Chiquesulunga

Had the day off school for the observance of Rosh Hashana. Acting upon a tip that I received from someone earlier in the week, I got out the rod and hit some new water. I have been pretty "speciescentric" lately, and I decided I needed to pursue some warm-water fish, so I headed down to Little Chiques Park to fish below the dam breast.

The last time I acted on a tip involving a dam breast I ended up driving over an hour, buying an out-of-state license and catching a 4 inch green sunfish. I was hoping this tip was going to pan out better than the last one. But, to be honest, I'd make the same trip again. Hey, I wasn't skunked.

Walked up the dam, made a cast, and then another and BAM!, Fish on!! turned out to be a holdover brown. Made two more casts and I had a smallmouth. A little after that, I got into rock bass. I was having fun, so I decided to head down to the Big Chiques. I didn't catch any trout there but I did catch a mess of rock bass, sunfish and a smallmouth.

It was a great day to be out, and I have decided that I need to find more spots like the ones today. I miss fishing for smallmouths. Trout and their environs are still my favorite angling experience, but you can't beat a smallmouth for spunk. If I can find a few more productive areas, I'll pretty much have a fishery and an experience (light, fly rod smallmouth fishing) to my self. And, I like fishing when you're never sure what you might catch. Also, with everyone in the household adding to the calendar, it's nice to have some spots to fish other than the Donegal Creek that are within five minutes of home.