Epic Day Fly Fishing

 This post follows up on the one I did a couple of weeks ago, which involved Jason's fishing trips to Smith Lake with me and our trip to Oak Mountain State Park for some top action using the Boggle poppers. 

For those unfamiliar with the park, it is the largest park in Alabama, covering 11,644 acres, and with the new addition of the 1600 acres of Belcher, trach, which has two small 15-acre lakes, it will become even larger. The main park has three larger lakes, each covering 85 acres and one covering 75 acres. The 75-acre lake has a beech and paddle boats to rent. Miles and miles of trials are available for those who enjoy hacking. 

Jason and I decided to fish on the 85-acre Beaver Lake this past Sunday morning at daylight using my 10E Pelican boat. We were the only ones fishing the lake, which was a plus because you don't need someone fishing ahead of you, either landing the fish you are trying to catch or disturbing fish that may not be hitting another individual's bait. 

It was a perfect fall morning to cast some poppers without dealing with humidity. We were working the edges of weed beds using a smaller version of the boggle popper in size 6. The water was extremely clear, and I've found that a smaller popper works best in clear water as opposed to a larger popper. Within thirty minutes of fishing, Jason proved my point. 

He landed this giant largemouth using his 8 fl. Temple Fork 4wt fly rod paired with a 7 1/2 ft. leader tipped with 5X tippet. The fish hit light, making us think it was a smaller bass or bluegill. The minute it inhaled the popper, it went for the weeds instead of the deep water. Jason was able to lead the fish back into deep water, and after a 3-minute tug of war, I netted the fish for him. It was the largest bass he ever landed using the fly rod, making it special. This bass was the largest bass ever landed by a Trussell fly fishing. It was an epic morning for Jason, and I am glad I was along for the ride. A few smaller bass were taken before we left, but nothing compared to this fish, which was released to fight another day. 

If you want to see how he managed to get the fish to the boat without the bass breaking his fly rod and tippet, take a look at the video. You will see my fly line in the water, which got tangled with the fish, but it didn't affect getting the bass to the net. 

Guys, I had no scales or tape measure in the boat, but we both agreed it was between 5 and 6 lbs.