Not sure which fishing hole would suit us, we did a little tour of the valley from Amherst through Florence through Southhampton, inspecting fishing spots as we went before finally settling on a not very widely known hole in Westfield called the 'Brickyards'. It's a series of low marshy ponds perfect for the sunfish variety of game, such as bass, perch and punkinseed. It's also divided by a road into two sections, one a little more wooded than the other.
Being mid afternoon and the sun blazing above, we tried the wooded side first. Chris, who in his younger years was too impatient for the 'art' of fishing, was geared up and ready to go today, and made the first cast.
There weren't too many other fishermen around, a couple guys showed up with a small bass boat and shoved off to other hidden sections of the ponds, leaving just this particular hole to us and one other guy across the way...
The shady location proved to be a good choice as far as peace and quiet were concerned, but the time of day was a little wrong. Fishing is always slow mid afternoon, and this afternoon was no exception. It's not that there aren't fish in these waters, there are. That much was made plain by the big fish cruising back and forth along the shore, frustratingly within arm's reach.
But fish generally bite best in the early morning and very late afternoon. These guys were more concerned with mating rituals, like clearing their bedding areas for spawning.
They position themselves over their site and furiously wave their tails, creating a clearing in the mucky bottom...
Then the various genders dart above the bedding and 'do their thing'...
Spring is here.
After casting and recasting, and recasting and casting; we decided to concede to the bite-less situation, and test our fortunes across the street; we packed up and moved the whole operation.
It's a very short walk, and we were re-set up and casting again in no time.
But it was soon apparent that whatever the fish were busy (or not busy) doing over there, it was likewise over here. After donating the last of our bait to sneaky punkinseeds, and weedy entanglements, we called it a day and got ready to head out.
And then, as often happens just as we're making our final cast, the only catch of the day was hauled in after a ferocious struggle...
...a trophy? Eh, no.
But hey, what do you want for free..?
3 comments:
At least you got some great shots of the big fish.
Hilarious! I hope you threw the poor little guy back in.
Mary, I'm sure the fish would prefer it that way...
Theresa, the fish went back in, probably a little wiser for the experience...
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