MACFLY
Too many streams too little time
I have been trying for almost a year now to get an invite from my neighbor who lives across the street from me to fish his one acre bass pond. The other day while I was driving out of my development and past his property (our development is surrounded by open space in addition to his property) he was out by the road and flagged me down. He said he noticed I was practicing my casting on the front lawn and wondered if I could teach his son to flyfish. Of course I can was the immediate reply. So over the weekend I spent 2 hours each day giving his son some basic lessons and then having him practice on their pond. He managed a couple of bluegill and a few swipes from what appeared to be some very nice size largemouth bass. After the second lesson on saturday my neighbor mentioned that i was welcome to fish on my own if I was interested 
Well thank you was my reply.
So Saturday evening before sunset I headed over with a couple of patterns and had 3 nice size bass in about an hour. On the proverbial last cast of the day I had a rather large bass come out of the water and land on top of my fly (he was several pounds in my mind's eye calculator). A few more casts but no follow on take. Sunday morning at first light I wandered up to the pond without the fly rod to see what I could see. First thing i noticed is a large number of dead or dying terrestrials on the water (grasshoppers, crickets by the dozen, japanese beetles, ants, horseflies, wasps, and lightning bugs). Every couple of minutes these bugs were disappearing thanks to Mr Bass and I believe even Mr Bluegill. My neighbor wandered over and asked why I wasnt fishing. I told him I was very thankful for the opportunity to fish and didnt want to take advantage of his hospitality. He said that his son could only talk about flyfishing all weekend and he wants to go for trout on the river. Since his dad doesnt flyfish I volunteered to take him when the weather cools off. He was most appreciative and then stated anytime I would like to fish his pond I was welcome (you know some days the heavens open up and throw down a little something my way). Sunday evening after the lesson I scoped out a spot on the far side of the pond and proceeded to work the shoreline with a grasshopper pattern. 2 more bass which were small and then another loud splash by my fly as another good sized bass landed on top of the grasshopper this time with his mouth open. A couple of minutes later I had a nice 3 plus pound bass to hand. So folks I have the rest of my summer planned out between the delaware and the local pond (about 2 football fields from my front door). Assuming my arm doesnt fall off I will be bass fishing when time permits. Anyone have a lightning bug pattern I can copy
Well thank you was my reply. So Saturday evening before sunset I headed over with a couple of patterns and had 3 nice size bass in about an hour. On the proverbial last cast of the day I had a rather large bass come out of the water and land on top of my fly (he was several pounds in my mind's eye calculator). A few more casts but no follow on take. Sunday morning at first light I wandered up to the pond without the fly rod to see what I could see. First thing i noticed is a large number of dead or dying terrestrials on the water (grasshoppers, crickets by the dozen, japanese beetles, ants, horseflies, wasps, and lightning bugs). Every couple of minutes these bugs were disappearing thanks to Mr Bass and I believe even Mr Bluegill. My neighbor wandered over and asked why I wasnt fishing. I told him I was very thankful for the opportunity to fish and didnt want to take advantage of his hospitality. He said that his son could only talk about flyfishing all weekend and he wants to go for trout on the river. Since his dad doesnt flyfish I volunteered to take him when the weather cools off. He was most appreciative and then stated anytime I would like to fish his pond I was welcome (you know some days the heavens open up and throw down a little something my way). Sunday evening after the lesson I scoped out a spot on the far side of the pond and proceeded to work the shoreline with a grasshopper pattern. 2 more bass which were small and then another loud splash by my fly as another good sized bass landed on top of the grasshopper this time with his mouth open. A couple of minutes later I had a nice 3 plus pound bass to hand. So folks I have the rest of my summer planned out between the delaware and the local pond (about 2 football fields from my front door). Assuming my arm doesnt fall off I will be bass fishing when time permits. Anyone have a lightning bug pattern I can copy
