The past few trips to this pond didn't yield any Crappies at all. I figured the tepid water would have driven the crappies deeper in search of cooler water. So, I set a Springbrook Wunder microjig about 4.5' under an indicator and tossed that out beyond the shoreline dropoff. I had to work this very slowly with lots of pauses to keep the microjig almost vertical beneath the indicator.
Success! I ended up landing at least 10 Crappies, along with 6 Bluegills, 4 Largemouth Bass, and a 10" Yellow Bullhead.
Most of the bass and about 1/2 of the bluegills hit a deer hair pellet fly that was on/near the surface. I also had a nice fish hit that fly, and broke my line when I set the hook. It was fresh 9 lb tippet I had tied on earlier that evening! I suspect it was a nice bass, but it could have been a catfish or grass carp. I hate not knowing!
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I continue to have line problems. The previous evening to this report, I went fishing with Jay again. We fished Saylorville Lake from shore. Part of the time, I was pursuing carp with the fly rod. Had one carp strike an egg pattern, and once again I broke my line on the hookset! I wondered if maybe my hooksets with the 8wt rod I was using were just too strong for the 9 or 10 lb tippet I was using?
Last night I was using a 5wt rod, and had tied on a fresh length of tippet for the evening. Still broke the line when I set the hook on the nice fish that hit the deer hair fly. Since I leave my rods strung up in my car ready to go all the time, it is easy to believe that the sun and heat deteriorate line that has been on the rod a few days. But that was fresh tippet! I also leave my fanny pack in my car all day, which carries my spools of tippet. Sun damage is out of the question, but HEAT damage could be the culprit? That line is easily a year old, and possible several years old. Maybe I just need to toss all my old tippet and replace with new? The line LOOKS good and feels strong, and the knots all seem really good (I use the Trilene knot, which I feel is a very strong knot since the line passes through the hook eyelet TWICE). It really seems like the line should NOT be breaking like it has been...and spooled tippet being deteriorated by heat and time is the only explanation I can come up with at this time.
