Union Mills Fishing Rodeo

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: Silver Run Pond

The first fishing outing of the season and it has to be this cold. Really, will winter ever end. We have fish to catch! Capt. Big Fish was at the Silver Run Pond kids fishing rodeo sponsored by the Union Mills Lions Club; you people are the best!! The day started out just like last year I was catching everything but trout. The bad part was a beautiful 14" golden trout was right in front of me the whole day, but would not hit on anything. If I had a treble hook I could have snatched him........LOL I started with a few small bluegills fishing about 4 feet deep, then decided due to the cold temps the fish might be deep. I removed all my floats and started bottom fishing landing a nice fat 11.75" mud cat. Then I had a nice strong fight with a 11.75" bass. Finally I landed a 13" rainbow trout to put me 2nd on the leader board (the story of my young tournament career). Late in the afternoon I landed a Godzilla Crappie which was 11.5". I had caught crappie before, but not like this one. I released all my fish to catch again another day. At the end I was awarded the 2nd place trophy in the 6-8 age group. I was still so excited to try other spots on the pond that I grabbed my trusty dock demon and headed around the pond trying different spots. Only problem was I set my trophy down, when I returned it was gone. I looked everywhere. Needless to say It was not a pretty picture when a cold, hungry, and tired 6 year old has a melt down. Oh well, it is not about the gold. It is all about the fish! I had the thrill of the reel, reeling in Godzilla! Ghost writer Papaw Jackson