Salamanders are crazy!

[NCYankee]

I went to a new pond today. The temperature has been 15-20 degrees above normal for the last few days. The water was clear, and there are many old tree stumps in the water. I decided to use a weightless watermelon red flake tiki sticks around the stumps. When I walked up to the pond, I saw several salamanders about the color of my tiki stick in the water around the edge. My first thought was, "Damn, I don't have any plastic lizards with me." I didn't have any because I only took a few lures with me since I had to hike 1.5 miles to get to the pond.

I was feeling ornery, so I decided to harass the salamanders. I swam the tiki stick towards one of the salamanders. To my surprise, it attacked the tiki stick! I figured since the weather had been spring-like the salamanders were confused and were in mating mode. At first, I thought the salamander saw the tiki stick as an intruder or rival.

Oh no, he saw it as a female. He began "humping" the tiki stick. I kid you not. Twice I reeled in my tiki stick to find a salamander wrapped around it. I actually pulled them out of the water, and they still wouldn't let go!

The tikis also caught bass. To say the least, I'll be taking green plastic lizards next time. I just hope the salamanders are finished mating.