Panfishing

We're a week into turkey season in New Mexico, with the Glorious 15th (of April) being the usual start. A and I considered going out last Sunday, having scouted out a few likely locations earlier in the spring. However, the day before the season the wind howled, and roared, and blasted across the plains. In my experience, turkeys don't call in the wind. So, rather than a 3 a.m. wakeup for a long drive and a dark walk all likely to be assayed in futility, we went fishing. In this part of the state, there are some warm water reservoirs and rumor had it that the white bass were starting to run.

The wind did in fact come up with the dawn, making us feel good about our guess that turkey hunting was a poor proposition. Once up at the lake, we found a small arm tucked away from the wind and, after a while, picked up a few fish. While the action wasn't fast (not surprising in cold and very murky water), there was enough going on to keep us interested and the variety was kind of neat. The stringer ended up being a smallmouth bass, a black crappie, a walleye, and some white bass, all caught on jigs or spinnerbaits. Just enough for a mess for two.

That night, fresh fillets dipped in cornmeal and fried crispy, here divided up by species. We'd never had walleye before and the flavor was fine but the fine-grained texture of the meat wasn't my favorite. I'll take white bass or crappie for choice.

 It has been quite a while since I've tried to catch fresh water fish besides trout and it was a lot of fun using an ultralight rod and bouncing a jig off rocks for whatever might come after it. This weekend is dedicated to chores, garden, and work, but if the wind will cooperate we'll try to find a gobbler next weekend.