Pond Boss

It's not that tough to learn, just make sure that when you first start that you have very little brush or other things right behind you when you start, otherwise it could be a long and fustrating day. IMO learning to be proficeint fishing with a baitcaster takes much more time. My first LMB and CC from our pond came on a fly rod back in 1987.

You caught a CC on a flyrod? Let's hear about that one. Pellet deception? or what?

No pellet deception on the CC, just a standard fly while trying for one of the freshly stocked young LMB. I was very suprised by the CC at the time, keep in mind that it was only a 13-14" CC.

Well Dave I just spent over $500 on fish and incidentally who ever is reading Todd Overton is a great guy and really pampered me in picking out fish for me. Nice healthy looking fish, that were a joy watching play and feed with their new found freedom.

Also, I just got a new kayak delivered last night and am about to go out and drown myself probably, lol, trying it out.

If I spent another $150 or so on these fly combo's I was looking at on Cabela's my wife might do nasty things to me in my sleep. She is a very easy going woman but everyone has a breaking point.

My birthday is at the end of March......lots of top water feeding going on then.

PS Shorty, I was fishing with an ex-girl friend once for BG and had a tiny grasshopper lure that floated and she caugh a huge blue catfish that was about 3 feet long when she tossed it under a willow branch hanging right over the water. We didn't have a net and the dang thing streched this little hook straight as were trying to get a hold of it and get it into the boat. That wasn't fly fishing but about the same, top water tiny lure.

You got that right George. DIED gave me my first ever fly fishing lesson this year. I'd never even held a fly fishing combo before that. It's a completely different casting motion and speed. It's gonna take this old dog a while to learn that new trick. Course it would help if I had a longer attention span.

Oh by the way, why do I have to stop fishing with my Snoopy Combo rig????? It's the only pole I can get a decent cast out of, and come on with Snoopy how can ya go wrong???

You are gonna love kayak fishing Bill. I have a two person kayak and that is all my wife and I ever fish from. A kayak is MUCH more stable than a canoe. Before ya know it you will be customizing your kayak with rod holders, plushy seats, etc, etc.

Just be careful what you are trolling for....

Thanks Jeff for the confidence boost, I'll be sure to stay in fresh water!

Do you have top seat or in seat kayak? Is it inflatable? Mine is a sit in inflatable.

My problem is that I am fat (275) and stiff. My two man kayak for me is a one man one. The little seat that came for the front man is totally worthless to me, even if I try to use it in the back against the inside of the back tube. I'm better off sitting right up against back of the tube. But I still lean backwards more than I would like. And with me in the very back I sit low in the water while the front is a little high.

I thought about sticking some weights in the front, but that would negate the whole purpose of buying a kayak. I have a john boat but was invited to go on these turtle trapping and tagging trips on the Sabine River (here in North Texas it's like a big slow moving green water creek, at the gulf it is a ship channel)for a researcher at UT at Tyler. Where they get into the river you would have to drag a john boat up a large high brim and then down into the water and once you get into it you have to drag whatever you are in across or around log jams and such. So the reason inflatable kayaks are the transport of choice is because they are so light. If I stuck fifty pounds of weights into the nose I would turn my thirty something pound kayak into a 80 something pound kayak.

Really what would help I think is a light weight seat that would stand up above the back tube of the kayak and help me sit more upright. If I could get one in the middle of the kayak where the useless for me seat goes it would be even better, then I would have a better center of gravity.

But I spent a lot of time online looking for a seat to put into a sit in kayak that could be strapped on or secured some way to support my back. But the only ones I came across were for sit on top kayaks. And there is no way I can sit like an L, I have to cross my legs.

I can get by the way it is now in the back. There is no way I will stay dry anyway because we will be getting in and out all the time collecting traps so I may have to live with it. All this will end by the end of this month. And I probably won't use it again until warm weather returns. So I can live with if I have to, but if I could improve it, it would be a nicer ride.

Other than the above I really like it. It's fairly fast, responds quickly and is super quiet, and not much effort is exerted in propelling it. I know next spring and summer I will use it a lot. Be a good grandkid toy on my pond too, in fact quieter to fish out of on my pond than the jon boat, just not as comfortable and roomy.

But got any ideas for a fat, stiff kayaker?

Thanks,

Bill

can ya beleave the man stoped padlein to look back............??

Hey, just a quick note on the fly rod adventure. Last Christmas the wife bought myself and my oldest son fly rods from Cabelas. We beat the water to death. Check your area for Orvis store. They have fly rods and casting ponds. Even if you dont by the rod there they will take you out and show you all of the cast. Well worth the time spent there. Plus great place to pick up leaders and how to tie the knots.

Orvis

Orvs animated knots

I caught this guy last night on an old retired left-handed baitcaster.

Shorty, I can't tell from that picture, but is that one of your SMB that you added?

Shorty you are supposed to extend your arm with the fish toward the camera to make it bigger (see Bruce's example) not away to make it smaller.

Nedoc, yes that is one of the SMB I added in the spring of 06, it probably measured 8-1/4" last year when it was released, this one is now 12-3/4". About a month ago I caught 5 of them one weekend which would be 10% of the number of SMB we released last year.

Ewest, I'll try the Condello picture taking method next time I have someone in the boat with me to take the picture. Sorry for the lousy picture, all I had with me at the time was my cell phone.

Shorty no pic of a SMB is lousy especially if its one you raised by hand feeding in a blocking net pen from babies.

You may not realize this, but Shorty's left forearm is forty-five inches in circumference.

And his arm is only 7 inches long. So that fish really is small.

Shorty, let me know how the SMB grow, mine seemed to get to 14-16" pretty quickly and stopped growing in length, or at least they slowed way down. And they appear fat and healthy. I wonder if it is because mine live off of mostly pellets.

I think parents in Nebraska who want their children to have normally dimensioned arms should give the kids bottled water or something.

P.S. Glad to hear/see the Smallies are doing good, Shorty.

I will let you know Nedoc, mine are foraging on invertabrates and small BG only and seem to be doing fine, I have never seen any of the SMB we released take a pellet . I did catch one SMB that was 13-3/4" a month ago and another one that was 10-3/4".

Great morning on the ponds yesterday morning.
Low fog drifting on the water - air temp 53 fallish temp - beautiful sunrise...

Fished a big gurgler bug for LMB and they didn’t want to play.
Switched to a little popping bug that the CNBG swallowed deeply so went back to my no-fail pellet fly and caught 8-9 inch gills on almost every cast – four nice HSB to 3.5#’s - I know no shame...

When feeder went off at least a dozen monster CC were eating pellets washed shoreward - I couldn’t catch one on a bet – pellet flies no-go...
Cecil’s panty hose with enough pellets a make a clump as big as a quarter – no – go...
I’m unable physically to run trot-lines and stay up late night and my son is so busy he doesn’t have time.

Next CC bait will be a12 ga shotgun – probably result in gun-shy CNBG and HSB but gotta get them out of there – last on caught was 14.5#’s and these are even larger…..
Take ‘em out...

Overstocking CC was the biggest mistake we have ever made, but had to admit did enjoy watching them cruising around like giant submarines...

Serviced 3 Stren/AquaPro feeders, one of which the battery was not holding charge. Checked solar panel with meter and was putting out 17 volts with partly cloudy skies so knew the 4 year old battery was shot so replaced and feeder running perfect.
Second feeder solar panel performing well with fully charged battery.
Oldest feeder has no solar panel and last charge three weeks ago - still showed 5 bars of 12 volts on the controller.
Took out all feed and cleaned hopper thoroughly.
Semi-annual cleaning keeps feeders performing well.

Great morning on the pond – life is good...

You're no "Second Hand Lion" in my book, george, but fire away.

George what about live bait ?

My son vetoed the live bait idea when he found a dead 5 #LMB on his trot line baited with BG.
I've tried live bait with rod and reel and caught mostly LMB -the old CC are hook shy and smart.

Advertise for Bowfishing. Charge 'em by the pound for what they get. Might get enough $ for a new St. Croix or Loomis with one of those funny looking Tibors on it!

Fishin' can be dangerous!

...especially if you're Bill Dance.