wildcatter
Beginner
- Jan 11, 2025
- 53
- 187
I halted headway again, but got rewarded, I have the 338/06 as well as the LR 257 Varmint rig nearly dialed in to a T, and them big O'L Redear and Bluegill decided to hit them beds! So yep once again, STOP EVERYTHING, time to get them flies I tied all winter and the little 4wt fly rod out and get that freezer filled for the year with some tasty pan fish. The Bluegill and Redear are fired up big time at fish camp! I can only do about 2 days, and mean all day fishing for bedding pan fish, before my bum knee gives out completely! 8 to ten hours standing and throwing bugs at confirmed targets sight fishing is addicting to me. Once I start I can't stop. Once I get my limit and I'm looking over dozens of bedding slabs that are willing to nail my offering most times as soon as it hits the water, is something I just can't quit till I'm hurting.
I only get to keep 25 a day, and that is a good thing today! Buy the time I gain control of myself and stop to head in and get them cleaned and ready to put up, I'm already sore anymore. I used to do this for longer at a time, and then after they were cleaned and I had a bite, I had trouble sleeping. I was to busy thinking about which beds and lake, (we have three to navigate between), to hit first the next day, and what bugs to start with, and on and on. Today it's like, wow, I'm to tiered to eat, and I think I'll just set here and rest a bit once I get in and the fish cleaned. More times than not, that where I end up sleeping till I wake up and crawl to bed. But by the time the sky starts to lighten, long before sunup, I'm brewing coffee and getting presentable, and ready to go hammer em again. Of course Carter had a ball to. he is always up for any events at fish camp, or anywhere else I go for that mater!
![20250527_145015[1].jpg](https://forum.nosler.com/data/attachments/22/22020-22c17d1faa99fffdfcdd2d3105b4cf6a.jpg "20250527_145015[1].jpg")
The second day I got on some beds on the one lake that was full of Redear, so I decided to go for a full limit of nothing but Redear. That hurt! I probably threw back over 50 blugills that day over 8". But it paid off, as I caught some BIG Redear no monsters, but ended up with 21 over 8.5" including 7 that were 10" to just a hair over. All heavier and thicker than the blugills their length. I finally got sore that day that I went ahead and filled my limit out with 4 good bluegill just go get them cleaned. That was day 2.
![20250528_191331[1].jpg](https://forum.nosler.com/data/attachments/22/22023-fd1633e5dbdac759cf4c8a205a2e1551.jpg "20250528_191331[1].jpg")
By day three, it took 2 cups of coffee just to go out on the deck, then after tying on a new section of 4lbs tippet I "hobbled" down to the boat and decided to just fish at the dock which wasn't loaded some of the beds around the 3 Lakes, and after about 2 hours I had put a dozen nice gills in the basket. But with my knee bothering me more and more, I decided I needed a rest. So back to camp and after a sandwich, I washed down with a little glass of Buffalo Trace, I sat back on the deck and relaxed till the last couple hours of the day and went back down and finished that basket of gills.
I knee was so bad by now that I had to leave the fish in the basket over night and rest the knee. I was up the morning early and after my morning brew I headed down to get the fish cleaned, and after that hour or so I was back to camp for breakfast, but that was it. I decided to take it easy and take my time tidying up and head back home for a real rest over the weekend. But come Monday by sunup, I'll be back up and in the boat with my trusty companion for another week while this panfish rodeo every year is hot! I think I'll pace myself a little more this week, but I need about 100 more fish to put up for this year, then I can get back to the two new rifles, and really finish tweaking them.
The one good thing that came from this break is before I waste more time with the 338, I got reply from Swift, my 210 grain Sirocco's are finally expected in the next couple weeks. So this is the only load I plan to use in this rifle. It will be tuned as best I can for everything. If I ever would want anything for the most dangerous game in the world I would simply go to a 225 or 250 A-Frame or Partition and easily find a load inside 200 yards for that purpose, with inside 100 being trusted to stop anything that would require it!
But that is a couple weeks away, until then,,,, I'll entertain myself just a bit more with the little fly rod and them tasty Bluegill's. They only hammer away like this once a year, and atr my age I don't know how many more I will be able to enjoy. The one thing I do know is, as long as I can, I won't miss this much fun, and that means, another new knee this winter, but by next year at this time, I'll be a little better shape, God willing!![IMG_6721[1].jpg](https://forum.nosler.com/data/attachments/22/22026-2b2497f0544381bf6298f187b2d411e6.jpg "IMG_6721[1].jpg")
I only get to keep 25 a day, and that is a good thing today! Buy the time I gain control of myself and stop to head in and get them cleaned and ready to put up, I'm already sore anymore. I used to do this for longer at a time, and then after they were cleaned and I had a bite, I had trouble sleeping. I was to busy thinking about which beds and lake, (we have three to navigate between), to hit first the next day, and what bugs to start with, and on and on. Today it's like, wow, I'm to tiered to eat, and I think I'll just set here and rest a bit once I get in and the fish cleaned. More times than not, that where I end up sleeping till I wake up and crawl to bed. But by the time the sky starts to lighten, long before sunup, I'm brewing coffee and getting presentable, and ready to go hammer em again. Of course Carter had a ball to. he is always up for any events at fish camp, or anywhere else I go for that mater!
The second day I got on some beds on the one lake that was full of Redear, so I decided to go for a full limit of nothing but Redear. That hurt! I probably threw back over 50 blugills that day over 8". But it paid off, as I caught some BIG Redear no monsters, but ended up with 21 over 8.5" including 7 that were 10" to just a hair over. All heavier and thicker than the blugills their length. I finally got sore that day that I went ahead and filled my limit out with 4 good bluegill just go get them cleaned. That was day 2.
By day three, it took 2 cups of coffee just to go out on the deck, then after tying on a new section of 4lbs tippet I "hobbled" down to the boat and decided to just fish at the dock which wasn't loaded some of the beds around the 3 Lakes, and after about 2 hours I had put a dozen nice gills in the basket. But with my knee bothering me more and more, I decided I needed a rest. So back to camp and after a sandwich, I washed down with a little glass of Buffalo Trace, I sat back on the deck and relaxed till the last couple hours of the day and went back down and finished that basket of gills.
I knee was so bad by now that I had to leave the fish in the basket over night and rest the knee. I was up the morning early and after my morning brew I headed down to get the fish cleaned, and after that hour or so I was back to camp for breakfast, but that was it. I decided to take it easy and take my time tidying up and head back home for a real rest over the weekend. But come Monday by sunup, I'll be back up and in the boat with my trusty companion for another week while this panfish rodeo every year is hot! I think I'll pace myself a little more this week, but I need about 100 more fish to put up for this year, then I can get back to the two new rifles, and really finish tweaking them.
The one good thing that came from this break is before I waste more time with the 338, I got reply from Swift, my 210 grain Sirocco's are finally expected in the next couple weeks. So this is the only load I plan to use in this rifle. It will be tuned as best I can for everything. If I ever would want anything for the most dangerous game in the world I would simply go to a 225 or 250 A-Frame or Partition and easily find a load inside 200 yards for that purpose, with inside 100 being trusted to stop anything that would require it!
But that is a couple weeks away, until then,,,, I'll entertain myself just a bit more with the little fly rod and them tasty Bluegill's. They only hammer away like this once a year, and atr my age I don't know how many more I will be able to enjoy. The one thing I do know is, as long as I can, I won't miss this much fun, and that means, another new knee this winter, but by next year at this time, I'll be a little better shape, God willing!
