Monday, March 9, 2020

Open Water in Central Iowa, March 2020

The local ponds here in central Iowa were still iced over as of March 1 & 2, 2020.  Then I spent March 3-5 in St. Louis, MO. Iowa had some warm weather and STRONG winds during that time...so by the time I got back on March 6, the ponds had opened up.  I grabbed the fly rod and hit a couple public city ponds on Saturday, March 7.

Pond #1:  I spent about 2.5 hours here.  Saw one 4" fish swim out of the shallows...that was the only live fish I saw the entire time.  Didn't catch anything, obviously.

Pond #2:  Spent about an hour here (had some evening dinner plans that sent me home).  Caught a lotta fish.  Mostly crappies, as well as a few bluegills, and a 17.5" bass.  Most fish were caught on a microjig about 18" below an indicator.  I also caught a few of the crappies on a Micro Gamechanger. 

These fish were surprisingly active for being in water that had been iced over just days before.
First open-water fish of the year:
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2nd open-water fish of the year:
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4 comments:

  1. Nice photo of micro GC. How is attached to the leader? Is that a snap or swivel? Does it not change effectiveness of flies? Certainly would make changing flies....wait for it.. a snap.

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    1. I've used No-Knot Fas-Snaps for years...for both flyfishing and icefishing. It makes changing flies/lures very quick and easy...with the added bonus that it allows the flies to have good movement, similar to a non-slip loop knot. I use the medium size. For bigger bass flies, a large size might work better, for size 10 or less dry flies, you can use the small size.

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    2. Bass Pro sells the No Knot Fas Snaps...or google for other suppliers.

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  2. Thank you for information, fish finder for kayak for more information check here

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