8-3-03 - Lake Como was like glass all morning.

The water lilies are starting to bloom..the whites are open now and the yellows looked only a few days behind.

Saved me from the skunk, but that's about it. It was fun all things considered.

8-03-03 - Bass and Pans in the AM, Trout later!

Waters Fished: Lake Como, Paradise Springs
Fish Caught: 2
Outing Date: 8-03-03
Weather: Sunny All Morning, Storms in the Afternoon.
Air Temp: around 80F
Water Temp: Lake Como -> 80F on the surface
Water Level: normal
Water Color: Lake Como -> Cloudy Brown, Paradise Springs -> Clear
Fish Species: Bluegill, Brown Trout, Brook trout
Pattern Fished: Poppers & Sliders in Yellow and Frog, Griffith's Gnat on Paradise
Pattern Color: See above
Fishing Quality: Hot! Ok, actually just the weather was hot..fishing kinda sucked.

I figured since we spent all this time putting the boat in, I should use it right? Well, got up "late" at 9:00 am and quickly made my way to the east end of Lake Como in the "Nature Preserve". It's a long stretch of no-wake area, lots of duck blinds that aren't readily visible, tons of vegitation-based structure. It means a lot of rowing since I don't have a trolling motor on the little 12' boat!

I spent all morning working the lillypads, then gradually progressing to the slop along the shore, but never saw any activity! 3 hours of casting in full sun and I was ready for lunch.

After lunch, I headed back out to the west end of the lake, and it was hear that I found some activity in a break in the weeds along shore. I cast out a large frog-colored popper and got numerous hits, but they weren't coming down. Alright, time for a smaller popper!

I was back at it using a 7 wt. fast action Kilwell that's overlined with 8 wt. bass taper, the rod shoots like a ROCKET with laser-guided accuracy. Slammed the popper directly into the middle of the clearing and got whacked by a fish. After pulling the fish through the weeds I found a bluegill at the end of my line.

I managed this feat a second time, and then called it a day. Time to hit Paradise Springs. Well, in the 45 minutes it takes to get there the sky went from full sun to STORMY clouds. Things were turbulent up there, just a couple thousand feet above my head.

Alex J. had been out and came back to fish with me for a bit. Unfortunately, shortly after we started the first cloudburst commence. I waited it out under a tree (hey, it's in a forest, there's trees everywhere) and then got bac on the water for about another 10 minutes before things started up again. Tons of lightning!

Well, Alex called it a day at that point, I opted to wait until 5:00 to see if it would clear...it didn't. So technically I'm skunked once again at Paradise Springs, although really the game just got rained out!

  MP