Saturday, June 16, 2012

Fishing with an Audience

I met Pondboy in downtown Naperville.  I'm getting my ultralight out of my hatchback when my phone rings.
Hey, I'm here and I'm already up one gill and two rock bass.
Darn, and I still need to tie on a hook and rig a shallow float rig with a spring float.  I guess he won't beat me by that many....ok, so Dan is now up by one bluegill and three rock bass.



Tonight when all was said and done we caught five species using the same river float technique I detailed in a past post.  Smallmouth bass (my first of 2012), bluegill, Rock bass, Warmouth, and Sucker; five species all caught on half a worm drifted shallow below a balsa or other quality float.

Today would be another day I went fishing somewhere straight from the train after work.  You can see I'm wearing a blue collared shirt but you can't see the grey slacks or black loafers.  I called this fishing with an audience because we were drifting the West Branch of the DuPage River on the Naperville Riverwalk.

There were plenty of people that walked by and then stopped to watch us catch a fish.  Some kids got to experience a live fish for the first time and one was brave enough to touch the side of the bluegill I held in my hand for him to see up close.

A few people lightheartedly joked that I was overdressed for fishing; I'd agree.  Another couple that was enjoying a nice walk kept walking by when Dan or I would catch a fish.  They'd say "See, we're your lucky charms.  When we walk by you catch a fish." This prompted Dan to attempt to negotiate putting them on retainer to always be around when we're fishing.

I can't say I'd want this much attention all the time when I'm fishing but it tonight it was fun to Fish with an Audience.