Starting My Bluegill Quest for 2014

Well after weeks of trying to find someone to manage Walker County Lake; the Game and Fish Department in Montgomery found their guy. He opened the lake Friday for the first day of fishing and there were a lot of fisherman including me glad to be there. This lake has some of the largest bluegills I have ever landed, and today I was hoping I would connect with a few.

This bench will be occupied in the coming weeks as the weather warms.

I was anxious to try out my new Pelican 10 ft. boat. I sold my 8 ft. Pelcian back in January to make room with this boat for my grandson and his Dad on future fishing trips. What impresses me about this model is how stable the boat is even when one is standing and casting.

My first bluegill of the season, not the big bull I am accustom to, but a good fight on the 4 weight.

This one almost qualified for the goal this year of 50 super size bull bluegills during the spawning season. Notice I said 50, my wife retired in December, and she informed me the other day that we were going to be traveling during the spring and summer months. I would say between the traveling and fishing my bluegill goal will be cut from my previous 100 goal in years past to my goal of 50 for this year. 

Nice female at one of the areas where these fish spawn every year. The water temp was too cold for any top action. The super nymph was my go to fly today it worked well in depths 6 to 8 ft.

This little bass nailed the nymph really close to the dock, just as I was getting ready to take out. The wind today made for some innovative casting and also gave me a severe sinus infection. It will take me the better part of the week to recover, but still the trip was worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Stolen Fly Rods and Fly Reels Recovered

The detective that was handling my thief case concerning my fly fishing equipment called me Thursday morning. He wanted me to come down to the police station Friday and identify some fly fishing rods and reels he had recovered from a house in a county north of the county I live in. Naturally I was at the station at 8 AM Friday, ready to take a look at the equipment. I was thrilled and kind of disappointed at the same time because what I found was two of my Redington fly rods and two fly reels those being my Redington 2/3 wt. and one of my prized Gloomis fly reels 3/4 wt. What I was hoping I would find was my Greys Streamflex 3 wt. with the Gloomis 3/4 fly reel, but I was still happy they recovered the two I took back home with me.

There was an article in our local paper a couple of weeks ago concerning an elderly couple who lived in downtown Jasper that had their house burglarized. This happened when they were at a friend’s house one weekday morning two weeks ago. The thieves stole over 15,000.00 dollars of antique glassware. The police in Jasper working with the Winston county police department discovered that this burglary and others that were occurring in the area was a huge theft ring operating in three counties in around the walker county where we live.

There was a search warrant issued to search a house in a neighboring county, who they believed belong to one of the thieves. Upon entering the house they found most of the glassware, and numerous other items that had be stolen the past couple of months. The individual who lived in the house was not there. My fly fishing equipment was found in that house with all the other stolen items. The police are still investigating the case and hopefully some more of my equipment will be recovered soon.

The handle on my 7 ½ ft. fly rod looks like a mouse had nibbled on the cork. The fly rod was found in a closet in this run down house out in a wooded area some miles away from town.

I was especially pleased to get my 8 ½ 3 wt with my Gloomis 3/4 reel. These reels are hard to find and when one goes up for auction on Ebay it is gone in a matter of days. I am very lucky to have recovered any of my fishing equipment and I hope my Greys is the fly rod they find.