Brandon is back with his week two report, as the challenge gets even more interesting. Remember, we're giving away an OBIF T-shirt and a large Morrell fly box, so be sure and enter the contest in the top right side-bar. Contest rules are here.
Call me, “Ishmael.”
Actually, don’t. In
this version, I have become Capt. Ahab. The ‘white whale’ of my obsession is a very
large and mostly white koi. Then again, it might be a gold fish, or an
ornamental koi; I am honestly not certain.
What is certain is that it is lord and master of its domain; a dingy
little pond adjacent to the ‘Acid Pond’.
We will call this pond the ‘Hobo Junction’ pond (mainly due to the three
or four hobo living rooms I found in its circumference). The pond is stomach shaped and fairly small;
it is chock-full of playful medium sized bass.
But they pale in comparison to this fish, however. The desire to catch this fish developed so
fiercely that I actually considering ditching the contest! The crisis was due to the self-imposed
inability to fish the same pond two days in a row. This fish must
be caught, and I was willing to ditch the whole endeavor to it to hand.
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not being koi |
Cooler heads prevailed however, talking me down from the
ledge. I would continue, as it would
likely increase my chances to hook him.
It was also pointed out that I can cheat a little in my methods, since
it is a fish-nomaly; providing of course it’s done on the Eagle Claw. I have fished for it two days at a time, less
the weekend, since I discovered the aquatic monster. Ōkina
Sakana (Japanese for Big Fish) has pulled me from deep slumbers into cold
sweats, simply by the knowledge it exists. I have been supremely unsuccessful at fishing
for him. It is proving to be the cagiest
fish I have ever pursued, and I am not convinced witchcraft isn’t
involved. This fish is as equally
frustrating as, “Not tonight honey, I have a headache…”
Hours have been spent, both fishing and evaluating its
behavior, trying to find a chink in the armor.
Over thinking it, I know… I tend
to do that frequently. Just ask any ex
of mine, they will emphatically support the evaluation. It’s in my nature I suppose, yet this
situation calls for disproportionate contemplation. It knows
when I show up and swims over to me. As
soon as I begin casting, it leaves. Add
that approach to the fact that it’s the hobo-junction pond; one can only assume
that someone feeds it. It muds like a regular carp but shies away from any fly,
or (more likely) any presentation I can achieve surrounded by an entire
landscape scientifically engineered for perpetual fly-lossage. This obsession has essentially, consumed week
two.
Moving past the koi, I did catch a common carp, which you
can read about here. You
can also add Longnosed Gar to the catch-list as well, pulling that off on
Saturday. These bring the total caught
species to nine fish. After the carp, I
landed a little red-breasted sunfish; that’s ten, baby! Let’s not point out that I have fished skunk
free for thirteen days in a row,
scratch that crap, that’s a personal best!
Assuming this (bone-dry) cold front doesn’t screw things up for me, or
the fact that I just called attention to my streak, the fishing should only
improve now that fall is actually here.
Unrelated, I have run out of fluorocarbon leaders and the local
storefront doesn’t sell them (read: I’m nail-knotting my tippet into a leader). That variable should affect the Vegas odds slightly. Lastly, I think I caught a Spotted Bass. I say think because I have never heard of a pond-dwelling
Guadalupe Bass, but it looked similar. I
snapped a picture, but it was a case of extreme camera fail and I didn’t want
to kill the little guy waiting on it to quit acting stupid. So, I am going to call it 10.5 species.
Now, can I brag a little bit? Texasriverbum.com
made a video! Why is that cool? Well, because I am in it! Okay, that part
really isn’t that cool. The only
thing I can take credit for is my part in it, all the editing and such was done
by le Bum himself. I will own up to a
couple of things though, before you watch it…
1)
My backcast is too fast. Blame the heavy streamers I fish for that bad
habit, I didn’t even know I was doing it.
2)
I screwed the name of this wonderful website up
so badly, he couldn’t use it. I am
asking for Rosetta Stone Latin for Christmas.
3)
I was nervous.
Cameras with people behind them make me a little nervous freaking
basket case.
There, another week down.
I have a mission within the mission, so the pressure is on a little
bit. If I do catch the Ōkina Sakana, I
will add five hand-tied *bass flies to the prize pot. To recap we have: magic
koi, no leader, koi/angler cage-fight, ten species, white whales, extra prize, magic
koi, and cool video... Are ye not
entertained?!?
Good. See you downstream!
*Disclaimer: I kind of
suck at tying flies. They do catch fish
though, I promise.
Make sure you check out Brandon's site-
Previous OBIF contest posts:
If someone is feeding him, they are probably using bread. Have you thought of trying a bread fly?
ReplyDeleteThe video was awesome...didn't even notice the backcast. ;)
ReplyDeleteStealth- I agree, the bread fly may have to make an appearance for this pond pigeon, though I'd draw the line at chumming. Gray area- feeding this fish on your off day until it starts to recognize you. Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteErin- I agree with you, I never noticed the back cast and still don't.
I noticed the back cast immediately but I was going to keep my mouth shut.
ReplyDeleteBAHAHAHAHAH!
Stealth-Tried bread today, might be the front, but he wasn't interested.
ReplyDeleteResse's- It's there, but thanks for the support.
FR- Regular rules don't apply. I won't "chum", I will "create a hatch"!
Red- Because I want more flies, I will keep my mouth shut. Good day.
Brandon ~ Pictures of the Koi - or it doesn't exist. Maybe you're just having wild, crazy dreams at night of big elusive fish? ;) Loved the video - and I didn't notice the cast either - but that's probably because mine looks worse than yours. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete