L_S_2015_04_

190 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015

fLy LineS continued

On this particular day, it was favoring no one. A couple of

other anglers using bait were completely frustrated.

I was using a small popper and getting a few strikes from the

gobbules (aka bream) but nothing big.

About an hour into the fishing, I noticed the gobbules were

feeding on something along the grass lines. I tied on a slow-

sinking spider tied by friend Stephen Robert of Houma.

As soon as the spider began to disappear from sight, the end

of my fly line would zip out. I’d raise the rod and the fight was

on. Not just gobbules, but hefty ones — the kind that put a

U-curve into a 3-weight rod.

When I returned home that evening and told Mrs. Catch that

I’d caught about two dozen “wristband” bream, she asked if

I’d brought any home. When told they’d all been released, she

threatened to feed me Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks.

Message received. But soon forgotten.

A couple of weeks later I was headed to a kayak-fishing seminar

at the Union Parish Library in Farmerville. I left the house early

enough to do a little bank fishing on nearby Lake D’Arbonne.

According to outdoor writer Kinny Haddox, a lake resident

who contributes to this magazine and maintains the Lake

D’arbonne Life website, the bream were just starting to turn on

at the time.

At 15,000 acres in size, D’arbonne is the polar opposite of

Jennings Park Pond. But they do have a couple of things in

common: high water hardness and, at times, clarity.

While it’s most famous for good numbers of large bass and

crappie, there’s an outstanding population of bluegill in the 6-

to 8-inch range.

I had two fly rods rigged up for this road trip — one with a size

10 chartreuse/orange popping bug and another with a black/

chartreuse fluff butt tied on a 1/100-ounce jighead.

My first stop was Ramp Road, a quarter-mile section of old

Highway 33 that has become a fishing peninsula. Folks park on

the side of the road and fish off either bank. Rocks, shell and

pea gravel reefs attract schools of spawning bluegills.

I tried the popping bug — nothing. I tried the fluff butt —

nothing.

I was about to call it an afternoon when it struck me that

maybe I needed to apply the same logic as Jennings Park —

match the hatch.

With a size 14 beadhead Hare’s Ear tied on a 20-inch section of

4X tippet, I started working a section between two willow trees.

Again, as soon as the fly disappeared from view, the end of the

fly line jerked back.

They say that fishing is one jerk waiting for another jerk at

the end of the line. Well, this jerk pulled in a whole bunch of

chunky bluegill and redear over the next hour.

And then threw each one back.

That did not go well with Mrs. Catch.

On the bright side, Mrs. Paul’s wasn’t so bad after all. ■

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