Life and Death on the LMR

So I'm heading down this rock bar and I see lots of creepy looking little legs rolling around in a ball. All over in a about a six foot circle I guess this thing was going. Finally the action paused long enough for me to see it was really two things. A big wolf spider and a huge wasp. A pompilid wasp if I remember my bugs right. So the wasp would hover around the spider which would roll kind of over on its back. Then in action too fast for me to follow they would roll all over the gravel. I'm guessing the long legs of the wasp kept the spider from biting it but like I said it was too fast to follow. I watched for a bit but didn't want to get too close. Supposedly spider wasps stings are supposed to be the most painful of any wasp, hornet or bee so I didn't want to but in too much. After the wasp stings the spider then comes the really creepy part. The sting doesn't kill the spider instead it paralyzes the spider. The wasp then digs a burrow, stuffs the immobile spider inside and lays a single egg on it. The egg hatches and the larvae gnaws a hole into the spider and feeds on the still living but paralyzed spider. Just goes to show you even for something as creepy as a spider there are monsters lurking out there...

Things took a less ominous turn after that as I saw a little green heron. This week I've seen snow white great egrets, cormorants and some terns. The birdwatching has been better than the fishing frankly.

Over the last couple weeks Ive caught the occasional smallie and ky spot but on the whole the stream bass fishing had been slow. I've actually probably caught as many shovelhead on lures as bass. I'm not sure what the deal was but I caught a shovelhead or two almost every outing. Nothing huge but some nice fish from three or four pounds up to maybe seven or eight. Finally today the cool weather seemed to have an effect on the bass. In a swift run on a paddletail swimbait I caught the best smallie I've had on in at least two or three weeks. It stretched the tape a bit past eighteen and a half. Hopefully a sign of things to come.