Lake 1:
The first lake I tried out was the one that I had fished at last time I had been at Orange Lake Resort. We remembered what we had learned from last time, with the help of Barry. We held the line close to the rod in order to feel the nibbles easier, which ended up helping us. We started out optimistic and ready to catch many fish. It was slow at first, but we finally had a bite after about 15-20 minutes. I caught a bluegill! Our first fish of the trip. We were fishing for a bit longer, and then had a much stronger bite. The line was losing its slack, so I reeled in and set the hook. Instantly after starting the fight, I could tell that I was fighting a big fish. Jacob and I ended up reeling in a big Bowfin! That was a new, and unexpected fish for us. The Bowfin was huge and was above average for its species. Son after, I was reeling in my bait when I saw a catfish chasing it. I knew that I was about to catch one. Sure enough, I had a catfish bite on my next cast! Jacob and I reeled in and caught it! It had put up another good fight. Upon seeing the fish and its distinct spots, I could tell that it was a Brown Bullhead. We were excited to have caught our third fish, and we let it go. Before we left the lake, I caught a sunfish. The 4 fish we had caught that day were awesome and kept our hopes up for the next day. Day 1 was a great day for fishing, but we weren’t done.
Lake 2:
The next day, at another lake, Jacob and I went fishing again with the rest of the hot dogs that we had as bait. It was a bigger lake, and the edges of it had some weeds that could snag our line. We decided to drop our bait in a cleared spot with no weeds in it, hoping to catch the Bluegill that were frequently swimming in the area. We could see the fish there because the water here was very clear. For a while, the blugill were not taking our bait. I decided to rip off some small pieces of the hot dogs and throw them out as chum. Before long, 5 bluegill were in the area and crowding our baits. Soon after, Jacob has a fish on and reeled up his bluegill! Our first fish of the day! We kept on throwing out chum and more baited hooks for a while, and we had some nibbles, but we didn't have any bites. We were about to leave, so we decided to drop the line one more time. Some fish were crowding around, but then I had felt a nice tug. I had another bluegill bite! I reeled up our second fish of the day and the sixth of the trip. It was also the last of the trip. Before we left, something unexpected happened, that left me curious. A Largemouth Bass, which normally does not try to eat hot dogs, came to crowd of bluegill and even ate my hot dog! I tried to set the hook, but alas, I was too late. This left me very surprised. Although we had a great trip, Jacob and I left thinking about that Largemouth Bass.
Overall, our six fish on two lakes were very fun to catch. Our biggest were the Bowfin and the Catfish, the Bowfin being a new species for me. I will definitely be fishing the next time I'm at these lakes.
Stay tuned! More fishing trips coming up soon. Tight Lines!
