Raccoon River Bust

I have been out in the Midwest almost a year but until two weeks ago I had still not hooked up with my good fishing buddy Scott who lives a few hours away. Once school ended for us it was time to make up for lost time. We decided the target was smallies on the Raccoon River. I beat Scott to the river and happened to run into a guide that said the river was high and that it was more of a late summer and fall fishery. We decided to give it a go anyway but there was not very much fishable water and the river was off color. Scott somehow managed to bag a small crappie and lo and behold a little smallmouth. After those fish there was nothing else to be had. We decided to cut our losses and head to a small stillwater in the area. We launched our tubes in a wind protected finger of the lake. The fishing there was far from red hot too but still better than the river was. We both got several scrappy bluegill and I was able to get my first largemouth on a fly rod. I was working the edge of a weed line and right after my crystal bugger hit the water my line went tight and I set the hook. The bass gave me three or four really nice jumps before I subdued him. At one point I must have found some bluegill holding over their nests because my fly was getting slammed almost every cast as soon as it hit the water in one certain area. It was nice catching up while spending a relaxing afternoon on the pond.