Almost Rewarded for Persistence

Due to weekend work, I was able to get Friday off.  I decided to head back to the secluded pond I had explored the previous week, since rains had affected the local flow I had hoped to fish.  At the suggestion of a fishing buddy, I tied a couple of small deer hair mice to toss around at the pond.  I had high hopes I could hook one of the larger bass I saw the previous week, only this time I'd be better prepared.  No 3wt, I carried a 7wt and an assortment of bigger, meatier flies.  Before I could even get out of the Jeep, a massive downpour hit and I had to sit out the storm for several minutes.

Once the rains passed, I got rigged up and started the hike in through the overgrown field.  I know a lot of fishermen, and I don't know too many who are crazy enough, or determined enough, to plow through stuff like this to reach fishable water.

My heart sank a bit when I reached the pond because it had been stained up a bit by the rains.  I immediately reversed thought on that, hoping the slightly reduced visibility might make it easier to get a strike from one of the larger bass swimming in the murkier water.  I started off throwing one of the deer hair mice, and had two explosions on it, hooking one small bass.

After a while, I switched over to some different streamers, picking up more smaller bass.  Having already made a few laps around the pond and hitting the most likely looking holding spots in and near cover, I was starting to think my big bite may not come.  

I switched over to a new streamer pattern I had been wanting to test, and only four or five casts in, my heart rate got kicked up several notches.  I made a cast along some small pads in a corner near some wood cover, and immediately saw not one, but two large shadows lurking behind the streamer.  I gave a couple of quick strips on the fly, and let it slowly fall.  One of the shadows came up behind the fly, and I saw the white flash of the mouth opening and shutting.  I gave a hard set, and my 7wt buckled hard.  The fish at first ran towards me, giving me a great view of what would be my best ever bass on the fly, then lunged hard for the wood cover in front of me.  I was unable to put the brakes on the fish, it got me into the wood, and the next thing I knew my fly-less leader came sailing back over my head.  In the course of maybe 10-12 seconds, I went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.  At this point in the season, with deer season underway, I'm not sure I will make it back there until spring.  But rest assured, there's a score to be settled, and I will be back.  Here's the streamer that got the big fish hooked.

Having seen the way this streamer looked in the water, caught a couple of smaller bass on it and losing the piggie, I'll probably be doing a video tutorial on this pattern in the near future.  When I get one done, it will be posted here.