Covid Pond Fishing Pt..4237

[The Mad Duck 0]

Well, it looks like our recreation areas are finally going to open...YAY,but, I had other commitments for the morning, so I went to the pond.

Just  a little info about my commitment for yesterday morning. One of the hockey players for our local semi pro team suffered a brain injury over a month ago due to carbon monoxide poisoning. He was on his way home from seeing his Mother, evidently got tired and pulled over, in a parking lot for a nap. He has been in a local hospital for a month and was just moved to a rehab place near Raleigh,NC that specializes in brain injury rehab. The team, the fans, the league and fans from other teams have all pulled together to help defer some of his medical bills. The team has sold shirts,bracelets, jerseys and even teamed up with a rival team to raffle off jerseys and other merchandise. Yesterday, there was a charity walk to raise money, That is what my wife and I did. We went to a local park and logged some miles to help raise some money to help this guy out. So, I didnt get to the fishing until after 11:00. I walked more when I got to the property so more money could be raised.

The fishing started around 11:30 and it started off nicely despite less than optimal conditions. We had over 8 inches of rain in the past 4 days, so the ponds were full, chilled and really brown. During my walk portion, I checked the beds I have been watching and lit looked like everything had hatched out. there were swarms of Bream and Bass minnows everywhere.

I stopped at the corner that has been hot recently and caught 2 fish almost immediately, One was 9 inches and second a tad over 8. That was it, no more fish from that corner. I moved down the bank and managed a couple of small Bream, 4-5 inches and a small Bass. I moved to the large pond and things went cold.I worked all the way around the pond and caught maybe 3 small Bream and lost a decent Bass. I got over to the kennel and started casting into the last little flat with a white hopper and a small beadhead dropper, white body, white hackle. I noticed the hopper take the smallest twitch backwards and came tight on a nice Bass. We went around the flat a couple of times and up to the waters edge. He was a pound or so, Nice pull on  3 wt and tiny dropper fly. I released him and made a cast into the same flat and another Bass, that could have been a bookend to the first, blasted the hopper and away we went.

That was about it for the day. I did catch one small Shellcracker from under a bush as I walked back to the truck.

Totals for the day were: 15 Bream, but only 3-4 nice ones 4 Bass, two nice ones. Hopefully, since all the beds seem to be hatched out things will pick up soon,although we are scheduled for more rain next week,so the ponds will most likely stay muddy. Next week, I hope to get the kayak in the water, if the weather cooperates.

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

Nice bream there MD. Sorry to hear about the hockey player. That is strange though, how did he suffer carbon monoxide poisoning when the car wasn't in a garage or enclosed space? Did he have one window down and the rest closed and just happen to fill the car with CM or something? Dunno if I have heard of that happening outside of an enclosed space before.

[samsonboi 0]

It's happened before- basically if there is a leak in the right area of the exhaust system, it will get into the car itself.

[The Mad Duck 0]

3 hours ago, Steeldrifter said:

Nice bream there MD. Sorry to hear about the hockey player. That is strange though, how did he suffer carbon monoxide poisoning when the car wasn't in a garage or enclosed space? Did he have one window down and the rest closed and just happen to fill the car with CM or something? Dunno if I have heard of that happening outside of an enclosed space before.

 

1 hour ago, samsonboi said:

It's happened before- basically if there is a leak in the right area of the exhaust system, it will get into the car itself.

Thats what they are thinking happened. It was a really hot day and he may have pulled over to catnap with the A/C on and there was a leak in the system. They are more worried about him than the car, at this point. I'm sure, at some point, they will be looking at it.

[vicente 0]

We had an suv full of girls die at one of the ski resorts several years back, they drive up and slept in their car overnight and had the motor running and snow drifted up and trapped the exhaust under the car,  it was pretty sad.

[mikechell 0]

Those are some very pretty fish.  That pond is that healthy.

[The Mad Duck 0]

1 hour ago, mikechell said:

Those are some very pretty fish.  That pond is that healthy.

Mike,

I am always amazed at how healthy those ponds are. They are self sustaining. They haven't been stocked in over 30 years, except for 3 grass carp the old owner put in about 15 years ago. We're going to take 2 of the carp out. They are all over 35 pounds and thats too many big carp for the pond to support or need. The amount of Bass and Bream minnows that hatched out this year just amazes me. There are going to be a bunch of fish in there, and a lot of those minnows will be feeding large fish. Unfortunately, sometime in the next couple pf years, the state in their infinite wisdom is putting a bypass through the property. As it stands now, they are draining the tiny pond and the mid sized pond. The large one will stay intact, but, the state will have it posted and I will lose my fishing privileges.

[Swamp Fly 0]

Duck, that has nothing but suckage attached to it.  I hope that he does well.  I used to have a little Toyota pick up that the A/C did not work and had to drive everywhere with the windows down and the vent fan on full (think Florida), good thing too.  The bolts that are used to connect the exhaust manifold to the est of the exhaust system failed about an hour away from home.   Noisy as heck so I pulled over, I figured I couldn't do any damage and didn't want to pay for a tow back to town.  By the time I got to my mechanics shop I had the mother of all headaches.  If I did not have the windows down and just running the A/C I probably would not have made it.  Didn't know any better back then, I got darned lucky.

 

Swamp

[The Mad Duck 0]

9 hours ago, Swamp Fly said:

Duck, that has nothing but suckage attached to it.  I hope that he does well.  I used to have a little Toyota pick up that the A/C did not work and had to drive everywhere with the windows down and the vent fan on full (think Florida), good thing too.  The bolts that are used to connect the exhaust manifold to the est of the exhaust system failed about an hour away from home.   Noisy as heck so I pulled over, I figured I couldn't do any damage and didn't want to pay for a tow back to town.  By the time I got to my mechanics shop I had the mother of all headaches.  If I did not have the windows down and just running the A/C I probably would not have made it.  Didn't know any better back then, I got darned lucky.

 

Swamp

Hes made some progress,but still has a long way to go. He is off of the ventilator and able to breathe on his own. He is able to swallow ice chips and move all limbs,but is still really weak. He was a hell of a hockey player with promise of moving up,but at this point, its kind of doubtful he will be playing again. He has youth and awesome physical conditioning on his side, so hopefully he will come out of this without too much residual damage.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Sorry about your buddy. Here's hoping for a full recovery.

 

That forth fish down just above the bass has a long face, I wonder why the difference. It's a sunfish right?

[The Mad Duck 0]

Mark,

Thats a Red Eared Sunfish..aka..Shellcracker. They are shaped a little differently than a Bream,but, also grow larger.

[Mark Knapp 0]

3 hours ago, The Mad Duck said:

Mark,

Thats a Red Eared Sunfish..aka..Shellcracker. They are shaped a little differently than a Bream,but, also grow larger.

He sure is a different color than a lot of "shellcrackers" I've seen. I'll have to pay attention to the faces on shell crackers in the future, I hadn't noticed that big of a difference in the faces before. They must be un-happy, "Why the long face shell cracker?" 😁

[The Mad Duck 0]

21 minutes ago, Mark Knapp said:

He sure is a different color than a lot of "shellcrackers" I've seen. I'll have to pay attention to the faces on shell crackers in the future, I hadn't noticed that big of a difference in the faces before. They must be un-happy, "Why the long face shell cracker?" 😁

Ha Ha...The color is off because I was standing in the deep shade of a tree. I had to add some exposure in photoshop to even see the fish. All of the Shellcrackers we catch in NC, pretty much look like that

[The Mad Duck 0]

Just an update on the hockey player. He was moved to a rehab facility and has in the last 60 days made a miraculous amount of progress. He is walking unassisted,but not huge distances. He is eating regular food. He is able to speak full sentences at a regular level instead of a whisper,AND, is expected to be released to a home type outpatient rehab program. Doubtful he will be playing this year,but he is showing NO signs of any lingering brain damage. Physically, he is still weak,but since he was in such top physical condition,the Dr's expect him to make a full recovery.