I have a fish soap opera going on in my pond. It's a never ending saga and something new happens there every day. This very small five fingered hand print is what I spied looking down the bank when I went to feed today. I have an intruder... I hope he was just washing his little hands or getting a drink.
It rained today thank goodness. All the goo that was on the pond yesterday has disappeared overnight. Amazing how things can change down there from day to day or even in a few hours really.
I didn't think when I first arrived down there I'd have a thing to write about today but by the end of the day I had plenty.
First off it was too cloudy and rainy to get any decent underwater photos so I took that little hand print photo. Hotdog the snake was there on the concrete blocks fishing and Meanandlean was back after a few days absence. There were hardly any bluegill really - probably only about twenty or thirty possibly and they were small. I did see some larger ones but they are hanging way back from the bank (maybe they haven't yet forgotten the fishing the other day?) Meanandlean was in a very grumpy mood and chasing all the other bass away making it really difficult for me to feed. I had to throw a good distance from the bank and as the sun wasn't out it's extra difficult to see them. This chasing the other fish went on for more than an hour. I did notice that when the bass stake a spot though they only pay attention to other bass. They never chase bluegill out of their areas. Only time I see them chasing bluegill is for a meal. Meanandlean hunted for a couple hours and, as usual, never caught anything. He is so thin he wouldn't make a meal for a grasshopper.
I saw Hotdog the snake strike a half a dozen times and never catch anything either. I even peppered the water around them with bits of bread and they still were unsuccessful. Pathetic.
A few snapping turtles thought about coming in for a snack but eyeballed me and decided against it. I wonder why they will come in at times and at other times look at me like I'm going to eat them or have cooties? It makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the color or shades of my clothing? I can't think of a thing else I change from day to day that would make a bit of difference. I think I'll keep a little record and see if it doesn't make a difference. Today I had a light blue top and lavender pants - a good combination for a tea party at the pond except it was PJs as usual. I think I'll just find out if that could be what it is...
I didn't take my phone with me to the pond so after awhile I was checked on so I had company. Meanandlean kept guarding the whole feeding spot and staring up at us and finally I decided to go get a grasshopper for him. I've tried to throw them in at the bank on that side in the past but it's about five feet up and by the time you throw one all the way down to the water they have sprouted wings and merrily flown for freedom twirling and buzzing out over the pond, making a big circle and coming right back to shore landing safely somewhere in the tall grasses of the bank - not going to be a meal today! Meanandlean has never taken any kind of food I've offered so imagine my surprise when I successfully threw the hopper in that time and he grabbed it so fast the wake shook the pond! He was so hungry poor thing! Now, I can't keep catching hoppers for that side as ninety percent wouldn't even hit the water and most of those would probably be eaten by another fish anyway. There simply has to be a solution.
A suggestion was made to try to throw in a worm. Right now we are digging up our gray water line to replace it and have dug up about fifty feet of it. It has a bunch of big juicy worms so I went to get some of them. The worms that live down in the ground around my house are really large ones and it's not uncommon for one to get to be about eight inches and as big around as a small finger with thick tough skins. I came back to the pond with about five or six. I tossed one towards him and he lunged and grabbed! He didn't hesitate an instant and got it as it hit the water! I guess the reason I'm so amazed is because all this time I've been feeding all these fish and staring down at that skinny old bass who won't even flinch at anything I'm feeding and this time he KNOWS I've got something different. I think it's just amazing that he sees me day after day throwing in all kinds of stuff and the one day I throw in something he likes he goes for it and gets moving BEFORE it hits the water. These bass are really something! Half the time you think they aren't even paying attention but they sure are! Way back when I started feeding I noticed that I had one (Crybaby) that could tell whether I had a piece of biscuit or a piece of pancake in my hand before it hit the water - there isn't a lot of difference there.... I don't think I could differentiate that myself if it were being thrown at me.
Meanandlean ate all the worms except for one. I threw one over on Hotdog to see if he would eat it. Nope... I got on my cart and went for more worms. I returned and made several more trips for worms and all in all Meanandlean ate around twenty of those big giant worms. His sides were buldging out so far he looked obscene. I wish I could have gotten a photo - a before and after would have been something. He still wanted more but it was getting kinda dark and I really was having trouble seeing him so I quit. I have more worms in a bucket and I hope they are still alive tomorrow. Those were really big worms and I just can't believe he ate that many. I'll try remember to get a photo of one of the worms tomorrow.
