So here I was, back on Cedar Lake, Denville, New Jersey, living the dream. It was my first time home in 23 years and I was going to catch some fish on the fly. Skip loaned me his eight weight rod with a floating line. Turned out the reel had no drag and was in free spool; it did not stop me.
The rain had cleared but it was very windy and I just rolled with it and fished as I could. I caught a bunch of sunnies and a good bass on a cone head krystal olive bugger to start the day. I was hoping the size 6 bugger would be too big for blue gill and pumpkinseed sun fish to fit in their mouths. I was very wrong; they gobbled it. As I normally do when trout fishing, I was not about to change flies every time I caught a fish; I would have been changing flies all day long! I did change to a cone head krystal black bugger and caught a chain pickerel and more sunnies. I was having the time of my life.
I got to the North end of the lake and ducked in behind the floating island to get out of the wind. They anchored it down like 50 years ago so it does not drift around the lake like it used to. There I spotted a big snapping turtle that could have tipped me out of the canoe and eaten me if it wanted to. I put on a yellow rabbit and got a nice bass. This was already a perfect day. I poked around the West side of the lake then headed home for a feed and a break.
That evening the wind calmed a bit and I headed back out armed with a bead head olive bugger in a size 10. I wanted the sunnies to be able to eat it easily. I saw another big snapping turtle then next thing you know I was into the crappies! I caught a calico bass on a fly; that was a first for me! Then I broke my bugger off on a pickerel. They are seriously toothy critters. I put on a bead head pink bugger and was right back into the crappies.
It was twilight when I caught a yellow perch on a bead head pink bugger. As it got dark there was a hatch of what looked like big mayflies. Fish were gently rising out in the open lake but my woolly bugger did not interest them. I really wanted to know what species they were. I suspect they were sunnies but it was too dark to change to a dry fly without a torch. This honestly was the best day of fishing one could hope for. This is the place where I grew up and learned how to fish. To be back again using just a fly rod was priceless!
