2017-The Year of the Crappie

Don't pay any attention to the title of this post. 2017 is not really the year of the crappie, I just wrote that to excite, enrage, and entice people to read this post. I think I might need to work on figuring out what actually excites, enrages, and entices people...

Yesterday was April Fools Day around here. And everywhere else, for that matter. Nobody in my household got fooled, that I know of, but we did get a lot accomplished, both inside and outside, as it was a beautiful 65 degree day, and a lot of Spring cleaning occurred. The kids even ran around in shorts and t-shirts. Personally, I thought it was still cool enough for pants, but what do I know?

A beautiful first day on the lake!

The Boy

At the end of the long day, the Boy and I had about 10 minutes to stroll down to the nearby lake and try to catch something. The ice hadn't been gone for all that long, so I suspected there might not be anything swimming around within casting distance yet, but you never know. I brought out my newly acquired Shakespeare 1250 Wonderod, a 7'9" 6wt that is not the normal Wonderod white, but instead a brownish tan color that I think was meant to mimic the color of bamboo. Although the cork is a little hard, it cast like a dream. I was very impressed with this rod's power and accuracy.

The 1250 Wonderod

The Boy hasn't quite mastered casting a fly rod yet, and I didn't particularly want to have to dig the wooly bugger out of either of our hides, so I cast and let him strip it in. We fished that way for about 10 casts, until the Boy decided he would rather go up and gather sticks from the yard for money, like his sisters were doing. After he left I made 4 more casts. After the third cast I was starting to think this was going to be a fruitless fishing trip, but then I made my fourth cast. I was stripping in my chartreuse wooly bugger just like we had previously done, but this time it stopped, and I instinctively set the hook, even though I hadn't set a hook in about 5 months, After a short battle I pulled in my first fish of 2017, and the first crappie I have ever caught in this lake. As my mother-in-law, who happened to be standing nearby, would attest, it wasn't huge, but it was a fish, and I was happy to catch it.

My first crappie from this lake.

My trip ended with that fish. Hopefully I will get back out soon and catch something else. Then maybe I can change 2017 to The Year of the Crappie and Other Fish...

The ol' Wonderod did a fine job!

Gear Used: Shakespeare Wonderod Model 1250, 7'9" 6wt; Scientific Angler System 6 fly reel; No-name 6wt DT fly line; Size 6 chartreuse wooly bugger.