Great Evening Fishing

[Upnorth]

First if you are reading this because you want to read about a lot of, or big, fish save your time.

Well I made it out again last evening. It was one of those nights you can only dream of. It was a really calm evening so a little after 7:30 I got the poles and other gear and headed down to the canoe. That is part of the joy in it self – two rods, a soft tackle box, a life jacket, and two paddles.

About as soon as I got out on the water, I found that the kids had used the poles during the day and I had a wind knot in the line, (they told me they had gotten a 24” northern). A nice long cast got the line out past the knot. After taking a little while to check it out I could see that they had tried to pull it out and it was time to cut and start over. The joy of sitting in a canoe on a lake, not getting blown around, retying a line is something that you have to experience to understand.

After I got the line ready to go I made a couple of cast even though I was in a not that great of a spot. After a couple of light bumps I hooked up a SMALL northern. Even small they are a lot of fun. After a clean release it was time to decide which way to go. There were some skiers out to the south and I normally head that way so tonight was off to the north / west.

I got a couple more bumps but did not hook up with anything. Just past the dock a couple of more bumps. It looked like it might be a good night so I headed back to the dock to see if my son wanted to join me. Up to the house to check and the answer was not he had already fished once today, so I headed back down to the lake.

Well I continued going north up the lake getting some bumps now and then. The floating weeds were not too bad and the wind stayed low, almost none. The skiers were staying down the lake and there were few other boats on the lake. It was taking a little work to stay near shore but not bad.

All the time I am fishing the high school band, which my daughter plays in, is practicing at the high school. I must say that they sounded pretty good from ¾ of a mile away. I am not a U of M fan but even “Hail to the Victors” sounded good. They kept playing for over an hour.

During the evening / night I had a great blue heron sitting on log watching me, as well as a couple of ducks swimming around. There was only one or two bats out as it was getting dark. I always enjoy watching them feed over the water. As it was getting dark I turned around and headed back. Heading back to the east/south I could watch a nice full moon coming up.

As I paddled back it was getting lighter as the moon came up. About the time I got to the neighbors dock you could start to here the bass crashing up by shore. It is hard to get in there when it is light and you can see to get in between the weeds and where you are going and landing. I did manage a couple more nice bumps.

Moving back past my dock I scored the second fish of the night – a rock bass. Catching any fish out of a canoe after dark is worth doing. After another clean release it should have been time to head in, the music had stopped and while back. But who can quit right after catching a fish, not me. As I continued back to the south a little further I just got slammed and slammed hard. While I do not know what it was I can tell you it was not small. That one slam by it self would have made the night a success.

I fished for a while longer listen to and watching the ducks paddle around and the bass boiling up along shore from time to time. All of this time working a spinning rod after dark in a weedy area.

I guess that is why I fish – the heron, ducks, bats, the quiet, and that slam. What a night!

[LivelyBaits]

So weeds aren't just a Florida dilemma in the summertime!

It sounds like a very nice evening Dan. I enjoyed hearing about it.

Tonight's experience for me will be those same kind of weeds, some mosquitos, no see'ems and possibly some rumbles of thunder.

See you sometime this Fall when you get back down here!

Neil