38 degrees and overcast with rain on the way. Not an ideal opening day of the season, but having fished all winter for bass, Pike & Stripers, I was used to it. Headed down to Miller Pond in Durham with the kayak around 5:30. Counted 27 vehicles in the before the sun was up. Apparently the weather hadn't deterred the opening day masses. I made the 80 yard hike down to the water with the yak, 3 poles and tackle bag. Before I even got in the water I could see the wake of trout roaming the surface and here guys hollering around teh lake as they were reeling in fish. Not a bad sign for such a crappy day.
Having never been to Miller Pond before I wasn't sure what to expect. The water was crystal clear, fed by 3 mountain springs and isolated from the road & suburbia. With plenty of rock ledges, boulders, timber & brush along the shore, it was an ideal habitat. I could clearly see the bottom in 10' of water, which was a nice change of pace from the muddy waters of the river that I'd been fishing lately.
After throwing my smallest spinner bait, a few different rubber worms & small a crank bait for awhile, I settled on using my ultralight pole with 12lb mono & a small jig head tipped with a 3" rubber minnow. This seemed to be the bait of choice today.
The first large mouth of the season came at 7:15. Caught him near a rock ledge outcropping that dropped off quickly into 10' of water. He picked it up on the retrive as I was bouncing it slowly along the bottom.
I missed a bite 5 minutes after the first bass, then large mouth #2 came 15 minutes later, in the same spot, using the same retrieve. It was nice to find a pattern. Unfortunately this guy tore up the only 3" minnow I had in the boat, so I had no choice but to change baits
I had another similiar sized minnow in the boat with a ribbon tail and a bit more color. I fished this on a jig head around a wind swept corner for about 20 minutes, when it was inhaled by this guy, the first calico bass of the season. He was fat for a calico and I'd heard they were good eating, so he went on the stringer for lunch later.
Bill & Pete showed up around 8:30 in their kayaks. Bill caught a 9" brown trout within 15 minutes of being in the water. I'd severly understimated the cold on this day and by 10:30 my hands were frozen solid and the wind was picking up, so I wished them luck and called it a day. Despite the weather, this was a solid opening day trip and I had found that Miller Pond was well worth the 25 minute ride. I'll definitely be back on a warmer day.
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