Chris_in_Louisiana 0 Report post Posted February 9, 2022 The local fishing has slowed substantially since the weather finally cooled in late January. I've gone out with regularity, but, with the exception of an unexpected skipjack herring in a local bayou, I've been essentially skunked on public waters for the past three weeks. Thankfully, I stumbled across a great bite in my backyard while testing out some large deceivers and the new intermediate line I had purchased for my 9wt. My subdivision has a fairly large pond at the center and includes a dead-end canal that runs immediately behind my house. It was stocked with bass, bluegill, crappie and catfish roughly 15 years ago and is said to have produced a few 8-10 lb bass per the neighbors who have lived here the longest. The 2020 lockdown put quite a dent in this small fishery, however, as everyone and their brother seemed to suddenly own a fishing rod and have nothing better to do. Since then, the abundant bass have been largely absent, and I can count the number of fish I landed in 2021 on one hand. My luck since first testing that intermediate line in late January seems to suggest the fishery is doing just fine, however, as I landed the 20+" bass below within a dozen casts on that sunny Sunday afternoon. Two days later, I decided to see if I could repeat the process. And while no fish came to hand, a similar size fish that narrowly missed my fly along the bank suggested I might have been on to something. So this past Sunday when the weather pattern seemed similar to that day in late January, I decided to repeat the process. Sure enough, the fish were there. While only the two 1-2 lbs fish below came to hand, a third fish in the 3 lbs range tossed my hook on the jump. (For reference, that's a 4/0 hook visible in the second fish's mouth). Completely hooked at this point, I found myself out back late Monday afternoon as well. And once again the fish did not disappoint. In 45 minutes, I had 10 fish on the line including three that easily surpassed 4 lbs. Each had a stomach bulging with food and sadly the picture below just doesn't do the fish below justice. At a little over 20", it was by far the fattest bass I have ever caught. When yesterday rolled around, I was committed to giving the bass a break. Fish and Wildlife was slated to stock rainbow trout in a local pond, and I headed that way to meet up with some fellow anglers. 5 hours later, we learned the hatchery truck had broken down and would not be arriving until after dark. Having not even landed a bluegill in that time frame, I headed home. Dusting off the 9wt, I made five casts. This guy came in at 18.5" and more importantly I finally remember to get a belly shot to highlight the girth of these fish. And in case anyone is wondering what these fish are getting fat on, I managed to end my day by snagging two of these little guys. Clearly the gizzard shad are thick this winter, and the bass are taking advantage. Maybe I need to tie some bigger streamers? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MuskyFlyGuy 0 Report post Posted February 9, 2022 Great report Chris. Those of us currently iced over for the next ten weeks really appreciate seeing what others are doing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DFoster 0 Report post Posted March 4, 2022 Thanks for that Chris- Here in Mass Ice fishing is still on. The flowing water is open -if you don't mind really cold fingers and toes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2022 Dunno how I missed this post till now. Those are some nice bass for being right in the backyard Chris. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites