I had tied and gathered up some subsurface Bass and Pike streamers to offer the fish something new, particularly for the spots I had pounded with poppers 4 days ago. Today was windy with bright sun and no fish seemed to be out today. Later, along the sheltered weeded rip rap shoreline, I got two bass 15 to 16 inches after I switched back to the top water 3/0 Chartreuse Marabou Banger.
Working a mile of weed edges down that long rip rap shoreline produced a couple of 12 inch bass and an aerial hit from a pike similar to the one photographed later in the day. They took a 3/0 Black Marabou Popper. The wind had strengthened and shifted to riffle up that previously sheltered shoreline. I headed for the down wind side of large cat tail island. There were decent Bass on the calm side but I couldn't keep the ones I hooked on. In a sheltered North to South channel I found lots of bass and pike to hit the 3/0 XLong Extra Flashy 3/0 White Marabou Banger.
The last 30 minutes of daylight were crazy hot. The wind died, bigger and bigger bass kept blasting the big popper. I finished with 7 bass 15 to 20 inches and 4 mostly small pike. A 30 pound Fluorocarbon bit leader saved me from losing flies.
Again, a big pike did what the biggest pike I encountered 4 days ago did. After todays big pike blow up, I fired a cast back to that spot. As I began stripping back the popper, the big pike rolled through the spot where my fly line was slashing through the water right next to the nose of the kayak. Again, a big pike had missed the strike and followed the hooks set back toward the kayak. Next time I will finish the retrieve back to the rod tip and try a figure 8 or sweep a big circle around the kayak.
The most productive cover was along cat tail, lily pad or Phragmites edges where there were clumps, or pockets in underwater weeds growing up to the surface.