Fly-Fished a Local Public Pond Last Night, 9-5-2011

To finish off the holiday weekend, I went fly-fishing to a local pond last night from about 7pm-9pm.
It started off slow.  I could see fish hitting the fly, but they weren't getting hooked, just batting it around.
I figured a surface pattern would do the trick, but I couldn't quickly locate what I wanted in my hip pack.

So I tried a variety of subsurface patterns, and finally settled on a gold Springbrook Wunder.  In the meantime, I had my eye competitive eye on an angler using spinning gear on the far side of the pond.  He seemed to be taking some stuff off his lure...I assumed were fish, but could have been weeds.  He was using a lure under a bobber for awhile.  Then I watched him struggle to reach the lure which somehow got stuck in the back of his shirt.  He finally had to remove his shirt to free the hook.

The Springbrook Wunder worked very well.  I caught at least 20 bluegills and a couple of crappies on that pattern.

As the sky grew dark, I switched to a bucktail streamer I had tied with a short chartreuse craft fur tail, silver mylar cord body, white kiptail, pearl angel hair & chartreuse bucktail wing, and I had wound some chartreuse hackle at the head.  I caught a few bluegills on this, but more crappies (as I had hoped), at least 10 before I decided to quit for the evening.

Grass Carp? Catfish!

My friend Ben and I ventured out this evening to try chumming bread at a local pond for Grass Carp...then we would toss flies to them.  The first pond we tried is reported to have gotten a "mother lode" of grass carp stocked into it last year.  To the tune of 60 grass carp in a pond that covers 4.26 acres.  After about 1.5 hours, we didn't raise a single grass carp on the bread.  I caught a few bluegills while I was waiting for grass carp to show, and Ben caught a decent bass that put up an excellent fight.

Next, we decided to try this same tactic at another nearby pond where I have seen (and caught on fly gear) grass carp.  At first it was sunfish hitting the bread, but then some bigger fish showed up.  We were excited!

I tied on a "bread fly" that was mainly white marabou with a little tan marabou, tied similar to a Gartside Softhackle Streamer.  I got the first hook-up into a good fish.  It started dragging my line through the algae mats, so I had to wade out into the water to free my line up from this heavy "gunk".

Fortunately, by the time I cleared my line, the fish was still on!

Check out the bend in the rod below!

It was a good fish....but not "grass carp"-sized.

Turned out to be a channel catfish with a huge belly....and it was hooked in the side!

 Anyway, we kept baiting the area, and had some more larger fish hitting the bread.  As the sky darkened, I got another take.  FISH ON!  I had to wade back out into the muck again to land this fish.  It was another fat-bellied channel catfish, and this one was hooked in the mouth. 

Ben switched to a floating bread fly pattern he had tied, and started catching bluegills on it, despite the large hook.

It was fun fishing, and exciting to see the big fish boiling on the floating bread.  Were ANY of those boils made by our target species, Grass Carp?  Until we catch one, we just don't know.

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.

Article in NACA Magazine

An article I wrote (a story about catching my first grass carp on a fly rod) was published in the Winter 2010/2011 issue of North American Carp Angler magazine. Cool!


Here's the cover and the pages from the mag:

Evening Fishing, 4-11-2011...Nice Crappie!

4-11-2011
Local Public Pond
Fly-fished
Time Fished: 7:30pm-8:30pm
Weather: Sunny/dusk, 61 degrees F
Wind: 15mph from the North
Fish sought: Bass
Fish caught: 9 bluegills, 1 crappie
Best pattern: microjig

The wind was finally blowing out of the right direction for me to try some topwater poppers for bass. No takers along the short stretch of shoreline I fished. A guy with spinning gear on the opposite side of the pond did catch a small bass (<12").

I saw a nice Grass Carp porpoise within casting distance, so I chucked the popper in front of it, but no luck.

I'd seen some surface activity that I figured was bluegills, so I switched to a microjig. The first one (mostly black) got some attention, but no hookups. I switched to one with an olive grizzly marabou tail and an olive sparkle dubbing for the body. I caught all the fish on this.

The biggest bluegill was a chunky 8.5" female, which is the biggest I've caught on the fly rod so far this year.

The fish that got me all excited (and still couldn't fall asleep 2 hours later) was the crappie. It was a BEAST! Its my "Personal Best" on the fly rod, although I've caught bigger on spinning gear. It is a white crappie, and measured 14". It fought really hard, taking line a couple times. I was sure it was a bass, until it finally got closer to shore! I released all the fish, as usual.

Fresh Perspective Needed in the Production of Fly-Fishing Shows?

A number of fly anglers have voiced their irritation over the way cable-network fly-fishing shows are done. They are put off by the overly-exotic locations and wild, loud background music tracks during the fish-fighting sequences.  I can't really comment on specifics, as I don't spend much time watching anything on TV.

But...what could be done better in these fishing shows?

Makes me smile to think about filming a show called something like "Fly-Fishing YOU Can Do!", to show folks how to enjoy whatever fishing they have locally. Who would sponsor that? Lots of company's SHOULD, but probably wouldn't. It isn't as "flashy" as filming one of the handful of people that gets to fly-fish for permit around Cuba. But what this sort of show MIGHT do is encourage non-anglers or casual anglers to pick up a rod more often, and spend some time at those places that don't take much money or effort to visit. Show them how easy it CAN be. Folks get better and more knowledgeable when the do a certain activity more often, and this is true with fishing.

Fishing doesn't have to take up a lot of a person's time, since time is especially important to that large demographic that has kids living at home. Guys in our local fishing club seem amazed that someone can catch plenty of fish during their lunch hours (or less) of the work week. You don't have to wait for a weekend! Or... fish in the evenings when the family is settled and reading or watching (educational?) TV/videos. SHOW people how to fish locally, not which guide service or resort they need to book with.

Fishing doesn't have to take up a lot of a person's finances, either. Show people what the minimum requirements could be. Not everyone needs to own a boat to enjoy fishing. If there are tree-lined lakes in your area, start with a float tube or kayak. Streams? You can get by with inexpensive waders until you decide you ENJOY wading streams. Then you can upgrade to waders that provide better fit/comfort/durability.

A person who fishes their local waters is much more likely to eventually book fishing trips to those exotic locations that offer "fishing experiences of a lifetime" because they are aware of their local waters' limitations in size/species and they desire to broaden their experience. So...those upscale places would benefit indirectly from sponsoring local-based shows. Wouldn't they?

The industry needs to widen it's base...build up sales on their "lower end" products, because a percentage of those with such gear will then eventually wish to upgrade to more (profitable for the company) "higher end" products. They shouldn't just expect somebody to see a flashy show and suddenly want to buy the most expensive stuff they can find! I'm sure it happens, but not often.

What advice would YOU give fly-fishing programs to make them better…to be something you’d want to watch more often?

Fishing Trout-Stocking Days in Central Iowa

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has an "Urban Trout" program that entails stocking trout into warmwater ponds during the cold months, to provide a seasonal trout-fishing opportunity near some of the larger cities throughout Iowa.   This program does slightly better than "break-even", by increasing sales of the Iowa Trout License, an optional add-on to the normal state fishing license.
I've been fishing these "stocking days" locally for several years.  I've learned that the fastest fishing is usually within the first couple hours after the fish are stocked.  The fish are usually still concentrated close to the spot where they have been released from the stocking truck.  Being able to cast to where the fish ARE is a major factor in any successful fishing trip.  A second major factor is figuring out what the fish will be willing to hit.

Some folks like to use live bait or commercially prepared scented baits such as Berkley Powerbait.  While these methods will catch fish, when the fish are bunched up and excited like they are immediately after being stocked, artificial lures and flies will usually outfish the "bait" by a very wide margin.

After a day or two, its usually a MAJOR struggle just to locate the fish, and I have the highest regard for anyone who can catch them, regardless of tactics.

The IDNR stocks these fish as a "put-and-take" fishery.  They want anglers to fish for and keep what they want (within the legal limits) to eat.  The trout will survive until the lake water reaches 70 degrees F the next summer, and then they will die.  The DNR would prefer the fish were enjoyed by anglers before they died.

Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010.  2pm-4:30pm.  DMACC Pond, Ankeny, Iowa.
There's a large pond within sight-distance the office building where I work. During the warm months, it is a difficult lake to fish due to the expansive shallows choked with algae mats. So, most people don't bother. Ice-fishing is another story altogether, and it is quite a popular local fishing destination during the hard-water season.  This is the 2nd year that the DNR has picked this pond as one of the Urban Trout lakes.

I got to the pond around 2pm, since I was working until a bit after noon, then ran home to eat lunch and change into warmer clothes.  There were still a LOT of anglers fishing, and it was pretty crowded near the location where the fish were stocked into the pond.  I wanted to do some fly-fishing, and wanted plenty of room around me, so I chose a spot a very good distance from the other anglers.  Folks were still catching a few fish, but it was obvious the fastest action had already passed by.

I fly-fished close to shore, and used spinning gear to toss small blade baits out to the middle of the pond.  I ended up catching 5 rainbow trout on fly gear, and 6 on the spinning gear.  The fly I used was a 1/80oz Springbrook Wunder:

I released all the trout, but took a couple pics.  This one was probably the smallest trout I landed, I really have no idea what possessed me to pick this one to take a picture of!

This one was a better fish:

Friday, Nov. 19, 2010. 12:15pm-3:00pm. Ada Hayden Lake, Ames, Iowa.

This was the first time trout have ever been stocked in to this lake.  I was hopeful since there was a stocking the previous day, closer to Des Moines metro area, that fewer people would make the drive up to Ames.  I think I was correct.  There were a lot of people, but it seemed a good 1/2 of them were observers only, not anglers.

I'd never fished this lake before.  Its an old quarry pit, and drops off to 30-40' near shore.  A good chunk of the shoreline is rip-rapped, and there is a paved boat ramp, a floating dock, and a fishing pier.  Of course most of today's fishing was focused around the boat ramp where the trout were stocked.

I got a good position on the dock next to the boat ramp that allowed me to flycast without worrying about hooking people or shoreline behind me.  Within a couple minutes of trout getting into the water, I had a fish hit, but it shook loose before I landed it.  A cast or two later, I landed the first trout of the day amongst all the anglers!

I was using the Springbrook Wunder microjig again, and it was working very well for me.  A fly-angler next to me from Missouri was struggling a bit, so I gave him a spare fly, and he started catching fish too.  After he lost it to a fish, I gave him another.  After awhile the fish were still there, but weren't hitting my pattern as well.  So, a fellow next to me gave me one of HIS flies to try.  It worked really well, and I was back in business!  This is my version of what he gave me, since the hackle on the one I was using eventually unravelled.

This gentleman then offered me another fly, so of course I took it!  It had a glass beadhead and sank a little faster than the previous pattern, but it caught fish just as well.   Here's my version of that one:

 Eventually the fish seemed to get wise to this pattern too.  I switched back to the Springbrook Wunder, and caught more fish.  I tallied 36 rainbow trout with my fly-fishing gear.

Finally, before I left, I dropped a 1/8 oz gold Reef Runner Cicada on spinning gear straight down into the water in front of me and vertically jigged it.  I got quite a few hits, but was having a tough time hooking them.  I did finally land one, and then decided to call it a day.  I had 5 trout on my stringer (these are the first fish I've kept for a meal in 2010!), and wanted to get home and prepare them for supper.  I must have prepared them properly this time...they were delicious!



Lunch Fly-Fishing, 11-2-2010

'Tis the season, I guess, for Crappies here. I apologize in advance for more crappie pictures...but you get to see some of what I've been catching.

Today I got a late start on lunch, but still took the hour allotted to me. That gives me 1/2 hour to fish when you cut out the driving time...more or less.

So, I hit the "HP" pond again. (This isn't really a code word, just an abbreviation. If it was a code, somebody slap me for being uncreative! :) I'd tell you exactly where it is...but most of you will never visit this area. And those who live here...well, you probably know where it is already. If not, shoot me a PM.)

The fishing (catching) started of pretty good, I caught 4 crappies (a couple in the 10"-11" range) from the first spot. With all the ducks that get fed around this pond, I always wonder exactly what the crappies think as the ducks race around over their heads...either racing towards somebody throwing stale bread...or racing away from somebody they realize ISN'T GONNA FEED THEM (me). The crappies still bite, so all is well. They are obviously very used to all the commotion.

I tried a couple other spots, and they were slower. I ended up with just 2 more crappies, but had at least one other nice one shake loose. I probably could have caught another one or two, but I was forced to waste time trying to unsuccessfully get not one but TWO flies out of a large tree behind me. Ended up having to break my line both times, and the second time I decided I should just give up for time being.
The first one I had to fish outta the tree, some folks were walking by on the sidewalk. I said,"I just caught a tree. DON'T TELL ANYBODY!" The woman smiled and said she once hooked her husband in the back of the head. I chuckled as they went on their way.

All the fish were caught on a Springbrook Wunder microjig (without the red thread for "gills").

Sunday, 10-24-2010 - Fly-Fished an Urban Public Lake in Des Moines

I drove my daughter and 4 other girls to their choir rehearsal in downtown Des Moines on Sunday, and had some time to kill before it was time to pick them up. I visited a good-sized urban public lake I hadn't fished since Spring. I recall catching some decent bluegills and small bass there.

Well, there were lots of people walking or biking on the paved path around the lake, but only one other guy was fishing when I arrived, and he left after I caught 2 small fish right away. I'm not suggesting that is WHY he left. But I'm glad I didn't have to listen to the copper bell on the end of his rod any longer.

It was really slow. I don't know this water very well, so it was a struggle. I finally had a good fish on. They stocked wiper fingerlings in the lake in the Spring of 2009, so I figure they should be about 10" long by now. I saw the fish on my line, and it was silver. I knew it was either one of the wipers, or a crappie. It got off as I put pressure on it to lift it from the water. DRAT!

A few casts later, I got a snag, and had to break my line. OOH, structure! I retied, and cast a few feet to either side of where I got the snag. Nothing! Must be a pretty small snag. I lost a few more flies to that snag before I left, but I discovered some bluegills and some really nice 12" crappies (both white and black crappies) were near that tiny piece of structure. I was THRILLED! I caught 7 nice crappies (plus the smaller bluegills) in a fairly short time. And that time was interspersed with me casting into the willow trees and brush behind me no less than 3 times, and I had to retrieve my fly from that mess.

Still...those were some HEALTHY crappies. I could have put together a pretty delicious meal if I'd been in a position to keep any of them.

These were caught on 1/100 oz Springbrook Wunder microjigs. I used natural grizzly chickabou for the tail, and some goldish sparkle chenille for the body.

Saturday 10-23-2010, Local Public Pond Fly-Fishing

Well, I hit that pond one more time on Saturday. It isn't often I get to fish during the day on Saturdays...but it worked out this time. I fished from about 9:30am to 2pm. I could have fished longer, the fish were still biting steady, but I was exhausted and hungry. So I went home.


I caught over 100 crappies, 2 small bass, 1 bluegill, and 7 green sunfish. The crappies probably averaged around 9". I measured one at 10", and another at 11", but didn't bother measuring any others.

I tried a variety of patterns, and the two top producers again were the microjig, and small Kraft Fur Clousers with beadchain eyes. White/red worked very well, but I can't really say I tried a color that DIDN'T work well. I caught a bunch on olive, too, as well as pink-n-white, and also chartreuse.

Oh, and at one point I could see a small school of crappies messing around near the surface, occasionally swirling.  I put on a foam topwater, and caught myself laughing out loud watching them actually leaping completely out of the water trying to hit this!  It was amazing seeing crappies being THIS aggressive!  I tried to get it on video, but I couldn't work the fly and hold the camera still, plus the fish seemed to have moved on by the time I got the camera ready.  I hooked a few of the fish, but all of them managed to throw the hook before I landed them.

Here's some fish pics.

I liked the stripes on this one:

This little guy was just too cute not to photograph:

I think this one was the one I measured at 11"

Lunch Fishing 10-21 and 10-22-2010

I fly-fished a local public pond during lunch....same place as in my previous blog entry.  The weather continues to be very bright sunny, mild, and breezy.
Tried some other fly patterns.  I tried hairwing streamers, Kraft Fur minnows, etc.  Just about everything caught fish, but some patterns made it much quicker and easier.
Microjigs and Kraft Fur Clousers were the top 2 patterns.  Unweighted patterns just didn't get down close to the fish quickly enough even though the crappies would eventually come up to take them.  I only tried a blue Clouser...not a color I use often, but it worked very well.  I tried a variety of colors of microjigs, and all caught fish very well.
On 10/21, I caught at least 12 Crappies and 3 Green Sunfish.
On 10/22, I caught 21 Crappies and 3 Green Sunfish.
On both of these trips, I caught some black crappies along with the white crappies.
Heres some pics from these 2 days:

Green Sunfish

Black Crappie

 Blue Kraft Fur Clouser

 Kraft Fur Minnow

 White Crappie

More Fly I've Tied Up Recently

Here's some fly-fishing fly patterns I've recently tied up.  I've included the names if I know them.

 Misc. microjigs (1/100th oz.)

Woolly Worm

Hardy Demon

 Blacknosed Dace Hairwing Streamer

Springbrook Wunder microjigs

Ocotber 9 & 10, 2010 Fly-Fishing Outings

The algae blooms on the local public ponds have been horrific for at least the past 3 weeks.  Most places, the algae mats extend 15feet or MORE from shore, with random floating and submergent algae beyond that.  Its as bad as I've ever seen it.  I'm sure it can be attributed to the deluge of rain that was our Spring and Summer this year, which would have brought a lot of lawn nutrients (and shoreline waterfowl droppings) into the pond.  The nutrients are pretty much locked in the system now, unless cleaner water flushes it out.  The algae, unless removed (not likely), will die off, sink, decay over the winter (hopefully not causing a winterkill...keep your fingers crossed), and the nutrients will remain in the pond in some form or another.

The algae has made fishing from shore difficult, but as long as you don't mind cleaning junk off your hook after each retrieve, its do-able.  The algae is only one issue lately.  The other issue is the bluegills (and crappies) have been ultra-finicky.  Willing to hit almost everything, but not wanting to hang on to anything long enough to get HOOKED.  So, I've been tying up a variety of patterns I normally don't use, in order to try and pinpoint something the fish will take and hold onto longer.

First was a variation of John Scott's CFC October Caddis.  I left the rubber legs/antenna off this example:

A nighttime crappie picked it off the surface near shore:

And here's a bluegill that took a blue version of the same fly:

The most successful pattern last night was this woolly-bugger type pattern, tied with a ginger/brown rabbit fur tail, dubbing of cat hair salvaged from our pet's brush, and some black hackle.

 Here's a couple of the bluegills that liked this:

Here's a parachute pattern with an extended body.

A largemouth bass hit that, and then the thing wouldn't float very well, so I had to change flies again.

And finally...I was staring at some Chamois material while sitting at my fly-tying desk...and it occurred to me to tie up some of these.  I'm not sure if anything like these have been done before (I've seen San Juan Worm patterns tied with double hooks similar to this), so for now I'm just calling it a Chamois Bluegill Worm.

I was excited to try them out on the bluegills.  It needs more experimentation, but it DID catch fish!