Fishing for Bass in the Erie Canal during the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse, September 27, 2015

Tonight we were fishing at the Erie Canal in Central New York and as my previous posts have talked about, I've learned to bring a medium to medium-heavy pole with at least 10 lb line to the canal. If you are using worms, you don't know if you will pull up a bullhead, panfish, bass, or a huge carp. The rig I usually set up is split shot above a swivel with a #4 hook, worm and bobber. I put the bobber up high enough that it still sends the worm to the bottom but when I reel it in, it floats the worm so I actually get my rig back and it doesn't get caught on weeds. Tonight we were fishing right before dark, before the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse became visible. The canal was lit with a beautiful sundown hue and it felt oddly energetic in the air.

I've learned to recognize the signs of a bluegill or pumpkinseed that is sucking on the worm but hasn't or can't (because I'm using a #4) get the hook in its mouth. The bobber starts to move erratically and may even bob underwater. It is very annoying when you aren't targeting panfish because I am not using a hook that will easily catch them so the worm isn't in the water long enough to attract a bullhead or carp and gets stolen by the panfish shortly after I cast and if you do catch it, it is usually small. We did manage to catch a decent sized pumpkinseed though.

During one of my small panfish reel ins, I apparently attracted the attention of a large turtle (remember that strange energy I was talking about? I've fished the canal tons of times and never even seen a turtle). The turtle was so interested it followed the fish up to the shore and when it saw me is buried itself underwater in the dirt. After I tossed the fish back in, it started following me in the water with its head and getting closer to me. After a while it head back out into the deeper water.

The big catch for the night was a really nice sized largemouth bass. We left shortly after it got dark, probably right before the bullheads started feeding.