Decided To Chase Some Smallies Today

and ended up with bluegill at a local pond.  The fall weather is perfect here currently.  It warmed up into the mid 70s today.  With no responsibilities, well none I felt like doing, I decided to head out and chase some smallmouth on the fly rod.  It hasn't rained here in Maryland in almost a week.  I thought, silly me, that the river would be settled down by now.  I guess I should have remembered that it rained for almost a month straight and therefore the river would be high, fast and stained.  So, I headed out to the Monocacy River.  I got there and took a quick look around.  It seemed alright or so I tried to convince myself.  We all do it right?  We want to fish so bad that we almost talk ourselves into it.  I told myself it would be fine and I would catch plenty of fish despite having a feeling deep down of despair.  I knew the truth but refused to acknowledge it.  I grabbed the chest waders, that really should have been a clue, suited up and headed to the river.  I literally spent ten minutes before I gave up.  The water was moving so fast that it threatened at times to knock me off my feet.  My fly was rocketing down stream at a speed greater than my mending capabilities so I decided to pack it in.  Here is what it looked like from the shallow end.  This little "island" for lack of a better term is always out of water.  As you can see, it is under water and the water has actually diverted around it.  That tells me that it was high and super fast at one point.

So, I headed back home.  On the way there, I got to thinking about another pond I haven't hit in quite some time.  Why not stop off and give it a whirl?  Well, I did.  I spent about an hour and a half there.  It is a small pond stocked with crappie, warmouth, bluegill, largemouth, catfish and carp.  It is also a public pond which means it sees a lot of traffic.  I mean a lot of traffic.  I got there and discovered that I had the whole place to myself.  I keep the Cajun tickler on and had a go at the panfish.  In the end, I managed to land one warmouth and 31 bluegill.  Not to shabby for an hour and a half.  I never saw any bass or crappie.  I did see some carp cruising but they couldn't care less about what I was throwing at them.  In the end it all worked out well for me.  Another 32 fish added to the log book.  I had hoped to chase some smallies before winter but it was not in the cards today.  I am leaving for Ocean City tomorrow and taking rods with me.  I am hoping between classes to be able to get out and catch something while I am out there.