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3. A couple of very nice trips to the Pond

I didn't make it out enough during the earlier part of trout season, so I'm trying to make up for it now. And we have a stretch of most beautiful weather, sunny with mid-70s during the day and down into the fifties at night, and nice and stable! Perfect pond fishing weather, so I took the kayak out on [REDACTED] Pond both Monday and this afternoon (until dark both days). I haven't gotten a lot of big brookies out of here lately, worried that too many people are ignoring or just plain don't know the regulations and are keeping them at 8" (supposed to be 15"!) And last year I caught a lot of little perch, not worth keeping and worrisome that they were getting stunted...

Monday my first brookie was 11 inches! The Pond lives!!! Caught four more and missed a fair number of hits, biggest of the rest was 9" but they were so beautiful. All on dries, first two on a #10 modified Joe's Hopper (a consistently successful favorite of mine), then two on a grey EHC #12 and the last on a #12 White Wulff. The last fly because at dusk there were some fairly large white mayflies showing up and plenty of rising fish! First time I've been there this year (and first time in my kayak this year as well) and it proved to be worth it. I felt reassured!

Then today the brookie action was much slower, two on the same hopper pattern was all I could conjure up (missed some little guys too) but the bigger one was so pretty I had to snap a photo. No flies, almost no risers, so I decided to put on a #10 silver/grey KBF and toss it around. Nothing until I parked in a group of snags and started hammering yellow perch, all keepers! I ended up with 11 of them flopping around in the bow, until I finally went back to the Wulff and missed a last few brookie strikes as a few of those big white mayflies appeared again, right before dark...

Ephoron? Are they pond dwellers too? Surprised to be still seeing big mayflies on the 23rd of September, but we've had another wacky year weather wise.

I might head back out there again tomorrow after class (get to take them to Clark's Marsh tomorrow) and give it another go, after all it closes on September 30th at midnight...

Jonathon

P.S. I told my folks if they came back up again I'd get them a perch dinner!

Wow, way to go Jonathon, beautiful pics of some cool fish. Is there a fish fry in the near future. Perch and walleye are my favorite fish to eat, some drakes batter and a little peanut oil and man you got heaven on earth,through in your favorite beer and it gets no better. I didn't get up this past Tuesday, got some home chores that need to get done, but I think Tuesday is a go! Anyway good luck and get out there.

Mike.

Makin' me hungry... one of the few fish that are better than brookies...

Nice mess-o-perch there Jonathon! Can't show them to the wife since she'd be in the car heading your way. She loves perch.

Spence