Monday, July 7, 2014

Flyfishing in central Iowa, July 3-6, 2014

I flyfished 3 city public ponds over the holiday weekend...in fact I visited each one twice!  Mostly I was flyfishing with bass-sized poppers.  Fished the wide range of conditions...clear waters on a sunny day, to high muddy waters on a cloudy day.  Did pretty well.  Caught plenty of bass, with a number @ 15.5".  Lost a handful of larger ones.






Biggest was a 20-incher that hit around noon on July 4th.


I compared pictures to a 20-incher I caught from this pond in May...and its the same fish!  After I caught that fish, a large bass (same one?) started following me around the pond like a puppy...always hanging out right in front of me.  Went back a couple days later...and she's STILL following me around!  She won't hit any flies, but likes to attack small bass, bluegills and crappies I catch...knocks them up right out of the water like a trained dolphin!

Anyway...I also caught bluegills, crappies, hybrid sunfish, and green sunfish.

On July 5th, after we got 1.4" of rain earlier in the day, all the ponds were high and stained.  I was still able to see quite a few Common Carp in one pond (way more than I expected to see) feeding along the shoreline, making even muddier water.  I started flyfishing for them.  I hooked 3.  One wrapped me around a metal post twice before breaking off.  The second charged for deep water and thrashed before throwing the hook.  The third one gave a HECKUVA great battle...and I finally won one!  My 2nd biggest carp on a fly rod, 30".  A fellow whose fly-carping credentials and opinion I trust greatly guesstimated the weight @ 14-16 lbs.  Not bad on a 6wt fly rod with 8 lb test tippet!

In the flooded grass around one pond, I saw small pods of baby bullheads"

As a fitting end to the Independence Day weekend, I noticed the Red-White-Blue colors of the sky last night:


11 comments:

  1. Dave
    Unreal catch---how in the world do you get to fish all these ponds? Here no one can fish any pond unless they have permission or know someone that I will carry them into the pond or small private lake. Congrats on a fantastic trip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bill! :)
      I'm very fortunate to live in a city that has experienced phenomenal growth over the past 15-20 years. In most of the "new" residential subdivisions, stormwater detention ponds are built. When the subdivision is completed, the responsibility for maintaining the ponds and mowing around them gets turned over to the City. At such time, they become public ponds. When the ponds are first built and filled with water, the Department of Natural Resources will stock them for free. Many have nice walking trails around them, and the grounds are nicely mowed Ideal situation for flyfishing. There are over 20 public ponds scattered throughout the town I live in, and probably 9 of them are within a mile or two of my house. :)

      Delete
  2. Dave, can you tell us more about how you fly fish for carp?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are certainly more qualified, skilled and experienced carp anglers out there than me. There are also a couple of books available on the subject. Typically, flyfishing for carp is a sight-fishing endeavor. You spot carp, stalk to a reasonably close position, and present a fly (there are plenty of carp-specific fly patterns you can find online, or just use a simple woolly bugger, with or without weight). The closer you can get the fly to the nose of a feeding carp, the better. They won't often move very far to chase down a fly. Let the fly drop to the bottom and let it rest. Watch for a reaction from the fish. Hopefully it moves to the fly and eats it. Strikes can be subtle. The fish can spit the fly quickly.
      Good luck!

      Delete
  3. Dave
    How lucky can one guy be!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was a nice carp!!! I once saw so many baby bullheads together I thought it was mudding carp and repeatedly cast to them. Silly mistake. Nice fisheries you have, wonderful variety.

    Gregg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've done that too!...Casting at schools of bullheads I thought were bigger fish! Little rascals.... :)

      Delete
  5. Hi, Dave. Every picture tells a story! Wonderful pictures of your success with the Bass, and might I add, what a Carp! What type of popper were you throwing at the Bass?

    Enjoyed your feedback on Bill's question about local ponds. I live in a very similar situations and can't find the time to fish all the local ponds in town or short driving distance away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mel, I'll post a new blog entry about the bass poppers I've been using. It helps to see what it looks like, and I can't post a picture in the comments...as far as I know. Stay tuned! :)

      Delete