Catching That Week Before

    One-two years ago, my Dad and I were fishing on a sandbar jutting out into the Ohio River (this was the same sandbar where a man ramped his pontoon boat onto shore and offered us a free ride around Brown's Island. None of us felt like getting kidnapped that night so we awkwardly declined.). That night, my Dad caught one fish and I caught zero. While there, we started talking to another fisherman that claimed "to catch fish after fish" a week before that night.

    It seems odd that wherever we go, we always hear about how many fish they caught the week before. So for one-two years, we've been trying to catch up to that "week before" and tonight, it finally happened.

    With a brief stop at King's Creek and one Smallmouth reeled in, we took our gear to the mouth of King's Creek on the Ohio River. We had many good nights here last year and were anxious to see how this year would start.

    I used a Kastmaster at the creek so I thought I'd try my luck with it here. It payed off on my second cast, reeling in another Smallie. For the past 4 months, I've been in a slump but all you need is a few base hits and you're hitting .300 again.

    After reeling in a handful off the Kastmaster, I switched to my go-to Rapala. It didn't matter if I reeled it in slow, fast, jerky, or not at all; these fish were in a frenzy. I've never witnessed anything like this. They didn't just take the lure, they attacked it on the run. Three times we watched  fish close to shore dash through the lure but miss the hook. When they hooked on though, the impact felt like there was a 5 pounder on the end of the line. Once hooked, they'd run and jump until they were finally on shore, where they would then become civil and let me easily remove the barbs.

 
 All and all I ended up with more than 15 Small Mouth Bass/White Bass. They weren't huge in size but their fight was amazing. It was a thrill I haven't gotten from fishing in quite awhile. While I caught up to my "week before," my Dad is still searching for his, losing a few and only reeling in one. I mention this not to rub it in but to say how odd it was. He used the same lure I did and even fished the same spot I did. He joked that I was spitting on my lures before throwing them in. I returned the joke by catching the same 2 fish 15 times.

First Quarter Results

  Whenever something goes wrongs, responsible people always say to look at the bright side of the situation. It's been a dark winter for many reasons, but let's try it out, that bright side thing I was talking about.

  I've fished more days through April than I ever have before. I can't lie though, I've had the same results fishing that I could of had not fishing. And as far as I know, that's not how it should work. But what I lacked in numbers, I made up for in other areas.

  Firstly, I have learned (and still am learning)the basics to fly fishing.  I can now talk to fisherman about wooly buggers and egg patterns like I'm part of the cool kid's club. Regardless of the end result, it always feels nice to learn a new skill.

  I wouldn't have learned as much as I have if my cousin didn't hook me up with his friend from back home. This kid shares the same name as I do (I could have named this post Zac Attacks but I didn't because that would have been stupid and the 5 people who read this would probably never read it again all because of a stupid title. It just wasn't worth it.) Anyway...

  I've never formally met him but after quickly talking though introductions, I learned we actually played football against each other in one of the most memorable rivalries I've had growing up. You're lucky we never played that tie-breaker Zac!

  He taught me what I needed to learn and gave me the confidence I was looking for. But most importantly, I've got a new fishing buddy and you can never have too many of those.

Showing me how it's done.

  So far, I've learned a new skill and made a new fishing pal, not so bad. This bright side of things is actually working.

  But yes, the fish (trout) weren't cooperative this far. My Dad has been more fortunate though and has caught multiple fish multiple times. In this picture, he was the trend setter of King's Creek that night. No one was fishing this spot but after he caught a few, he now had friends fishing next to him trying to cash in on his find. To be more specific, they weren't his friends (I sure hope not) but looked more like the creepy characters who sit on their porches with shotguns in horror movies. Good job Dad!

 

 

  After a long depressing bought of stubbornness, I finally gave trout a rest and went to what I know best, Bass. I didn't catch anything that large but that didn't matter. It was the therapy I needed to rejoin with the experiences I've had growing up: the woods, the smells, the ponds, the ticks on my neck, etc. It never gets old.

First Bass on a fly

Keychain Bass

  So to put things in perspective, I got my butt brutally kicked so far this year. Kicked to the ground again and again, but I know it's only going to get better. All these growing pains will give me a better chance at making sure they never happen again.

Sooner or Later

Well, lets rip the band-aid off. I've fished 9 separate times this year. After my 8th time I caught 2 fish, averaging a magnificent .22 of a fish per outing. Thank goodness I'm not trying to feed a family.

I've been to Lake Erie, Conneaut Creek, Beaver Creek, Buffalo Creek, Kings Creek, Tomlinson Run and the Rocky River (all mostly with my Dad). I'd like to think we aren't fishing but rather practicing our casts for when the time is right. And man, those casts are looking good. But to our defense, aside from a few others, no one else was catching them either.

Rocky River Fishing for Steelheads

Last year, my my cousin Shane built me a beautiful fly rod. It has succeeded in capturing bass and bluegill, but never has it had the pleasure of  reeling in a trout. My itch to cross that off my list grew larger and larger each unsuccessful outing I've had in 2012.

While my confidence was as big as my size 6 fishing hook, I felt a little hope as I took my first step in the creek. Last year, King's Creek proved to be successful many times over for my Dad and I. We learned the holes, the current, the terrain; hopefully, it would add up to a good day.

I quickly made my way to a favorable hole. After a few short casts, my line was pulled under. A snag already. You've got to be kidding me. In fact, it was kidding me. That snag was a fish (I'm still getting used to the feel of the hit on the fly rod that it caught me off guard). I snapped it back, securing the hook. This fish wasn't just another trout; it was my dwindling confidence and my first trout catch on the new rod. I got him into my net and that was it Fort Pitt.

All together, I caught one more shortly before we were going to leave. This hit was different though. It was a runner and I quickly knew it wasn't a snag. It sure felt good bringing another one in.

Last year, I fished the creek with my spin rod. That was a great time. This year I have fly rod and waders. It's a whole new playing field and I am enjoying every new inexperienced minute of it. While my Dad was unable to reel one in, it was still a good fishing trip. We know they are in there just waiting for our return. ***Update*** I just went fishing there again and they were not waiting for our return. Definitively not waiting.

Cabin Fever

   It was January 2012. It was a new year with new fishing stories to live. We each got a pair of waders for Christmas/Dad's Birthday and were ready to get out and play with our new toys.

    Our first attempt took us to Beaver Creek, which is growing to be one of my favorite places to fish in our area. We were both skeptical but our longing to fish overcame the skepticism. After looking back, we have never fished this early in the season. The air was brisk but extremely refreshing. It was great to enjoy the outdoors in January wading through a stream hunting for docile small mouths.

   We threw everything we had at them, but fell short. The creek was high and fast and hard to get comfortable action on the lures. No fish? It didn't matter. We broke in our waders and got to enjoy the afternoon in the beautiful outdoors.

Scared Racoon

   Our second trip began with a lot more confidence than our last trip. Tomblinson Run Creek was stocked. Not since last spring have we fished for trout. And not since last spring have we both had so much fun catching a fish we haven't caught for years. Last year I really began to appreciate what fishing can do for you and I feel like trout capture than more than any other fish. It's not fishing in a field or fishing at a lake. You are knee deep in water wading through the outdoors to find a fish that seems more in tune with nature than any other fish we catch. We were both very happy to finally get back to that pursuit.

   The first thing I noticed was the snow; we have never fished with snow on the ground. It made me happy. It's nice to make new tracks every once in awhile.

   My Dad took the upper creek as I wandered down through the bottom. We both fished many great holes but were unable to reel any in. As I was walking back to my Dad, he actually found me first. I asked him and he asked me if I caught any. We both said no. It was funny because it wasn't a disappointing no but a very happy no. A no that showed it was a great time catching nothing this time but next time, it would be a very different story.