I probed around the back bay for a couple of hours and didn't even see one fish. I tossed the nightcrawler into areas where the bowfins may hide but all I caught were pumpkinseeds and bluegills...
I swtiched to a spinnerbait and lost it to some snags after 20 minutes of tossing it.
Then I saw some carp bubbles and thought I'd give it a try. It was only one individual fish...and that fish left the area rather quickly. After an hour, I switched back to bowfin hunting.
On the way to explore a different side of the island, I saw a dead pike about 30"+ in the shallows. So I put on a black widow T&C and tossed that around...only to snagged it and lose it close to shore 5 minutes later.
Instead of wasting time, I decided to head to my target area without retying (to discourage myself from fishing as I walk to the target area).
I was close to my target when I saw two guys fishing in this little calm bay. They were after pike. As we were chatting, one guy said "Hey, there's one of your carp." I looked over and...it was no carp! It was a nice male bowfin!
Of course...I didn't have anything tied to my line. By the time I tied a hook to my line, the bowfin had swam off!
I waited around for a while to see if it would come back...but it didn't after a 15 minutes wait...so I bid the guys goodbye.
I got to my target area only to find out that much of it was fenced off (water treatment plant). I was also chased off my mosquitoes. It looks like a good area for carp and there was a nice feeder in there...but I only really have about 10 feet of open area to fish...fence to one side, heavy brush to the other...
I did try it for 30 minutes though...nothing.
I walked back to the two guys and they said the bowfin had not returned. They decided to take a lunch break so I walked back to "my" bay with them. On the way back, there was a little ditch that we passed. One of the guys spotted a big black mess of what I thought was tadpoles...until one of them saw a male bowfin guarding it! It was a school of baby bowfins with a male and female guarding them! If you have seen any snakehead videos of parents guarding fry...it looks exactly like that! (As an aside, it is interesting how two unrelated fish evolved not only to look very similar physically, but they also behave almost exactly alike in all aspects!!!)
I had a nightcrawler on a circle hook tied to my line (I was looking for feeding fish). I tried that first and had the male looked at it. He decided that the worm was no threat to the fries and simply ignored it. I quickly went to tie on a more offensive lure...and I picked out a yellow T&C...but by the time I got back, the group had moved off.
This ditch was interesting. There was only a tiny opening (exactly the spot where I found the bowfin)...but both left and right of the opening was wild rose bushes that you can't get through without shredding your leg. I tried to lob the T&C over the rose bushes and work it as close to shore as possible...but I didn't get bit.
The guys decided to continue their way to lunch while I continued to check this area out. It was 10 minutes after they left that I heard a splash. I couldn't really see what was there under the lily pad...so I just tossed my T&C in there anyways. As soon as the lure landed, I felt the line came tight...and it was a B.....a$$. Oh man...bass are still out of season...so it was a quick pic and back it went. It was a SWEET fish though! A fair guess would be 4lbs to be conservative...
After the bass, I decided to head back to my back bay. On the way, I passed the two guys and showed them the picture. They couldn't believe that such a small, shallow ditch hid a nice bass like that.
I got to my back bay and immediately saw a feeding carp. So much for bowfin hunting today
I tossed out my carp rig and a bunch of corn. There was nothing going for about 45 minutes. As I was about to call off carp fishing, I decided to retie my bowfin rod with the circle hook. After I tied on the hook, I was just about to put on a nightcrawler when...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the process, I dropped my nightcrwaler and never saw it again.
I grabbed my carp rod and it was ON! The line didn't pay off smoothly and I was wondering why...until I saw the line was wrapped around the first guide. So I set the drag light to prevent snapping off the rod tip. Somehow, I managed to get the fish in without losing my rod tip...double bonus!
A bunch of kids from a RFC (R Football Club) was just passing by. They all had an Aussie accent. I don't know why their jersey colour is hot pink and the shorts were kinda "rainbow"...or why one kid was shirtless...but they seemed to be okay...and they jumped in for a pic.
After I landed the carp, a 10yo girl asked if she can catch a fish...so I passed her my bowfin rod and put on a small segment of nightcrawler. Soon enough she caught her first fish, a pumpkinseed. Then another...and another. Another boy about the same age wanted in on the action...so I gave him the rod and he caught his first pumpkinseed. The girl took over again and another pumpkinseed for her. She asked her dad whether he wanted to catch a fish. Technically, he would need a license...but seeing it was Father's Day, I didn't want to be an a$$ so I handed him the rod and he caught his first fish. I took a picture for them and sent it to them via email in the evening.
He thanked me and said it added another dimension to their Father's Day outing. I was pretty happy about that.
While I was helping people catch their first fish, I had my carp rod soaking but there was nothing going. After everyone left, I decided to see if the bowfin are chewing in the late afternoon (I had saw more activity in late afternoon on the past 3 trips).
I didn't find a bowfin...but I did catch a bullhead and this rockbass...
Just a nice pic for my fish list...
I was fishing right by a dock when a lady asked if she can hold the rod for a picture. I had just tossed out my nightcrawler...but I said sure anyways.
We took a couple of pics and I told her to reel the line in. As the line was tightening, something tug back...and she landed a nice 1lb bullhead. Of course she was happy. Somehow, even with a circle hook, the fish was deep hooked in the throat. I had to cut the line.
After the bullhead, I didn't feel like tying on a new hook again...so I just called it a day.
It was a little disappointing I missed two chances at a couple of nice bowfins...but that's how bowfin fishing goes...
It was a nice day with great variety...and to top it off, I helped 4 persons get their first fish. That was pretty rad.
