with EP Minnows

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I spent some time during the recent freeze working on my EP Minnow patterns.  Most are still fairly ugly, but a few have turned out alright.

Step-10.jpg

With temperatures warming up the past week, I've taken them out a few times for a trial run.

Last Tuesday I headed for a roadside drainage a few miles from home in hopes of catching a few largemouth.  No largemouth, but the shallow (<18" deep), clear water produced a number of black crappie.  A more than pleasant lunchbreak surprise.

crappie-02-23-21.jpg

Following a morning of redfish in the marsh the next day, I detoured to the same spot along my way home.  No crappie this time, but I did manage my first largemouth of the year.  He was fairly small compared to the one I spooked as I approached the water, but a pretty fish nonetheless.

Largemouth-Bass-02-24-2021.jpg

Wanting to keep my streak going, I ventured to the same drainage for one more lunch break trip this afternoon.  It was fairly windy and still lightly raining, but I figured it beat sitting around the house.  Working my way along the bank, I started off the session with a pair of nice bluegill and a few missed hook sets.  Moving to a stretch of water largely shielded by vegetation on two sides, I immediately missed a decent strike and followed this up by pulling the fly from a sizeable bass's mouth.

HABITAT-rotated.jpg

Two casts later, a large wake appeared behind my fly.  The fish swiped once and missed, but kept coming and I was able to drive the hook home after the second strike.  While I momentarily thought I was hooked into a massive largemouth, it quickly became apparent I was dealing with a different beast.  Fifteen harrowing minutes later (the last five spent coaxing it through the above vegetation), the fish lay at my feet.

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bowfin-resize-rotated.jpg

The bowfin, a lifer, measured a little over 20" and was by far the strongest fish I've battled on my little Echo Base 3wt.  Needless to say I was a little frazzled by the time it was over as these are the best two pictures I managed before sending the dinosaur on its way.

I'm really starting to like this little roadside spot!

 

 

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And your EP baitfish patterns are just okay because.....??

by the way, I'm sure it's my old iPad, but your SBS's do not format correctly on my very old iPad. Been meaning to upgrade but I mention it only because I can't be the only one, right? 

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12 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

And your EP baitfish patterns are just okay because.....??

by the way, I'm sure it's my old iPad, but your SBS's do not format correctly on my very old iPad. Been meaning to upgrade but I mention it only because I can't be the only one, right? 

The one shown turned out well, but I assure you there are a whole stack of "gone wrongs" lying in a pile on my tying desk.  Teacher always said I couldn't cut along the lines.  Still seems to hold true.

As for the blog, I appreciate the heads up.  It works on desktop and iPhone, but I don't have a tablet to test it on.  What's the specific issue you're running into?

 

Chris

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The SBS pictures are stacked on top of each other and I can only see the final two and slivers of the preceding pictures. I can tap on a sliver and get the picture to open in its own window but I don't think all the pictures are represented. 

Again, I'm sure it's just my tablet as I seem to have functioning issues with this site and other sites that others don't seem to have. Here's a screen shot of what I see.

 

IMG_0284.PNG

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My iPad is an A1458 meaning it's a 2012 model. I think most apple users don't hold on to them that long but I don't like being strong armed by Apple into Buying their latest toy. I'm sure it's on my end. 

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