Evening Fishing Report, 8-7-2012

I went to the Marina Tower.   I did a drive-by on the road above the spot first, to see if there was anybody else fishing.  I didn’t see anybody.  When I got to the Prairie Flower Campground parking lot, there were 3 cars there.  My heart sank.  I walked down the trail anyway…2 older guys and a woman were fishing.  They were sitting in chairs with their backs to the tower, which is why I didn’t see them when I drove by.  They were fishing for cats.  That had 2 stringers loaded with NICE cats!!  By loaded….I should say there were probably around 7 or 8 on each stringer. 

I had a fly rod and 2 spinning rods with me.  Uncharacteristically, I didn't use the fly gear at all this night.  Since those folks were fishing around the “boil” area, I stayed near the point on the south side of that area and fancast with a Cicada or Mepps.  Caught one nice 15” White Bass and a small Freshwater Drum.

Another fellow came down to catfish and set up just west of me.  Nice guy.

The first 3 picked up their stuff to leave, so I picked up my stuff to claim their spot.  The last guy moved in a bit, and I waved him over, told him I’d split the “boil” with him.  Shad were THICK, stuff what smacking them on the surface all night, but I couldn’t really say for sure WHAT was smacking them.

I cast around, fished high and low.  Nothing.   I lost 2 or 3 lures.

Then I started vertical jigging spoons, hair jigs, or 3” Ripple Shad jigs along the wall in front of me.  Lost the hair jig in a really big fish…catfish I’m pretty sure.  Broke the Nanofil line about 5 seconds into the fight.

Caught a 24” Mirror Carp…it swallowed the Ripple Shad.

Next, I hooked a big fish, but it was snagged just under the tail.  Long long fight, with me running along the shorelines trying to get back some of the line it had peeled out.  31.5” Carp.  2^nd biggest one I’ve ever caught!  ½” away from a Master Angler fish…DANG!

It was getting dark, and there were lightning flashes.  I hooked another good fish that again sent me running along the shoreline trying to find a good spot to land it.  This one was a FAT 25” Channel Catfish.  Its head and body were so big, I was really thinking it would be close to 30” (Master Angler size)…but it wasn’t.

Although this fish was a good fighter, it was clear the fish that broke my line was MUCH bigger.

After the Storm, 6-21-2012

I think I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog about "before the storm", that the spot we were fishing was loaded with large shad....like 3"-6" shad.  When I tried using a spinner on spinning gear, the lure was hitting shad almost continuously so that the blade had a hard time spinning.

Today I fished another area on the same lake that had clearer water.  Finally got to fish some "clearer" water!  Still not very clear, but at least the fish have an opportunity to see a fly in this water!  I actually went hoping to target white bass again, but as soon as I arrived I spotted carp.  I can't rationally explain why I would then choose to fly-fish for carp instead of white bass, but that is what I did.

I caught 5 carp today in about 3.5 hours of flyfishing, and also caught 2 small bass on flies.  I tried chucking lures briefly, but it just didn't seem the white bass were in the area at all, and I didn't really see any shad where I expected to find LOTS of them.  Very strange.

Most of the carp were caught by just casting near groups of fish and slowly working it through them.  The fly disappeared almost as soon as it hit the water, so it wasn't a good opportunity to "watch the take".  And the wind was blowing my line around pretty badly, which also made strike detection difficult.  I didn't measure all the carp, but did measure one that went 27".  Not really sure if it was the biggest one or not.  All of them were at least 24".

I caught a couple on a Hexagenia Nymph, one on a modified Whitlock Near'Nuff Crayfish, one on a beadhead nymph with a hackle collar.  Here's some pics:

The nost exciting take was when I moved to a different spot and tried targeting some carp that were schooled in open water.  I couldn't get any of them, but did see a pair swim by in front of me along the shoreline.  They didn't spook.  I took a couple casts at them without any takes.  The circled around and came by again.  I had tied on an uweighted black woolly bugger, and put a good cast ahead of the lead fish as they were swimming away from me, but it passed by without striking.  The trailing fish was headed right for it....the line tightened and BOOM!

The really bizarre thing was as I was fighting this fish, the other carp came back and was swimming around with this fish!  As I finally led the hooked fish into the rocks so I could land it, the other fish tried to swim right up next to it!  It finally backed off and swam away as I reached down to grab the hooked fish.  Now...I've seen schooling largemouth bass and white bass chase a hooked fish around, trying to steal whatever it "caught"...but this is the first time I've seen carp do this!

The carp today were all excellent fighters.  None took me to my backing, but a few put a good effort into trying to get there, even though I was putting a lot of pressure on them with the 8wt rod.  And they definitely were bull-doggers...kept trying to dive and stay deep when I wanted to bring them to the surface.

Fly-Fishing Lessons Learned in 2011

I try to do this after each year, in hopes that I will remember SOME of what I thought I learned from each year's fishing adventures.

Here's some of the things I learned:

-Stream Trout.  I had never fly-fished for stream trout before.  I discovered that I really enjoy it.  Too bad the nearest trout streams are a 3-4 hour drive away, and there is so many other good places to catch fish that are much much closer.  Anyway, I learned at least one way to catch these fish.  I used a large nymph pattern and an indicator.  I fished pools, deeper slicks, and bank hides.  I look forward to doing this again in the future, and start exploring more streams.

-Carp Riddle Solved.  One behavior of local river carp that had perplexed a handful of local fly-anglers is when carp will line up along the shoreline or current break just beneath the surface.  They often appear to be snacking on nothing, or maybe the foam that is floating on the surface.  A variety of techniques were unsuccessfully tried on these fish.  I decided to try fishing a nymph extremely shallow beneath an indicator to these fish.  The belief was that the indicator would scare the fish away.  Carp are pretty smart and wily, after all.  Turns out it worked just fine.  I'd fish the nymph just 8" to 18" beneath the indicator.  I tried a variety of wet fly patterns, and all worked.  I used a Thingamabobber, which is translucent like the foam on the water.  After losing several fish to lines that broke at the Thingamabobber, I've decided to try a different style of indicator.  I'm certain it will still work.

-Channel Catfish/Bread  Connection.  While attempting to improve my success with flyfishing for Grass Carp, I discovered that chumming with bread in the local ponds during the summer can be effective in bringing the catfish to you.  Once they are nearby and feeding, you can often (but not always) be successful in enticing the catfish to hit artificial "bread flies" or white streamers.

-Channel Catfish and Streamers.  I discovered that the "Jumpin' Catfish Nymph" works for catfish.  I also learned that white streamers are very effective for Channel Catfish.  I used white hair streamers in two situations...the "bread" situation in ponds that I discussed above...and when the catfish are chasing shad in a large local reservoir.  I can't say it was the MOST effective method of catching these fish, but it DID catch some, and it was F-U-N!!!

-Walleye on Flies.  Catching a walleye on flies was a goal of mine this year.  I figured my best chance was during our fishing trip to Canada in the late Spring.  Before I could get there, I "lucked" into one in Iowa while fishing a lake for sunfish from my kayak.  I did end up catching something like 5 or 6 on flies while in Canada, both nymphs and streamers.  And then I caught another one in a local river here in Iowa in the late Fall.  How cool!

-Smallmouth on Poppers.  I FINALLY tried fly-fishing a central Iowa stream for smallmouth bass.  I'd caught smallies on fly gear before on a stream in Illinois, but hadn't really tried it since moving back to Iowa.  So I went, during the middle of the afternoon of the hottest week of the summer, and the river level was about as low as it gets.  I tried Clousers, nymphs and streamers.  I worked at it pretty hard and landed a couple of fish, but it was TOUGH.  I decided to try a popper.  First cast had barely hit the water before I had a fish hooked.  It worked really well, and I caught several more fish on it. And of course watching fish crush topwaters is always exciting!

-Stocker Trout.  Weeks after the trout had been stocked in a local lake, typically the trout get hard to catch.  I took a day off work and tried to see what I could get to bite.  I had solicited suggestions on my favorite fly-fishing website.  One suggestion was to try the "Blue Thunder" streamer.  I tried a few other patterns first with less than satisfactory results, then tried this streamer.  It worked GREAT!  I've used it a few times since, and it can be hit-or-miss...but it is certainly worth trying, and plus its a fairly easy and good-looking streamer to tie.

I also caught my first stocker Brook Trout, and learned that I REALLY like these fish!  Its not that they are much different than catching a rainbow trout...but they are a Char, rather than a trout, historically native to Iowa, and such a colorful fish.

Carp on Fly Rod, 5-25-2011

I fly-fished Saylorville Spillway during my lunch hour today.  A couple of different friends had noticed the carp sort of "schooling" in the eddies and along the foam lines at the edge of the current.  They are somewhat frustrating, because the fish appear to be sucking the foam off the surface, and seem very reluctant to take crayfish patterns near the bottom.

I've had an idea for awhile about using a nymph fly pattern set 12" or less beneath a strike indicator.
And this is exactly what I tried today.  I was also breaking in a new rod & reel...a Lamson Konic reel and an Echo Ion 8wt rod.  Both worked great!

Anyway....I'd drift the nymph/indicator rig through the eddy near the visible pods of surfacing carp.  Occasionally I'd get hits and the indicator would jiggle or get pulled underwater, and I'd set the hook.

The first strike I was so excited to land the carp that I put too much pressure on the leader/tippet and broke it.  Lost the fly and the indictor...bummer!

Re-rigged and repeated the drift.  Strike 2 broke the line almost immediately after I set the hook.  Lost the fly and indicator again!  UGH!

Re-rigged and repeated.  Strike 3, fish on...fought...and ...LANDED!  Not an easy task amongst the rocks with no landing net.  Released the fish.

Repeated the drift.  Strike 4, and soon another carp was landed.  Took pictures of this one and released this fish too.

I had to be patient...but this technique definitely worked!  I was setting my nymph at 12" or less beneath the indicator.  I don't know that there is anything magical about that, its just what I was doing because I wanted the fly close to where the visible carp were feeding on the surface.  Maybe you'd get bigger carp at 18" or more?

My gear is in the background of this picture.  I didn't notice the plastic bottle in the rocks there....lots of trash in this area!

 Mouth shot with the fly pattern visible...this one was a #6 Hexagenia Nymph pattern.  I tried 2 other patterns, that were different from this one, and both worked, so I think any nymph will work, but its a good idea to stick with #6 or #8 sizes with a reasonably stout hook.

If you see carp performing this behavior in your local streams, give this technique a try.

Fishing for “Under-utilized fish” Species in 2010.

Have you ever caught fish during a fishing outing that you usually leave out of the conversation when your friends ask you about what you caught?  Some fish just have a bad rap.  Some words used to describe them are "rough fish", "trash fish", "junk fish", "nuisance species".  More recent politically-correct verbage is "under-utilized fish".
I like this terminology better. It is certainly more accurate. The reason for something being underutilized is usually that people don't have an accurate or adequate understanding of something. This is often the case with many of these fish species.

Sometimes I catch these underutilized fish species while targeting other fish, or while using non-species specific techniques.  But sometimes I target them intentionally.  This can be VERY fun and often quite challenging.

Here's some of these species that I was fortunate to tangle with in 2010:

Freshwater Drum will hit bait and lures, and often put up an excellent but usually short-lived fight. 

Channel Catfish aren’t completely underutilized. Baitfishing for them is very popular, but not many specifically target these predators with lures and flies. Very stong fighters once hooked!

Grass Carp…I’ve only caught them on fly-fishing gear, which is challenge and often frustrating. I haven’t tried baitfishing for them yet. Excellent fighters once hooked, they don’t give up.

Common Carp are another excellent challenge on flies and lures, but they can be caught without bait or snagging!

Shortnose Gar are aggressive predators, but their bony jaws are difficult to penetrate with a hook. Fly-fishing gear with “nylon rope flies” is an excellent way to catch these fish, and sightfishing for them can be very exciting.

Yellow Bass are often considered an “undesirable species”, since they can quickly become overpopulated in lakes and reservoirs. There are many ways to catch these fish.

River Carpsucker…this one was accidentally foul-hooked, not uncommon when fishing with lures near the bottom.

Mulberry Carp

I fished the Cutty's campground lake for a bit on Saturday morning, July 3rd. My kids and I had walked around the perimeter of the pond first, just looking things over. I saw some small carp "clooping" on the surface in a downwind shorline pocket. They were eating the cottonwood seeds that were collecting there. That seemed like a potential spot to fly-fish, but very difficult, since I'd have to get some sort of dry fly right in the path of a feeding fish. Unfortunately, they don't swim in a straight line when feeding, so it would be total guesswork on where to place the fly, and hopefully avoid spooking the fish while doing it.


We continued our walk around the lake. We saw a big turtle (not a snapper or softshell, it had a red spot on its cheek..probably a slider?), a large bullfrog, got dive-bombed by a protective pair of Eastern Kingbirds(?), got shadowed by a swan that followed us around in the water, and picked up some pretty mallard feathers that were a brilliant blue on one side.

I found a mulberry tree with ripe fruit that hung over the water. I looked into the water to see if there were any fish visible, but saw nothing. I picked a few berries and threw them in the water. Within seconds, a carp sucked them in. Sometimes, 2 or 3 fish would be visible going for the same berry. They weren't big, but they were there, and feeding. We finished our walk. I retrieved my fly-fishing gear, and returned to the mulberry tree. The fish seemed attracted to the berries hitting the water, so I dropped my flies onto the water hard, and then suspended them just under the surface. The first to takes, I missed when I set the hook, and the flies ended up wrapped in the tree branches above the water. Lost both flies. I switched to the opposite side of the tree, and tied on a purple boa yarn leech. I caught 2 carp on that, and though they were small, they were fun. The activity seemed to put the other fish down, so I left after that.

Fly Rod Grass Carp!

One of my "fishing goals" for 2009 was to catch a Grass Carp on a fly rod. With the help of some friends, I finally did it! Measured out at 36.5", and the calculated weight is @ 25 pounds!

Here's pictures from the battle (photos taken by Julie...THANKS!)

Jenni was the designated "netter". Tough job, but she did great!

And here it is!

The fish was returned to the water after the quick photos & measurements. I rescusitated the fish, and it soon swam of strongly.

GO TEAM!!!

Here's the fly I used. Its a boa yarn leech that I tied. The pattern was originated by Rick Zieger.