Dawn Patrol - Not Intuitive

I decided to head back to Goose Creek and try my luck at that channel catfish school again. The morning was gorgeous - nippy 58 degrees, no wind, warm water and low humidity set the stage for a gently rising fog vapor from the creek. I looked for the school where I last saw them, but I didn't even see sunfish. I cast for awhile - first with the flyrod, then the ultralight spinning gear, then with Gulp and I wasn't getting any response. The water level was lower than last Monday, so I decided to try a different approach. I headed back up stream and cast softbait into the pools. That wasn't really working either. I kept going upstream and ended up near the trailhead. I saw a fish rolling out of the corner of my eye and I started casting across the narrow-ish part of the creek. I hit paydirt and spent the next hour reeling in fish (mostly green sunfish) cast after cast. I did get a few other types of fish - a Flier (Crappie) and some bass (saving that for the next post). After a few minutes of casting, I took the 5wt out again and the result was the same - tons of fun fish to hand. I'm not sure if it was the location, the terrain, the softbait, or the Sun's position, but it sure did take a while for the creek bite to turn on. Maybe next time I'll sleep in and stall the dawn patrol. Or maybe I'll wait for Marlon's Saturday show to end and then go and bring him too (darn Pokemon...)

Goose Creek Quickie

After brunch, we were out on the road getting errands done. We were out West - Asburn/Leesburg area - and in between Dick's (where I got a bunch more 1/32 ounce jig heads) and Wegmans, we stopped off at the Goose Creek fishing spot. I did not bring fly gear, just the ultralight spinning gear. I wanted to try out more of the soft baits - especially the Gulp minnows. The current was not as strong as the last time - so the tailing section was not as pronounced. And the bass were not as concentrated either. I hooked into two - and like most of the bass I've hooked into recently, they jump and spit the hook. I think the weight on the hook gives them something to throw... I'm still new to softbaits so forgive me as I learn. If you have ever wondered, Gulp does work. I had two other baits on the same jighead and there wasn't a time when I had the Gulp on that fish weren't picking at it. All to quickly, it was time to move on and I caught this fish that Marlon and I are not quite sure how to identify - I think it is a "Flier" Centrarchus macropterus; Marlon's thinks it is a White Crappie. This is the second one we've caught at Goose Creek - we'll do more research to find out what it is.