Catfish (on Flies) for Lunch

During my lunch hour today, I went to the carp pond hoping to flyfish for....more carp.  Saw mud clouds and bubbles, but can't say that I actually definitely saw a carp this time.

Had a few decent strikes that I missed...who knows what they could have been.

I caught some bluegills and Hybrid Sunfish that were near/on nests...and 3 Channel Catfish that were hiding down in (and so probably MAKING) some of the mud clouds I was probing (with the fly) for carp!

Multiple Channels Cats on flies...during lunch??  YES PLEASE!

All fish were caught on a John Montana's Hybrid Carp Fly.

Evening Flyfishing, 5-29-2014

5-29-2014
Public city pond
Temp: 84 F
Sunny, Wind @ 7mph from S
Fish caught: 30+Bluegills, 15+Crappies, 6 Largemouth Bass, 3 Green Sunfish, 1 Channel Catfish

Flyfished last night at a frustrating pond.  This year it has been really good one day, horrible the next.  Last night was GOOD, at least for me.  I was surprised at the lack of weeds growing around the edges, but I'm sure it will happen soon enough.  Bluegills and a few crappies were on nests in the shallows.  Grass Carp were working an area in the shallows...I suspect they MAY have been trying to eat fish eggs, since they were in amongst the bluegill nests...but it could be they were foraging on the few plants they could find.

Busy place...there were 5 or 6 other people fishing, using anything from nightcrawlers under a bobber to baitcasting gear for bass.  The guys fishing for bass got skunked.  One bait fisherman caught 2 bluegills.

Most of the panfish were caught on a chartreuse microjig worked just under the surface over the nests.  The 20" Largemouth Bass was caught on an olive mylar chenille bugger while I was casting to some Grass Carp.  Really nice fish, and quite a stubborn battle on the fly rod....a nice surprise, but I was somewhat disappointed it wasn't a Grass Carp.  I knew it was a bass by the way it would go deep, then charge straight up for the surface....but each time I eased pressure slightly so it wouldn't throw the hook, the bass always decided not to jump.  The fish was so thick and stout, it didn't look all that long.  But the tape measure didn't lie.  The tail fin seems worn down some too.  I'm guessing it would have weighed 5+ lbs.

The 26" Channel Cat hit an unweighted chartreuse Woolly Bugger near shore.  It was a sudden strike and splashing mayhem followed by a run to deeper water and bulldogging.  It was some time before I even got to see the fish.  This fish was healthy, but not as fat as some I have caught here...so it probably weighed 8lbs or less.

Beautiful evening, and some good fish were caught too!

Lunchtime Drum! 9-27-2012

I went flyfishing during lunch today.  I visited a spot I hadn't fished since Spring.  I spotted some Common Carp and/or Smallmouth Buffalo near shore.  I put a conehead-weighted black nymph near them.  I think I had some looks, possibly a subtle hit..but no hookups.

I switched to Missouriflies.com's "Black Ops" fly that I had tied to be weedless with his monofilament "Y" technique.  Check out his blog/website if you want to see the fly pattern (and lots of other great ones), video instructions for tying the weedguard, ...and some fantastic videos of him catching Grass Carp, Common Carp, Gar, and other species on flies.  Really GREAT stuff!

Within a few casts, I had a "pecking" type strike.  I set the hook and watched what I thought to be a small crappie come to the surface.  Not a crappie, though.  A small Freshwater Drum!!

If you've been following along and paying attention, you've probably heard me say several times this year that I'd really like to add Freshwater Drum to my list of species I have caught on a fly rod.  Even though it was a small fish, I was really excited...it made my day!  This was it...the first one!

This one has pretty yellow pelvic and anal fins.

A Weedless Black Ops does the trick!

I made a few more blind casts around (having spooked the Carp / Buffalo).  Next fish was a small but chunky Largemouth Bass.  Something was chasing shad around...could have been this guy!  I didn't take his picture.

A few casts later, I got a nice strike, and a really nice fight out of this Channel Catfish:

Yeah...I guess he WANTED it!

Very nice!  Almost time to go...but I had to make a few more casts.  Another strike!  And another Freshwater Drum!!  Still small, but larger than the first one.  I'm guesstimating 10.5"-11".

That weedguard worked fantastic.  In fairness, it really didn't get tested by weeds or snags (since I was fishing over a sandy/silty bottom)...but it hooked fish perfectly!

Notice the shoe?  What...you don't go fishing in your office shoes??  :)

Been looking for Drum throughout the year...and FINALLY got a couple!  Excellent lunchtime flyfishing trip!

Lunchtime FlyFishing Report, 5-30-2012

Last night I fly-fished and saw good numbers of gar, but wasn't able to hook into any of them.  Hopefully next time!

Today, my buddy Jay said, "Today's a good day for you to go after carp!"  Well...why not?  The 7-10 mph winds were the calmest its been in weeks, it was sunny, but only 65 degrees.  Doesn't everyone else wear a Polo shirt, slacks, and casual dress shoes to go carp fishing??

Maybe it helps to look the part of an elitist fly-angler, regardless of target species?  HA!

Anyway, I found feeding carp.  Biggest problem was water clarity.  Deeper than about 4" of water, the fish disappeared.  I could see bubble trails and mud clouds that I hoped indicated feeding carp.  Would they even be able to see a fly more than a few inches away??  Strike detection was a problem when carp don't move much to eat anyway.  Watching for fish movement or opening mouths was definitely out of the question when the fish simply AREN'T visible.  Waa waa waaa...listen to me cry a river over muddy water!

I may have gotten some strikes.  A couple of times I actually bothered to set the hook, I spooked fish.  I may have been a tad late, or the fly may have bumped the fish.  I'll never know.  I did foul-hook one decent carp in the dorsal fin.  It was a fun fight but I was already a bit tardy to head back to work, so I put a lot of pressure on the line, and the fly popped out.

I didn't get skunked.  I caught a small channel catfish.

Evening Fly-Fishing, 5-15-2012

I fly-fished at Blue Heron Lake this evening (5-15-2012) from 7:15pm-8:30pm (1.25 hrs).

It was a bit windy, but warm.

I started out using a Blue Thunder streamer.  I cast near some large gizzard shad spawning in the shallows, and caught a crappie.  I moved along the shoreline until I neared another spot where shad were active against the shoreline.  There was a short section of a log in the shallows near shore.  Wind-generated currents had deepened the water around the log.  I made some casts around it, and ended up catching mostly crappies from one side of the log, and mostly yellow bass from the other side of the log.  I did accidentally snag a large (10") shad there.

I switched to a silver Springbrook Wunder microjig and caught another yellow bass and crappie before deciding to move on.  I moved down to a spot where the shad were splashing on a small point that had current blowing across it, parallel to shore.  There was sort of a current line there, so I cast beyond the shad a ways, and started working the microjig in.  I caught a crappie, then a bluegill, then a catfish!  It may have been one of the smallest channel catfish I've caught on a fly rod, but it still put up a heckuva fight!  I continued moving along the shoreline.  I think I scared up some carp from the shallows, since I didn't see them before they saw me.  I caught some more crappies, bluegills, yellow bass, and a tiny largemouth bass.

Fish totals for the evening were:

3  Bluegills

1 LMB

15 Crappie

10 Yellow Bass

1 Channel Catfish

Here's the some of the fish...
Channel Catfish:

Yellow Bass:

Yellow Bass are sort of colorful.  They are a native fish to Iowa, often found in low numbers in rivers.  Unfortunately they don't get very big, and have a reputation for overpopulating and ruining lakes in Iowa, which then must usually be drained and refilled to get rid of them.  This lake is adjacent to a river, and the river regularly floods into this lake, so they are here to stay in this particular lake.  I hope the other fish species can thrive alongside the Yellow Bass.