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DO SOME FISHING WHILE WAITING FOR THE DUCKS
By: Ron Wilson
October 30, 2003.... I
finally got out on the water last Saturday to do some duck hunting, well
duck working
anyway. You now, fixing up the blind and making things look a little
better in hopes the ducks like what they see when they get down here from
the flooded grounds in Washington and Oregon.
Sure would be nice if we got a couple inches of that northwest rain
they’ve been getting pounded with, I know they wouldn’t miss it!
We got the blind arranged and the first duck that appeared was a Wood duck
that landed right in the middle of the decoys. Never did see it come in
and when I tried to get it to fly off, so I could get a shot, it just
looked at me and swam out of gun range. I am not sure but I think he was
sending me a message with one wing in the air.
Pretty soon a lone spoonbill came buy, then a teal and then another woody.
For the second weekend of the opener is was pretty quite but there were a
lot of birds flying high heading for the safety of closed zones.
Hunting wasn't that good, but hey I didn't have to clean anything so I
guess that’s a plus for the days hunt.
By 8 a.m. it was over! The weather is just too hot to even think about
serious duck hunting.
Sunday I planned to head to Nimbus to catch a limit of salmon with my
oldest son. But after a sleepless night I opted for a little more rest
instead!
After hanging around the house to about 11 am, I just couldn’t take it
anymore and decided to go out and enjoy some of this Indian summer. I
called my friend, bass professional Norval Pimentel, and asked if he
wanted to go to
Kelsey Bass Ranch to stick a few green fish.
It doesn’t take much of a reason for Norval to go fishing, so I didn’t
have to do any arm-twisting!
We arrived around noonish and Norval immediately started catching fish
drop shotting 4-inch worms. They were smaller fish with the biggest ones
going about a pound and a half.
I
know you can catch and release some nice blacks in the lake, but you have
to find the bait they want and present it to them the way the want. I was
bound and determined to figure out what these fish wanted.
I
basically turned my fishing bag upside down and had packages of flukes,
worms and senko’s strewn about the back of Norval’s brand new 21 foot
Stratos Bass Boat.
His new boat seems like a waste in a pond that has a 5-mile an hour speed
limit, but it sure is nice to fish from. I had plenty of room in the back
with all my tackle and a half dozen rigged fishing rods within reaching
distance.
I
was throwing worms, jigs, frogs, spinner baits and flukes, when suddenly I
stumbled upon the right bait and presentation!
I
started catching some nice black bass in the 2 to 3 pound class. Norval
quickly followed my lead and soon was catching them also.
The fishing was hot but I was having a hard time concentrating with all
the geese on the lake. There were over 100 in one huge flock alone and
there were 7 other flocks on the lake!
I
also enjoyed watching the diver ducks buzz bomb the pond along with some
mallards that decided it was time to wet their whistles as they dropped in
with a whoosh and splash as they lit.
I
watched a pair of eagles buzzing a flock of mud hens. They scurried from
one side of an inlet to the other time and again. They were either looking
for a weak one or just having fun with them.
We were off the water and heading home by 5 pm. My arm was tired from
fighting fish. It was another awesome day on Kelsey as we caught well over
fifty fish!
The key is to keep trying different baits and techniques until you get on
a fish catching pattern. Once you solve the puzzle, you can hammer them no
matter if it’s in a river, lake or in a private pond.
Sorry I can’t get into detail on what I figured out, but I am planning on
fishing a
fundraiser event at the lake on the 14th of November and I hope to at
least win a few trips out to Kelsey to play with his fish again next year.
I’ve been keeping a record system on what’s happening on the pond and I
would like to continue with my notes for another year. |
