Waiting.

It`s currently raining here in Elliot Lake. Tomorrows forecast does not look much better. I`m not sure it will keep me home all day, but we will see.

Dunlop Lake sunset.

I am very eager for bass season. I have been pondering why for a while now. I haven`t bothered with trout as of yet, except to check out some rivers. Then I never made it back when the fishing should have been good. I only targeted the pike for a little bit. For some reason I am fixated on bass.

There are a few readers of this blog who will have seen my various websites over the years. The vast majority of my ramblings concerned the trout local to where I lived. So much so that some folks gained a perception that this was all I fished for. Can`t blame them for that, as I said, mostly I talked trout, and unless one was a constant reader, missing the other species would be easy.

Luna Moth

I started fishing when I was three years old, and have had the qualifier àrdent`attached to my pursuit since then. I have always loved to fish. Bass is the first fish to capture my imagination. It is the fish I would daydream about in between our trips up north. All to infrequent for an enthusiastic child I can tell you. It is the fish I would read about.  I leafed through mail order tackle catalogs until the pages fell out, like at bass tackle and lures, making sure the few pieces I would acquire would provide the magic I envisioned.  I was devouring books on bass from the adult section of our library well before I was ten.

It was in those books I was first introduced to flyfishing, for bass of course. Serendipitously ( *not a word, but should be. ), my grandfather bought me a fly rod around the same time. It was at christmas when I was 9 that I received that gift. I am sure he envisioned me pursuing trout with that wonderful little setup. I however, was adept at catching fish by this time, and had serious misgivings as to how effective a fly rod could be. I know what it said in the books, but I really like catching fish, and didn`t want to risk the chance of even missing out on a single one.

As a result, the flyrod remained more of a novelty item, brought along to more play with than anything else. I had a membership at a trout club before my teens, and the flyrod and I got more familiar. As I got into my teens, I was using the fly gear more and more, until it simply edged out the other hardware altogether. It was also at the time trout were beginning to occupy the majority of my time. The trout fishing was much better in my immediate vicinity than the bass..............so easy decision. But it was bass that taught me I could as effectively target fish with a flyrod as I could with my spinning gear. They have always remained a favoured quarry. I doubt a season has passed by when I haven`t pursued them. The same cannot be said for trout.

Now, these many years later, I find myself kind of coming home in away. Over the past number of years, I was fishing bass more and more frequently, for a number of reasons. In the more recent past seasons I may have been doing more bass fishing than anything else............my back had a lot to do with that to be honest. This year, its been all I have been thinking of. During the winter, I was once again going through catalogs, albeit online ones this time, researching tackle and lures, making sure my purchases will count. I have been counting days, waiting for the 4th Saturday. I am likely looking forward to a restless night sleep. Hope you get out and have some fun tomorrow. I know I am hoping to, if this rain ever stops.