Fishing The Seal Leech for Big Bluegills

I was back on Walker Lake

today searching for more big bluegills to add to my grand total so far at ONE!!  Two weeks ago was a slow day because of the water temps, which was in the mid 50’s.  I was hoping for a better trip today with the temps in the high 50’s. So with my fishing ticket in hand I decided to work the back of the lake in the main stream that feeds the lake. I fished this area last year early and found some nice bluegills in the mouth of the creek; but today was a wash, no hits at all in the creek.
I moved from the creek to the east side of the lake because I knew once the wind picked up I would have to fish the nooks. I was fishing the east deep cut banks with no action, so I moved into the first nook of the morning and made a long cast in the vicinity of a brush pile. As I moved the Leech slightly I saw the indicator move forward and I had my first hit of the morning.

The Seal Leech in the top of the mouth

Another female which was in great shape considering she had spent the winter in deep water. This one was taken on the Leech

Just as I entered the next nook I was surprised by these Mallards

My first counter of the morning with the Leech again, shorty after this fish was landed I lost my Seal Leech in a brush pile. What a shame, it was the only one I had; but I knew David at Trout Zone was mailing me a dozen more so no great loss

This Drake and Hen never moved as I approach them for this shot, the Mallard is my favorite Waterfowl.

Another counter with the always trusty Black Gnat. This guy really give the 4 wt a workout. I ended the morning with a total of 6 keepers, four being female "non counters" and the two big bulls. I am now 97 away. Next week is suppose to be in the high 70's and the water temps will be warming up so I expect higher numbers.

Click & Pawl Drag or The One Way Clutch Drag--Which??

This past week has been Spring Break for most of Alabama and the weather has been nothing like spring. In fact the only day that might be good for fishing would be Friday, when I will go. Cold days and nights can make fishing horrible anywhere and that includes the South. So with some time on my hands this week I decided I would search the net for another Gloomis Venture 3 Fly reel. This fly reel was discontinued by Gloomis last year, why I don’t know but in my mind they discontinued a fantastic fly reel. It had the one way clutch drag feature which enables one to retrieve coils of line at your feet back on the reel in a matter of seconds. Spinning the face of the reel will accomplish this. I found while searching that most of the fly reels descriptions listed on the net never mention this feature and better yet the tech support personal at Cabelas and Bass Pro didn’t have a clue about a one way clutch drag, quick release or free spool when it pertains to fly reel drags. If you notice when descriptions are written for fly reels, there is more information about the appearance of the reel as opposed to the type drag. The only fly reel I found that mentioned the one way clutch was the Pflueger Trion. The Pflueger retrieves line as fast as the Gloomis. I know that a lot of us still use the old click and pawl drag, which is used on the Redington Drift and the Orvis Battenkill reels. Don’t get me wrong I like both drag features and have the Redington and the Orvis reels, but I am still partial to the Venture because of the quick retrieve. I never found another Venture in all my searching, but I found out some things I didn’t know about drags on fly reels. What is your preference the click and pawl or the one way clutch fast retrieve?   

Crappie Fishing With My Brother Using Curly Tail Jigs

I made a trip to Mississippi on Tuesday for some crappie fishing on the new restructured Legion Lake. This is the same lake that was practically consumed by lily pads and coontail moss last year. This is my brother’s home lake where he fishes for crappie this time of year. Conditions were not the best considering the cold front that had passed through the day before I arrived. One can expect cold fronts, windy conditions, and bluebird skies in the month of March and this trip had all those conditions.

The reward for the trip was this nice catch using the following tube jigs loaded with nibbles. There were some nice slabs here.

Closed faced spincast reels with 11 ft. jigger poles rigged with 6 lb. test line are your best combos when Spider Fishing, because of the reach one can achieve with this type of pole.

My brother standing by his boat with 8 jigger poles set up ready for action fishing with the curly tail crappie jigs. Think of the amount of water one can cover when Spider Fishing

An image of what this lake looks like this past summer before reconstruction took place this year, notice the moss pads in the distance and all the growth around the edges, much cleaner to fish now.