Thursday, July 30, 2009

Another Fly Rod Carp

Hooray, LOVE catching carp on flies! This one sure fought hard, I was sure it was going to be about TWICE this size! It almost took me to the backing on my fly reel...just a couple turns of fly line still on the spool! Very fun...

Friday, July 24, 2009

First Fly-Rod Carp of 2009!

Tried the local reservoir for about 20minutes during lunch today. Conditions at this particular spot were NOT what I was expecting, unfortunately. Could have been worse though...because...HOORAY!!! Finally got my first fly-rod carp of 2009! Could not see the fish when it took the fly, but it held on long enough for me to detect the hit.



Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Variety on Flies!

Its been said that "if a fish eats, you can catch it on a fly rod!" There's still a few elusive fish locally I haven't been able to fool...yet. But that's one thing that keeps my trying! The challenge of fooling a new species on the fly rod!

Many people associate flyfishing with trout. But here in the central midwest, there's an abundance of warmwater species that can be a LOT of fun to catch on fly-fishing gear.

Largemouth bass:


Bluegills:


Hybrid Sunfish:


Crappies:


Channel Catfish:


White Bass:


Carp!


And even some of the exotic species that can be found around Miami, Florida...like Peacock Bass, Oscars, Mayan Cichlids, and Spotted Tilapia:

And there's more, too! I've also caught smallmouth bass and wipers (hybrids) on flies. I'm hoping to add gar and grass carp soon!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Saylorville Lake 7-14-09

I went out fishing at Saylorville (on foot) on 7-14-09. A bit breezy, but in a good way.

Chucked a #3 Mepps spinner all night. Actually caught some fish, so that was good, and some were actually decent fish...which was a big BONUS! Ended up with 3 channel catfish (yeah, on lures...they were hitting HARD, and I missed probably 1/2 dozen others!) up to 22" long, 2 small white bass, and 1 hybrid "wiper".

Here's the first catfish:

And the first "wiper":

This was the 2nd white bass of the evening:

2nd catfish...I measured this one at 19"

And below is the 3rd catfish of the night, 22". The fish kinda looks gross here, but its just covered with some foam and sand that I dragged it through while landing it. Really nice fish, the cats were all fat & healthy-looking.


Thursday, July 16, 2009

Picture Game

(I shamelessly copied much of this text from she-who-tagged me...read on.)

Picture Game
Being a good sport, and of course liking the excuse for a post, I'm going to partake in this game....introduced to me by Jenni!
The Rules:
1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer.

2. Open the 4th picture and post it on your blog.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag people to do the same




the picture: the date is one the picture...Did some fishing for smallmouth bass on the Des Moines River east of Johnston, Iowa. Caught this 16.5" fish. They are beautiful fish, and strong fighters! Still have the picture on my computer, because an acquaintance asked me to submit some river-fishing pictures that may be used for some Iowa river/kayaking brochures, which may be published by the DNR. I think my pictures may have made a brochure or two...but not this one. Dang, why not? Look at me...I'm a total HOTTIE! LOL
i would like to tag others, but at this time the only other bloggers I know have already been tagged. May tag some in the future, so WATCH OUT! ;o)

Friday, July 10, 2009

Nungesser Lake, Ontario - 2009


Great trip! This marks our 5th trip to Nungesser Lake since 2001. Jay, Jeff, Chris and I usually go up near the end of July/beginning of August, but this year we made it up mid-June! We caught some nice fish, and good numbers, once we figured out where the fish were. We were accustomed to finding them in about 20' of water, but they were mostly 4'-14' at this time of year. Fortunately, we found the fish before it was 1/2 over!


My biggest pike this year was 38", my biggest walleye were a pair of 23.75" fish.


Great time!