Phoenix Fly Casters, Fly Fishing Arizona: Fishing Is Serious Business

Popper I had for 9 years

gone - snagged at Campbells Pond

When you break camp, fish late, then move on, sometimes you find yourself in a pickle nailing down your next campsite. So, when Donna and I saw a sign that said "Campbells Pond", we thought why not, it's just for 1 night.

We made camp, figured out the dinner menu and rigged our rods. Donna had a nice pumpkinseed sunfish on before my line even touched the water. I followed with a small bass. And so it went, one after another, until like kids, we began to get the giggles, catching little fish with big attitudes.

There was a narrow peninsula jutting out into the pond. After some maneuvering, we were both fishing from it; from there, we had the advantage of fishing rises on both sides of the pond. I had missed 3 successive strikes, so irrational exuberance set in when I got my next hit. I struck and sent a bass the size of my finger sailing overhead, flipped across the peninsula like a pancake, into the opposite side of the pond. Donna collapsed into a fit of laughter and after recovering from my dumbfounded surprise, I did too.

We were serenaded by a chorus of frogs and crickets (recorded on Donna's phone), provoking more giggles until we were fast asleep.

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