Got to the lake around 1:30. Water level is low, but not down
to the slats at the end of the boat ramp... so no problem launching
the boats... (if you can back up a long way) Bright and sunny,
water visibility 2 to 3 feet, water temperature 77 degrees.
I was looking for schooling fish near Boy Scout Island...
no fish busting the surface so I broke out the Tenkara Rods
and started looking for small peacock bass along the shore.
Water level is at the 62 to 63 foot level. It should be up by
the tree roots at that "80" foot marker.
These little peacock bass are way up in the shallow water
trying to keep from being eaten by larger fish.
Peacock bass feed exclusively on smaller fish so any fly that
looks or acts like a small fish works fine.
We must have had a good spawn this year because these size
fish are all over the place.
I wanted to target the Red Devil with the Tenkara rod,
but I was only able to spot 4 fish all day. This is the only
one I hooked. They were just not hanging out in their regular places.
This is my version of a reverse hackle Tenkara fly...
(tied with gold flash-a-boo) It won't win any beauty contests,
but the fish like it.
As the water temperature rose above 78 degrees the
Peacock Bass became more active... and a little larger.
As I slowly moved along the shoreline looking for red devils,
I'd see the flash of silver and yellow from a peacock bass.
Recast to the same spot... allow the fly to sink down a bit...
then a few quick twitches of the rod tip... BAM.
Those peacock bass like the fly worked fast.
This size fish is perfect for the Tenkara Rod. Even with
the 4# test leader, I had no problem pulling the fish out
of the brush and into the net.
Illegitimus Non Carborundum