Although they definitely don't do the runs and jumps like Interior rainbow trout would do, personally, I find the fight of large smallmouth bass pretty interesting. Their broad body, paddle-like tail let them dive and circle deeply, take short powerful runs, leap occasionally when approaching the surface. I use a 4/5wt, most of the fish in this lake rarely get above 18~20in long.
The photo was a bit deceiving, beside the fact that I was holding the fish out.
I trained all winter at the gym so I could do that.
We arrived yesterday at Lakeside Gardens at around 2pm. When we got off the ferry, I was complaining about some soreness/numbness all over my body, so I decided to just do some casts off the floating dock because the resort is quite empty this weekend (I guess the weather kept everyone home). I had one around the same size as this fish on the fourth cast but it spat the hook just as I was about to lip it. This fish was caught after ten minutes of trying.
After the second fish, I decided to take the boat out but returned to the cabin almost right away. The numbness/soreness had gotten worse and in no time I was curling up in bed with a fever. Neeedless to say there wasn't any fishing done for the rest of yesterday. We decided to visit the hospital in the evening just in case this is something more serious than it maybe. I showed Nina how wonderfully slow our health care system is.
Actually, there were many other patients who made me looked like a healthy person, so we couldn't really blame the doctors for attending them first even though we came in before everyone. In the end, we decided to just go home because the longer I waited (2hrs?), the better I got. I guess that's one way of curing yourself.
This morning I got up feeling better but still not 100%. The wind was also pounding the lake. We casually fished around the floating dock for a bit. Both Nina and I caught some cutthroats, bass as well as numerous yellow perch. I managed to get the boat out for a couple of hours in the afternoon but with minimal success. I landed 3 bass. The wind was definitely a factor, so hopefully tomorrow will be much calmer.
Author
Topic: St Mary Lake, May 28th 2010 (Read 3939 times)