WNY panfish on the fly
Ethan with his first solo caught bluegill
Jonathan shows of one of his bluegills
Katie with yet another fine bluegill
This was the hot fly of the morning - Chennille wrapped on a hook with a few rubber legs!
This past week felt more like summer than spring, and I took the opportunity to get my kids out of the house to enjoy it. We all went to a local park that we spent a good amount of time at last summer. It is filled with all kinds of family fun stuff like a giant playground, basketball courts, trails for walking, football field, soccer fields, etc., etc. It is a great place to spend a whole day with the family. It also has a small pond filled with panfish, largemouth bass and a few big carp. And after the kids enjoyed an hour or so at the playground and hitting some baseballs at the diamond, we ventured over to the pond for a little fishing.
When we first got there we were all by ourselves and took a quick look around. We were pleasently surprised to see plenty of panfish and small bass holding in the shallow areas near the bank. We strung up the fly rods, picked out a few good looking flies and began working an area where there seemed to be the most fish. It was also at this time that a large influx of people began to show up, and soon the pond was filled with bobbers and bait.
My eight year old son started to get a few fish interested in his fly and got a few good bites, but was late on the hookset. Meanwhile I was helping my daughter get into her first bluegill of the day. Then it was my youngest son who got into a fish, and soon we were all getting into the action. My oldest son switched flies to the same pattern we were using and he began to catch fish after fish. At one point my two sons hooked fish all by themselves at the same time....the first bradfield family double header!! Some of the other kids began to come over and watch the action. And soon my kids had a small audiance. Another family that was near us hadn't caught anything yet, so we gave them a few flies to try under their bobber. We left soon after that, and the kids could not have been more proud of their success!!
With the warm weather many of our WNY ponds are fishing really well. This is a great time to get the kids out of the house and enjoy a little fishing. It is some of the best action of the spring!!!
Mike
http://www.GuysFliesAndPies.com:
Good to see the kids getting some fishing time. I have yet to take my kids out this year. We might make it out saturday, just depends on how other things go. Ever try the pond that’s just past the entrance to that park? or the tiny tiny one behind the pizza shop? Not that great of ponds, but I fished them both last year. I caught something in the one that’s not behind the pizza shop, but was skunked at the smallest of them. the pizza was good!
Brian Bradfield:
Mike – I did not know about the one behind the Pizza place – I’ll have to try it! And the Pizza from that place is my family’s favorite!!!
Mike
http://www.GuysFliesAndPies.com:
The one behind the pizza is small….but I think there’s something with a mouth in there that can eat a fly, I just didn’t catch anything. The next one back from the road is kinda down a small hill so you got to keep a high back cast, and there are fish in it…not sure what kind they were, not your typical bluegill or bass. But, the last one past the park is the best one of them all. Ever seen that fish in the back pond that’s a few feet long? Check out the map I sent you yesterday for a look at all 3…or just hit Google itself!