After carp fishing, I decided to hit up a lake. Given the positions of the public accesses for the Faribault area lakes, not matter how the wind is blowing, you can always find at least one that offers some sheltered fishing. First one - no go - windy and choked with curly leaf... on to the second choice, but not before stopping at the Cannon River - check out how low and small it is way upstream (see pic) - much different than our flow in NFLD.

The second lake is very popular - many people driving around in big rigs, slinging big lures with big poles. I wore waders and got some funny looks, but that's the norm by now. I decided no panfish tonight - no small flies... big poppers bring in big boys, and that's what I was looking for. First fish came completely out of the water and tackled a foam popper... and the take is premiere moment according to JB and others - I fully agree. It was a great take. Not a huge bass - but nice: probably 1-1.5 pounds. A few casts later a pike bit off that popper - very cool to bring a pike to the surface though, even if you don't catch him. All the while, a beautiful moon is hanging, damselflies are everywhere, and there is pretty much peace in the valley save one guy blasting Johnny Cash and a few exclamations of "that guy has a fly rod" or "look at that guy in the water." A great scene indeed... Capped off by the last fish, which was a pig - or a pigathon, which is a combo pig and leviathan. Two interesting things about this fish: (1) where she was caught (see pic), (2) how she hit: gently. I found myself at some docks and boatlifts, and a few people were fishing there... another group just offshore in a pontoon. I worked the boatlifts pretty hard, and soon found one that was empty. I cranked a low cast way up into the vacancy and started stripping back. I paused to do something, didn't see or hear a thing, but FELT the tug - strange for popper fishing - and set the hook. A few minutes later this nice bass was to hand... funny, the people watching gave some pretty good oohs and ahhs. It didn't fight that hard, and it didn't go airborne once. Largemouth bass are somewhat overrated I'd say: not good fighters, not particulary colorful or remarkable fish, and not good eaters. Their one saving grace is the take though - a crushing surface hit is unforgettable. Great night on the water is what it was. [some pics won't load right now - I'll put them in another post later - the bass pictured here is the little one]