The Wacky Whilrpool

     My dad did some scouting, and found a very hidden part of the same waterbody that housed the bowfin from earlier in the year. This part of the swamp was completely different though. It was where the cold water from the canal mixed in with the warm water from the swamp creating a very unique blend of qualities. The water was bright blue, almost the colour of antifreeze. The middle had a huge chunk of scum algae that would spin with the whirlpool at the center. The water looked very clear, and not particularly deep, however I was mistaken, it was very deep as I would find out the following year where you could see the bottom.There was a thick school of Bluntnose minnows in the shallows that would ruthlessly attack anything in the water. I would end up snagging a few of them, just retrieving my lure. Another thing to note about this spot, was a terrible chemical spill in the 70s, left most of this water body horribly contaminated with PCBs.

     Despite its surreal and uninhabitable appearance, the spot had some hot action. The second my spinner hit the water, I got crushed by a Largemouth Bass, then my dad got one, and me another. I am certain that I would end up catching these same Bass the following 2 years, as they stayed in the exact same spots, just got bigger as the years went on.

This picture sums up the spot quite well. The bass would get a bit bigger

     After the bass bite died down, we switched to worms and started getting into some panfish. I had one pull much harder than I expected and caught this.

A Chunk Green Sunfish x Bluegill. Hybrids do not count as either species

     Then I got the first photo of a rock bass. There were a lot of them in this spot

Species #14- Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)- Easily identified by their red eye 

     My dad and I only ended up catching a bunch of sunfish after this. Despite catching many Bluegills, I never photographed one. So I could not count it at this point. Eventually the bite stopped completely. Then we saw a massive bowfin cruising around the shallows. I tried freelining a worm to it, but it saw me, and just kept moving along. 

     Suddenly a bunch of strange fish started pouring in from out of nowhere. They looked like gizzard shad (which are not listed as being in this water body in any of the creel surveys). Nothing I did would get any interest, and they only seemed interested in the scum algae. It was a bewildering experience to be able to see tons of fish and none of them interested in your bait. I later found out that they are strictly vegetarians and very difficult to catch, though people do manage to catch them on green lures.