Return to Chernobyl

[zonker]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For those of you stuck indoors, c'mon and go fishin' with me...[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I went back for a return match with some more Chernobyl trout today. It was a rainy day with one storm passing by and another coming in. Wind and rain most of the day. I started out at a lake that is near a holly field. This was the road in. Holly trees on the right.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The road ended at a small pond with a parrot weed problem. I didn’t launch my tube as there were several open spots that would give me room for my back cast.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Goldens were visible among the weeds. A few were patrolling the shore line. Their gold color caused them to stand out against the drab color of a rainy day. Here’s a shot of one as it finned its way by my position. It wasn’t interested in anything I had. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Try as I might, the big Goldens in this pond would have nothing to do with my offerings. Big flies. Small flies. Bright. Dark. Slow retrieve. Fast. Super fast. They’d follow a few feet once in awhile, but quickly break off the pursuit as though it wasn’t worth the effort. After a bit of this cat and mouse game where the cat was just too lazy to make things interesting, I got back into the truck and moved to another lake, this one a bit larger, without the Parrot weed problem. It had a nice island in the middle with a couple of trees on it. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Fish were scattered in 4-6 feet of water around this landmark. After catching and releasing a half dozen small rainbows (not worth photographing) I finally connected with one of the lake’s Goldens. This one was a hot fish. It peeled line off my reel and jumped clear of the water several times before I brought it to the net. (Fish is not foul hooked as it looks in the picture. The barbless fly slipped out of the fish's mouth.)[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Fish were not as active in this lake as the last trip. Seemed like they were more scattered. One reason might be that a couple of tubers were just getting out of the water when I arrived. They said they had enjoyed a good day with many hookups on the Goldens. Casting to the shoreline, allowing the fly to sink close to the bottom, then hopping it back in, utilizing the bead head to give it a jigging type action produced the second fish.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Shortly thereafter, a third fish grabbed the fly. This one took off just as the first one did. Jumped three times before I slipped the net under it. I took the photo, then quickly released it.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Smaller rainbows were regularly grabbing my fly but none of them was worth pulling the camera out into the rain until this fourth Golden hit. He was a nice fish with a notable red stripe. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Just before dark I pulled my tube up into the grass and hiked up to an adjacent pond. The two bodies of water are connected by a small seasonal creek (which was running pretty good today after our recent storms.) [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]By now the rain was coming down fairly hard. I took a few casts, had a hit or two, but hooked nothing. [/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]A nice day on the water – the rain not withstanding. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]zonker[/size][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Another great report and some more great pics. Those "mutants" sound like they are a lot of fun.[/#0000ff]
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