Serpent.

We have had lots of rain lately. Even so, I was rather surprised to see the lakes had risen some 18". I make that judgement by how far the lillypads were submerged. Rivers and streams too, were swollen beyond capacity. Its still cold, and I really don't expect the bass to become un-funked anytime soon.

Red and Yellow Poppers.

The day had been dismal. Overcast and spots of rain. I really hadn't made any plans beyond puttering around the shop. Around 7pm, sunlight broke for a long enough period, that I decided to at least take a drive to check out some new water.

I decided to check out Serpent River for access. Found a couple of spots with easy parking and egress. Had the puppy with us, so I decided to have a stroll and a closer look. The banks were breached and the aquatic vegetation submerged. Still, what I saw was promising. I an area inaccessible at the moment, but should be fine when the water recedes, I could see fish rising. From shore I had a couple hundred of yards to play with. Certainly worth more of a look into when the water goes down.

Serpent River chugger chompin smallie from the day after this article.

I did fish for about 20 minutes. All I had was the chugger that was tied on when I grabbed the rod. The rest of the tackle stayed in the car. This particular chugger I painted in Jamaican colours.....Reg, Gold and Green. I wondered to myself, sometime ago, whether it was a coincidence that these are also the colours of a finely cured sativa bud? Anyways, even with that remarkably ill-matched choice for the situation, I managed a couple of fish. One was the biggest damn Rock Bass I have ever caught. It did an impressive imitation of a decent smallmouth. The other fish was............a decent smallmouth. Apparently the fish were good with the Jamaican colour scheme. Or they thought it was a bud.

Not to shabby for a lark. Will be back there sometime soon.