Feast or famine

[Michael T]

I had to stop on the way home last night and fish a small stretch of the DuPage. Given the lack of rain these last few days, I suspected the river to be slow and clear. Well...it was slow, but murky; less than 18" visibility.

 

I tyed a white/chartreuse clouser with beadchain eyes on the 4/5 weight rod and 1/2 a dozen casts later caught a carp. It was in the 16" range, but rather lethargic. Many casts later with no hits I swiched to a Double Bunny and caught a nice 15" smallie. A little further upstream, I pounded a tree line. No success. However, on the way back downstream I hit that same tree line and hooked a really nice smallie. At first it didn't know it was hooked and just swam around a little and I thought it was another carp. Then it bolted downstream and the fight was on. It came to the surface several times and that confirmed it was a smallie....somewhere in the 16+ range and a nice beautiful deep bronze. After a few more back and forth struggles....doink...and the fly line comes whafting back at me.

 

Oh yeah, along the way I had a 10" largemouth and a 5" smallie. It's funny that the palm-sized smallie fought harder than the largemouth twice its size.

 

Gotta love that Double Bunny.