Sights Seen

[John H]

I went out looking for bass this morning and ended up not catching much but did see some sights. Interesting stuff out there if you can slow down your fishing a bit and look for it. The wind came up and I went home in time to go by my Mom's and take her out to see some sights in the afternoon.

http://i.imgur.com/mSntjis.jpg (https://imgur.com/mSntjis)
The search for bass.

http://i.imgur.com/wzPIPGZ.jpg (https://imgur.com/wzPIPGZ)
There is a nice one. Skittish fish in shallow water are pretty much uncatchable.

http://i.imgur.com/nJWZFdn.jpg (https://imgur.com/nJWZFdn)
A gray squirrel getting a drink.

http://i.imgur.com/RneLTLq.jpg (https://imgur.com/RneLTLq)
A turtle I saw sitting on the bottom trying to hide from me. I could not resist taking a look. The surprise was she had leeches on her shell. You can see two of them but there were many more smaller ones. They were positioned to latch on to her neck for a taste of the turtle blood. I would not like leeches on my neck.

http://i.imgur.com/TMRsRQ4.jpg (https://imgur.com/TMRsRQ4)
One of the leeches. They are kind of creepy.

http://i.imgur.com/Es5EU6o.jpg (https://imgur.com/Es5EU6o)
Another creepy leech.

http://i.imgur.com/66hACkP.jpg (https://imgur.com/66hACkP)
My one bass for the day which I got on a woolly bugger. I never fish woolly buggers for bass but that was what this fish was willing to bite.

[steveg137]

Great stuff John
I remember getting leeches all over my ankles in Himalayas many moons ago, socks were red with my own blood. The local kids threw something in my legs that caused the leeches to drop off...poor turtle needs the same stuff.

[Bob G]

John - In South Vietnam during 1970 and 1971, while backpacking around with a very small group of infantry reconnaissance guys, we found that hot sauce worked great to kill the leeches. Thank you for another great post! Best, Bob

[Darian]

Another great post, John. Made my day. Really like that small/moving water. As usual, great photography. Lots of creeks/sloughs to explore in the valley.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

In our little Sebastian river we can see manatees, gators, turtles, tarpon rolling, Bull sharks feeding, dolphins frolicking, Jacks "busting" bait fish and many different kinds of birds.

John H, you need to come visit me for a week so we can photograph all this?

[John H]

Bob - That is a pretty good leech story. I imagine that was not the most difficult thing you faced over there. I will say thanks for your service and the least I can do for you is put up a good post.

Bill - I am headed for the airport now.

[Bob G]

Thank You John.

[McFish]

Thanks for the leech pics; they will help me tie better proportions. Marabou tail, motion type fiber body and head. Look up leech dubbing and MS bugger dubbing from Fly Tiers Dungeon.