Since I haven't been doing particularly well in salt water so far this year, I've decided to explore more of the fresh water opportunities here in south Florida. Although I'd be happy to catch big redfish, snook, tarpon and sea trout in salt water, that isn't happening for me. Fresh water species like largemouth bass, bluegill, Mayan cichlids, snakeheads and peacock bass are plentiful in this area. The lakes, ponds and canals are closer to me than salt water venues to the north and south, so at least for the time being it makes sense to stick close to home, where I tend to have pretty good luck. Also, fresh water fish that I catch on a fly rod give me just as much of a battle as larger salt water species that I occasionally hook on spinning tackle.
Today I spent the morning pedaling around some canals in western Broward county. I launched at a small county park onto a wide east-west canal. Unfortunately, there was a brisk easterly wind that stirred up some small rollers on the canal. It wasn't going to much fun fishing in those conditions, so I quickly ducked down a side canal that vectored north-south. I got immediate relief from the wind, thanks to the trees and houses that lined both banks and at least partially diverted the wind. We had another cold front come through a couple days ago, which dropped our evening temperatures down into the forties. The water temperature today in the canal where I was fishing was 74 degrees, which was probably down two to three degrees from what it would have been before the front. I figured that would affect the bite today, and it did. I caught one bluegill and two small bass in about three hours of fishing. That's pretty slow action, compared to what I've gotten used to.
I passed a couple fellow kayakers who'd done somewhat better than I was. They looked to be throwing chartreuse spinner baits, which are much bigger and make much more commotion in the water than the small flies I was throwing. For a time, I switched to spinning tackle myself and my old stand-by, the plastic worm. The two small bass I caught came on that rig.
Some of the canals I was on today are quite narrow and the backyards of homeowners back right up to the water. So you're not exactly out in the wilderness. I guess those folks must get used to people floating right by their back porches and lawn chairs. Several dogs came out to bark at me. All except one were fenced in. The one that wasn't was just about the biggest, meanest looking pit bull I've ever seen. He came right down to the edge of the water. Thinking about it now, I might have turned my video camera on him. But at the time, I just pedaled on by, pretending nonchalance.
I did pass over a couple of enormous carp. They were probably grass carp and in the 10-15 pound range. It would be something to hook one of those on a fly rod. Not sure what kind of fly you'd use on them, though.
By about 12:30 I could see that the action probably wasn't going to improve, as the sky was mostly overcast and the sun wasn't going to have a chance to warm up the water. I got back to the boat ramp around one o'clock and headed home.
Here's a link to the video I shot this morning: http://youtu.be/cPIsz5oe9Sk
Two of my books are now available as ebooks on Amazon.com: TRUSTING THE RIVER and THE FLAME AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST. The first one is about fishing, the second is a collection of original tales. I've recorded an audio version of TRUSTING THE RIVER for audible.com. I myself like to listen to podcasts and audio books on my drives to fishing location. I thought fellow anglers might be interested in listening to fishing stories as they drive as I do.
Here's a link to the audio book:
http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_mn_at_ano_tseft__galileo?advsearchKeywords=trusting+the+river&x=0&y=0
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