Making Up For Saturday

Thursday nights have become golfing nights for our local Trout Unlimited chapter; golfing in the sense that we go fishing on the ponds of a local golf course that is closed for maintenance on Thursdays.  These ponds hold healthy populations of good sized bluegill and bass, and the occasional crappie.  Since these ponds don't get much fishing pressure the fish are not wary.  A perfect combination - big fish that are not scared to bite anything tossed at them!

Our fishing outing last Saturday was a bust and I was feeling a little off my game.  Did I still have my fishing mojo?  Could I still convince big, dumb bluegill to take something that vaguely looked - from the proper angle and in the right light - like a grasshopper with malformed legs and a misshapen head?

I was really hoping to get back in the groove on Thursday night.

I also wanted to try out a new-used fly rod I picked up from a fellow member of the Warm Fly fly fishing forum.

Lots of variables to work through!

I need not have worried.  The bluegill were waiting and willing and my new 4 wt Lamiglas rod built by Prairie Drifter rods worked wonderfully.  Here's the proof:

If you recognize the turtle you'll know the location!

The golf course (which shall remain nameless) is in the south metro Atlanta area in a very tony neighborhood.  The turtle is a signature landmark on one of the ponds.  Any guesses?

Does this shoreline look fishy?

This is a fiberglass rod made on a Lamiglas e-glass blank
by Prairie Drifter Rods

While all the ponds produce, this pond, the most upstream in the chain, so far has yielded the biggest bluegill












First fish of the night - on the first cast of the night!

The fly being used is a foam grasshopper pattern
known as a 'clodhopper'

Second fish of the night - on the second cast.  Folks, I ain't making this up!

The Clodhopper

My all time champ for catching large bluegill, and the one I was using Thursday, is the 'Clodhopper', a simple foam grasshopper pattern tied using 2mm craft foam, some rubber legs and a little deer hair to simulate wings.  Tied on to a #14  2x hook, it is irresistible (to bluegill, that is).

The biggest, and most colorful, fish of the night!

The biggest fish of the night.  Although this fly rod is a 4wt, this fellow put quite a bend in the somewhat soft fiberglass stick

G'night!

Last fish of the night.














In an hour's time I landed 11 fish, and probably lost half as many to thrown hooks.

Yessiree, it was a good night!