Saturday, July 23, 2005
Not your typical sunfish
JH is a coworker who recently purchased a fly rod. His father got a place in the Carolinas on a lake and his brother said, "Let's learn." After he admitted he hadn't caught anything on that trip, I invited him to visit Benson Creek with me this morning. There's something special about sunfish on a fly rod and they will teach you a lot about: casting, picking "fishy" spots, reflexes, setting the hook, playing, landing, and releasing. It is very meditative and requires a lot of concentration. You must be ready at any instant to set the hook from the very millisecond the fly hits the water.
Most of the fish are about 4- to 6-inches. Some are smaller; a few are larger. Mostly, it will be redbreast sunfish or green sunfish, but I've caugh redeye, smallmouth, and crappie in the creek. The pool behind the breached dam near the old Kennebec distillery is the place to start. I located some spots holding fish with a wet fly and directed JH into position to catch them. At first, he missed a lot of fish, but got the hang of it quickly. The key is to hold your rod tip down, just above the water, so there is a minimum of slack line to take up between you and the fly.
Now, at the head of this pool is a ledge with a broad flat shallow shelf upstream of the pool. On the right is a little side channel that diverts flow around the dam to a spot about 50 yards below the dam. There wasn't enough water in Benson and nothing was flowing out of the pool save at the dam itself. Recent rains have raised the level of the water in the creek so that many of the shelves that were dry the last time I fished the creek are now under about 6 inches of water. The water was about 4 feet deep today. There is a rocky bar in front of that little side channel and a pool behind it, underneath the exposed roots of a sycamore. The point is that from this side channel and rock bar upstream along the banks and all the way across the stream in front of the ledge, fish can usually be found. In fact, there is a break in the ledge over to the left that forms an upstream pointing, v-shaped notch that has a cobbly bottom. Near that notch, at the base of the ledge is a spring where cool water enters the pool.
I fished the right half of the ledge from the side channel over. I described the notch to JH and directed him to it. JH was fishing a yellow popper, so I thought I'd try a Madame X. (The Madame X is a deer hair attractor that is basically a dry fly.) After catching a couple of sunfish, I cast toward the edge of the notch, beyond the ledge onto the shallow shelf and indicated JH should cast to the left of and a bit farther upstream of that spot.
Now, when sunfish hit a dry fly, there is a little splash. You've got to react and set the hook before the bubbles burst. Splash! I was quick enough and felt the weight of the fish securely at the end of my line. But, in one of those whack in the side of the head, zen moments, I realized this wasn't a hand-sized sunfish. No, it just stayed down and swam on. The flyrod was bent into an impressive curve as I played the fish and maintained just enough tension on the line. Too little tension and my barbless hook could easily be thrown. Too much force and I would put my knots and 4-lb test tippet at risk.
Where the leader entered the water, it cut a narrow V, back and forth, circling, as I tried to direct the fish away from rocks, ledges, submerged brush, anything that would rub, catch, and snap the line. I finally bring it to hand, a 14-inch smallmouth.
This greenish bronze fish is an unexpected bonus in this pool. Usually by this time of year, the bait fishermen have taken all the keepers from this pool. I felt bad because JH didn't catch it. I felt good because I'll be able to come back and try for it again in a couple of weeks. If I can get Michael to sleep at night on the weekends and get up early in the mornings (before it gets hot), he might have a shot at it.
Most of the fish are about 4- to 6-inches. Some are smaller; a few are larger. Mostly, it will be redbreast sunfish or green sunfish, but I've caugh redeye, smallmouth, and crappie in the creek. The pool behind the breached dam near the old Kennebec distillery is the place to start. I located some spots holding fish with a wet fly and directed JH into position to catch them. At first, he missed a lot of fish, but got the hang of it quickly. The key is to hold your rod tip down, just above the water, so there is a minimum of slack line to take up between you and the fly.
Now, at the head of this pool is a ledge with a broad flat shallow shelf upstream of the pool. On the right is a little side channel that diverts flow around the dam to a spot about 50 yards below the dam. There wasn't enough water in Benson and nothing was flowing out of the pool save at the dam itself. Recent rains have raised the level of the water in the creek so that many of the shelves that were dry the last time I fished the creek are now under about 6 inches of water. The water was about 4 feet deep today. There is a rocky bar in front of that little side channel and a pool behind it, underneath the exposed roots of a sycamore. The point is that from this side channel and rock bar upstream along the banks and all the way across the stream in front of the ledge, fish can usually be found. In fact, there is a break in the ledge over to the left that forms an upstream pointing, v-shaped notch that has a cobbly bottom. Near that notch, at the base of the ledge is a spring where cool water enters the pool.
I fished the right half of the ledge from the side channel over. I described the notch to JH and directed him to it. JH was fishing a yellow popper, so I thought I'd try a Madame X. (The Madame X is a deer hair attractor that is basically a dry fly.) After catching a couple of sunfish, I cast toward the edge of the notch, beyond the ledge onto the shallow shelf and indicated JH should cast to the left of and a bit farther upstream of that spot.
Now, when sunfish hit a dry fly, there is a little splash. You've got to react and set the hook before the bubbles burst. Splash! I was quick enough and felt the weight of the fish securely at the end of my line. But, in one of those whack in the side of the head, zen moments, I realized this wasn't a hand-sized sunfish. No, it just stayed down and swam on. The flyrod was bent into an impressive curve as I played the fish and maintained just enough tension on the line. Too little tension and my barbless hook could easily be thrown. Too much force and I would put my knots and 4-lb test tippet at risk.
Where the leader entered the water, it cut a narrow V, back and forth, circling, as I tried to direct the fish away from rocks, ledges, submerged brush, anything that would rub, catch, and snap the line. I finally bring it to hand, a 14-inch smallmouth.
This greenish bronze fish is an unexpected bonus in this pool. Usually by this time of year, the bait fishermen have taken all the keepers from this pool. I felt bad because JH didn't catch it. I felt good because I'll be able to come back and try for it again in a couple of weeks. If I can get Michael to sleep at night on the weekends and get up early in the mornings (before it gets hot), he might have a shot at it.
