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Had the great pleasure of fishing a southeastern MA kettle pond with Gillbuster this afternoon. The target fish were Smallmouths and we were not disappointed.

Weather was perfect aside from the wild gusty Southwest winds ahead of approaching cold front. But if you took away the wind factor the overcast grey sky and drizzle was about perfect for keeping the fish from being shy. It was hard to tell if the fish were still on the beds as I didn't see any actively guarding them but the beds were clearly evident. The setting at that this particular pond was quite special with really no houses it felt like we were in the north country. This was only my second time fishing here and the first in a float tube. The fish were all quality. I personally had a great day acheiving a warmwater grand slam.

I started off the afternoon with what turned out to be the biggest fish of the day. Also was probably one of my top 5 best Largemouths I have ever taken on the fly rod in MA (Florida doesn't count ). The way it slammed the fly in shallow water and then instantly cartwheeled thru the air I thought it was a smallmouth and was quite surprised to see it was a largemouth. It put up a heck of a battle and I was fighting it long enough for Gillbuster notice the ongoing battle and to breakout the camera and get a shot of me fighting it. I thought for sure it was going to break me off when it started out for deep water and diving for the bottom. But I layed the rod to the side wearing her down by pulling it at the right angle. I was sure to give her a long revival though before slipping her back into the depths.

Things just got better after that as just moments later I was tight again to my first smallie of the outing. That one went a couple of pounds and didn't disappoint with the usual acrobatics that keep you coming back for more. As typical with these type of ponds the density isn't such that you get non-stop action like maybe bluegill fishing. This is quality over quantity. After hooking the smallie I happened to mention to Gillbuster that all I needed was a pickerel to complete the freshwater slam. Little did I know I would soon get my wish . At this point we were working our way back to the south end of the pond as it was way too windy to proceed any further than we had without having to walk our way back due to the extreeme winds. This was not the kind of day you are at home working in the yard thinking Wow what a perfect day to take the float tube out . Anyway, Gillbuster rounds the corner and starts to work his way up the other side and I begin to follow. While float tube trolling along the drop off my Goldie gets slammed!!! Powerful hit with dogged deep down pulling. Long time goes by with a standoff both of us pulling hard as we can. Finally I get a glimpse and am able to see by catch is one GATOR of a pickerel! If pickerel live to be 5 years old as I read somewhere. This one was 6! The body has some nice battle scars along with a fat lip to prove it. Gillbusters digital camera battery had died but I had a film camera (remember those) so I took advantage of being up wind of Gillbuster and cruised over to his local with the pickerel in tow so we could get a quick snap shot of the beast before setting it free to wreak havoc on all the newly born fry.

Shortly thereafter Gillbuster finally started to connect with a nice steady pick of smallmouths. One was a beauty that went a couple of pounds with a few agressive small ones mixed in. I hopped past him to work the shoreline a little further down but wasn't connecting with much but did have some hits along the way. Eventually though I hooked into what felt like a real nice fish. Good hard hit when it slammed the fly and good solid fight but different than any I had yet this day. Hmmmm, I thought what is this fish???????? I was quite stunned when I got it up close enough to be able to identify. Whaaaat, its a Yellow PERch...and its the biggest darn one I have ever seen. Gillbuster pointed out that it was probably a "pin" fish. The state of MA gives out commendations for fish over a certain size. Well the benchmark for yellow perch is 1lb8oz and this was certainly all of that.

By this time it was getting long in the afternoon and we worked our way back to the launch site feeling very fortunate that the forecasted rains had held at bay longer than expected and we got in a full afternoon of some fine spring fishing.

Thanks Gillbuster hope to do it again soon!!!