|
Date: May 11, 2024 Body of Water: Worthley Pond - Peru, Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8:45 AM - 4 PM Moon Phase: New moon plus four days; waxing crescent Conditions: Clear and bright to start, but with increasing clouds and some very light rain by session's end; ENE wind < 10 mph, swinging around to the south by day's end; 40 - 55 degrees. Water temperatures just a degree warmer than last week, 53 - 56 degrees F (+/-). With an entire day in front of me, and motivated by the big fish I missed last week, I decided to return to Peru's Worthley Pond. I was treated to the entire lake by myself for most of the day. Despite the very marginal ramp condition, I really enjoy this pond! I expected a tough bite; the sky was high and the lake was glass. Fortunately, a light breeze developed shortly after setting lines in the southern basin. My plan was to go fast, cover water, and find fish; and if that failed, fall back on going slow with Gulp! My first presentations included a top-lined J7 orange Rapala and a gold Thomas Eel off two colors of lead. Speed was 2.0 +/-, and I went through my high-confidence path from the previous week without a touch, so I then started varying baits. DB Smelts, a couple of different Rapalas and a top-lined fly all were ignored, and I moved to the lake's north basin. This new water revealed more of the same (nothing). So, after two hours of covering water and searching from 10 to over 30 feet of water, I fell back onto Plan B; trolling slower and with a Gulp! pinched crawler presented off a couple of colors of lead. I started tracing the south basin's 15-foot break at about 1.5 mph. The orange J7, 150 feet back, crawled on the surface while the orange pinched crawler rolled below. I'd bumped the targeted speed to 1.6 and then 1.7 mph. Over 15 feet of water, the top-lined rod faltered and twitched; twitched again; and then bent over to a fish. It had taken about three hours, but I finally hooked up! I avoided the skunk with a pretty, 15-inch brown trout. This hookup was pretty close to an offshore hump; I'd drifted over deeper water while fighting the fish. I pulled the other line, moved to the north, and set up for another pass across this hump and continuing south to the new waypoint. Once I was in position, the sonar revealed lots of fish activity in this area and between 12 and 15 feet deep. Gulp! quickly produced two more browns between 16 and 20 inches. Things were looking up! The next half hour produced a yellow perch and a decent rainbow, both on the Gulp! I continued to rotate through various top-lined lures (including a yellow Powerbait grub), finally throwing my lot in with a gold Thomas Eel. By 3 PM, I had wandered back to the north basin, and at 3:15 or so, just as some sprinkles set in, the top-lined eel got whacked! Brown trout No. 4, the smallest of the day, came to hand. I hoped another feeding window had opened; but apparently not. I had a couple of taps on the pinched crawlers, but no other chances. What do I have to say about this? I'd met many of my goals for the day (a few trout, including a nice one; and some productive flexibility in doing so); and I'd enjoyed solitude, loons, and a bald eagle. I think I even saved enough energy for another adventure the following day; perhaps some more big browns await at Hancock? Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly