Weird Fishing - April 2015

It has so far been a relatively dry Spring.  Temperatures have varied, and this past week saw temperatures @ 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the previous week.  It sometimes seems like the fish can't catch a break.  They start to get ready to do their seasonally-appropriate spawning ritual, when the weather cools down and disrupts those plans.  But, it is still early in the season for that.

I assume it is also due to the low amounts of rainfall, that the waters in our local waters are incredibly clear right now.  In many cases, ponds currently have the clearest waters I have EVER seen in them.

So, a visit to a local public pond one evening this week, during a slight break in the seemingly ever-present wind, resulted in very clear water, but no fish in sight.  Because it was still sort of windy, I fished from the upwind pond shoreline.  I got a couple small nibbles on a microjig under an indicator while flyfishing.  Not promising.

Just a very short walk from the main pond is a smaller pond that is usually only good for bluegill, and the very occasional bass.  I fished there for the first time this year.  It was still tough...I think the fish could see me quite well.  I finally found some nice bluegills, though.

There were some very chunky fish in the mix...and not all of them were females.

I also caught one small bass and a Green Sunfish.

One other interesting thing on this trip...I was surprised to see that some ducks have already hatched out some ducklings already!

Big Green Sunfish

Apparently it doesn't take much to get me excited...
I've caught countless Green Sunfish over the years.  Most of them were small...like 2"-5"  range.
In the past couple of years I've been getting some larger and larger ones in a few places.  I've caught some 9-inchers this year, with the biggest I've measured being 9.25".
Today during lunch I caught another 9-incher.  This one was SO DEEP-BODIED...it just seemed even BIGGER.  I had to measure it.

 It takes a 10" Green Sunfish to qualify for an Iowa Master Angler Award...which seems crazy...I've NEVER seen one that big...yet.  I really kind of suspect that many of these "Green Sunfish" people catch that are 10" or better may actually be Hybrid Sunfish.  But maybe not?  If not, that means that these fish DO get bigger, so hopefully within another year or two one of my local spots will produce one that big.

Anyway, I also did catch a crappie, a couple Hybrid Sunfish, a couple more Green Sunfish, and a couple small Bluegills, all on a gold microjig under an indicator.

Lunchtime Flyfishing Report, 4/26/2013

Wow!  Today during lunch, it was partly sunny, warm (69 degrees F), windy (15mph winds from the South).
Or so the weather websites said.  In truth, it seemed much windier.

My buddy Jay and I met up at a local pond to flyfish together during my lunch hour.  The wind made casting a very REAL challenge.  Jay chose a position that enabled him to cast across the wind.  I chose a position where I was casting directly into the wind.  I must say...I REALLY love this Airflo 40+ fly line!  It just couldn't be any better than it is!  Cuts through the wind EXTREMELY well!

Anyway, we took our positions.  Within a couple casts, I hooked and landed the first scrappy Crappie.  I caught several more before Jay got his gear and casting in order.  But he found fish.  Oh yes!  Suffice it to say, in the short time we were there, we caught plenty of fish.  We both caught Crappies (mostly 9-11"...and we each caught a 13-incher), Largemouth Bass (13"-14" range), Bluegills (various sizes, nothing over 7.5").  In addition to those, I also caught a BEAST Green Sunfish!  It was a CHUNK!!

We both used microjigs about 12" below an indicator.  I used silver, Jay used chartreuse.
Some pictures from today:

My 13-incher.

Jay with his 13-incher.

An 11-incher, getting some good dark "spawning color" around its gills/throat area.

BEAST Green Sunfish.  Very wide body.  Estimating @ 9" long.

Bass Gurgler Test,Evening of 5-9-2012

I didn't get out fly-fishing in the evening until fairly late.  I got to the pond around 8pm, and stayed until about 9:20pm.  The weather was good.  Very light breeze, temps were cool (~60 degrees F), and the water clarity was excellent.

I had read James Smith's (of Conyers, Georgia) post about how he ties his Bass Gurglers on the Fly Anglers Online forums.  (third post in this thread: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?46069-Gurglers-for-LMB ).  I had tied one up with a marabou tail.  I tied it on my line right away.  In my first 4 casts, I had 3 bass on, and landed one.  I occasionally catch a bass or two while fly-fishing this pond, but I can go many trips here and never catch one.  My assessment is that the population of bass in this pond is LOW because of high harvest.  So...having that kind of action on a fly was, to me, ASTOUNDING!  I was thrilled!  So, I took a picture of it (after the first fish was landed):

See those "big lips"?  They really make a lot of disturbance on the surface, and the bass (and other fish) were just going NUTS for it!  I ended up landing 6 bass on this pattern, and lost probably 5 others (including a "biggie").

This wasn't the biggest bass I caught last night, but I didn't bother taking pictures of the larger bass, since it was getting dark and the pictures probably wouldn't have turned out very well.

On that fly, I also caught some NICE bluegills, some decent crappies, and even this FAT green sunfish.  I don't catch many greenies at this pond, but I know there are a few in it.

As it got darker, the action seemed to slow on this topwater pattern, so I switched to a white Boa Yarn Leech, and caught one more bass, and quite a few crappies and bluegills.

So...7 bass from this pond in such a short time, mostly on that Bass Gurgler.  I don't think I've EVER done that well at this pond on the foam bass popper I typically use for bass. Was it the fly?  Was it the weather, time of year, or some other factor?  I'll keep fishing with this fly and see how it goes.

Fly-Fishing Lunch Report, 5-3-2012

WARM and sunny today!  Not much wind, temps in the mid 80's during the noon-hour.

I visited a local public pond.  Despite the overnight rain, the water was fairly clear.  And with the bright sun overhead and not much wind, I could see into the water very well.  I thought for sure I'd be able to spot a grass carp or channel catfish if they were around.  Instead, I only saw a large turtle, lots of bullfrogs and large tadpoles, bass, bluegills, green sunfish, and a very large white goldfish.

I wasted a good amount of time casting to that darn goldfish...I WANT TO CATCH THAT FISH!!  But it ignored everything.  I need something even smaller, I think.  I had some flies with me I had tied up specifically for this situation, but I was too lazy to dig them out of the bottom of my hip pack.  I did toss a fly that this fish had hit once before, but it didn't go for it again.  I did catch some bluegills on that, though.

Anyway, I ended up catching at least 7 Bluegills on a Woolly Worm, as well as 4 nice Green Sunfish.

Lunchtime Fly-Fishing Report, 4-30-2012

Today is overcast, 59degrees F, and fairly calm.  Pretty nice weather, really.  It is supposed to get sunny in the afternoon and warm up.  You get what you get when you fish during lunchtime...there's no waiting for the weather to change.

As long as it isn't too windy or below freezing, I'm ok with most any kind of weather for fly-fishing.

Caught mostly Bluegills.  A few had excellent colors, including this first picture, in which the sunfish's breast was such a deep, bright orange...I don't think the photo does it justice.

This was a good-looking fish as well:

I also caught a few Green Sunfish.  This monster measured 8.5"!!!!

I had hoped to get a glimpse of grass carp or catfish, but didn't see any.  I DID see quite a few tadpoles gulping air periodically at the surface out towards the middle of the pond, and I saw a decent number of large bullfrogs.  This is all indicative of a POOR bass population at the pond.

As I was walking around the pond to leave, I spotted this Painted Turtle rooting around in the water right next to shore.  I took his picture, and he remained oblivious to my presence.

Lunchtime Fly-Fishing Report, 4-17-2012

I fly-fished a local public pond near work during lunch today.  It was a bit cooler than I'd hoped, and a bit windier as well, but all in all a decent day for fishing.

This pond still had just a tiny bit of run-off from our weekend rain still flowing into one corner of the pond.  Well...more like a trickle, but fish notice this!  There was evidence around this pond, like others I'd seen, that the water had been up about 2' above normal during the storm, and had since receded to normal.  Definite signs of shoreline erosion, and the water was murky compared to recent trips to this pond.

I hoped to find some catfish active near where the water enters the pond.  I haven't seen any catfish in this pond for a couple years, but I'm hopeful they are still there.  I did not see any today.  Discouraging sign.

I also hoped to spot some grass carp, but once again did not see any.  I saw some earlier in the year, so I KNOW that are there...somewhere.

I actually had a rather GOOD time at this pond!  Caught more and larger fish than I have for several years.  Large is a relative term in this case, but this pond is "recovering", and seems to be doing ok so far.

I ended up with a dozen Bluegills (mostly 7.5"-8"), 5 nice Green Sunfish (7.5"-8" and FAT), and a surprise Crappie (just over 11").  I can probably count on one hand the number of crappies I've caught from this pond over the years.  This one was CRAZY strong for a crappie!  I caught most of the fish on a black "Daedalian Damsel".

On to the fish pics...first, the Green Sunfish.  Recent pics of Green Sunfish from this pond, had showed the normal progression of Green Sunfish coloration that tends to get more bright yellow in the belly and pelvic fins as spawning time approaches. This first one especially showed a lot more BLACK, and had a lot of black spots.:

This one was a bit more normal, but still had a lot of black on its pelvic and anal fins.

Just thought I'd throw this close-up head picture in for kicks, to show the coloration and mouth size.

This is the 11+" Crappie that fought so hard:

And finally, a couple of the Bluegills.  This one had a lot of metallic blue between the eye and opercle.

And this one was pretty colorful as well, but the sunlight disappeared behind clouds by this time.

One last thing that had me sort of excited.  I saw a large (~12"?) white goldfish swimming around.  Seemed to be following me around a bit.  I left it alone the first time I saw it, but later it was just hanging out near me, so before I headed back to work, I put on a smaller fly under an indictor and tossed it out.  After a couple casts, I got the "drift" by the fish that I wanted, and I think it hit the fly!  The indicator twitched a bit.  I didn't set the hook because I was waiting for the indicator to do something more than that.  It never did.  Nevertheless, I was that much closer to catching a Goldfish on my fly rod.  Some day....!

Fly-Fishing Lunch Report, 4-12-2012

Fly-fished a nearby public pond during lunch today. Caught 10 Bluegills and 2 Green Sunfish. One Bluegill especially had decent size and really nice colors...I debated taking his picture...but in the end I just let him go.  And then I regretted NOT getting its picture!


I did take a couple pictures of these nice, chunky Green Sunfish. I didn't measure them, but I measured my hand later, and determined these fish are in the 7.5"-8" range.

Weekend Fishing Report, 3/23-3/25/2012

3/23/2012
Had 30 minutes of free time after work.  Took advantage of it and fly-fished a local public pond.  Landed 8 bluegills and 2 crappies.

3/24/2012
Called my buddy Jay to see if he wanted to fish for a few hours on Saturday morning.  We decided to meet at Saylorville Lake.  Lots of people fishing there.  I fished for 2.5 hours and used fly-fishing gear along rocky shorelines.  I landed (at least) 25 largemouth bass (all under 12"), 1 bluegill, and 3 green sunfish.  Almost all the fish I caught were within 5' of shore in water 2' deep or less.

All fish were caught on the  Beadhead fly shown above with white marabou tail and  silver holographic mylar chenille body.

3/25/2012
I drove a carpool downtown DM on Sunday, and had an hour to fly-fish at Copper Creek Lake.  Lots of folks out there!  Saw a guy catch a really nice bass....maybe a 4-pounder.
I caught 12 bluegills, most on a Boudreaux, one on a topwater Chernobyl Ant/Hopper, the rest on a black Beadhead Furl-Tailed Mohair Leech.

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Later on, my family settled down to watch a movie we had recently seen, so I decided to go fishing while they watched it.  It was almost dark by the time I started fishing.  I fly-fished from 8pm-9:30pm.  I caught 20 crappies and 13 bluegills.  All fish were caught on an unweighted chartreuse Woolly Bugger. Not bad for fishing in the dark!

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That was 84 fish for the weekend, and brings this month's total to 215 fish.  I checked my fishing logs back to 2006, and this is the most fish I've ever caught in March (even though I was gone for a week on Spring Break).  March typically sucks because we get that time period where the ice on lakes is too poor to fish on, but the water isn't fully open yet, or the water is too cold for the fish to be active.  This year is a FREAK year!

Lunch Fly-Fishing Report, 3-23-2012

During lunch today, I fly-fished a nearby public pond. This one was close enough to work that I actually fished for about 45 minutes.

This pond was the one that got destroyed by overfishing during the winter about 3 years ago.  Its isn't what it was, and has several problems ongoing such as filling in, algae, lack of bass, etc.  So...no high hopes for today, just wanted to give it its yearly "test".

I caught 15 bluegills and 2 green sunfish.   All on a beadhead woolly bugger...black & olive.

This is an improvement over the past few years.  The optimistic news was that nearly all the bluegills were very thick-bodied and healthy...although they still probably don't measure more than 7.5".  I was pleased, because this at least gives a ray of hope for the bluegill population in this pond over the next few years.

Chunky male Bluegill...about 7.5" long.

Nice Green Sunfish...also about 7.5" long.

Same fish as the first picture...just a closer look.

Lunchtime Fishing Report, 10-11-2011

With yesterday's rain, and this morning's fog, continuing above-average temperatures...I figured fishing OUGHT to be pretty good today during lunch!

Unfortuntately, by the time Noon rolled around, the fog lifted and the bright sun came out, plus a moderate wind out of the South.

Not exactly the conditions I was anticipating.  Still, anything is better than sitting at my desk during lunch.  So I headed to a nearby public pond, maybe 5 minutes from our office.  I approached the pond with an eye on one particular corner where I'd seen a pod of grass carp on my previous visit here...but there were no fish visible.  And unlike the other ponds I've visited lately, the algae mats in this pond were still crowding the shorelines and covering the bottom and any aquatic plants that were still rooted to the bottom.  Not a pretty site.  There was abundant activity along the shoreline.  Not fish, but DOZENS of small bullfrogs.  I spotted a couple BIG ones, but they weren't as alarmed by my presence as the small ones.

Because of the wind speed and direction, plus the expanse of algae I'd need to clear to reach open water, I moved around the corner from the shoreline I'd hoped to fish.  No fish visible.  I put on a brownish microjig under a medium-sized football-style strike indicator and began casting my way along the shoreline.  Something aggressive struck at the indicator.  I made a couple more casts, then adjusted my microjig to be closer to the strike indicator and tossed it back out once more.  I thought maybe it was going to be a bluegill or tiny largemouth bass, but...I caught a Green Sunfish!

That was something of a surprise for this pond.  I enjoy catching Green Sunfish, although it generally suggests the pond has a deficient population of largemouth bass.  I guess that shouldn't surprise me, since the numbers of small frogs around the pond pretty much indicates the same thing.  My mind belabors what this (formerly) good pond used to be, and what it has become.  I decided just to enjoy the fishing for now.

I worked my way towards another corner of the pond.  I started getting some good strikes.  While I missed a fair number of good strikes, I landed 5 bluegills:

This male bluegill still has a bright orange chest.

I cast out more towards the middle of shallower end of the pond, and watched my indicator disappear into the jaws of a fish.  I probably SHOULD have been using a topwater fly pattern!  I shortened my leader beneath the indicator once again and cast out a couple more times before the indicator shot underwater, this time because a fish had hit the microjig.  Turned out to be another Green Sunfish, this one even bigger...in the 8.5"-9" range!

I quickly fished my way back towards my car.  I caught one more bluegill.  I was standing above a concrete culvert/flared end section.  I looked down and saw a frog sitting in it.  I hadn't seen one of these for awhile...the others I'd seen today were bullfrogs.  This one was either a Leopard Frog or Grass Frog.  Without investigating its identity it further, I'll just say that I'm GUESSING it is a Grass Frog.

Fly-Fishing: 9-22-2011 Evening and 9-23-2011 Lunchtime

I had 1 hour to fish on Thursday (9/22).  I visited the closest public pond, which was in a nearby 'burb, since that is where I was at the time.  Like the last visit here, there was still a LOT matted floating algae around the edges of this pond...and the water clarity is still rather poor.  I neglected to fish the spots where I've had the best success in the past, because it would have been too much of a hassle trying to get a hooked fish up and through that much algae and get it to shore.
I fished a couple spots where the algae mats were less obtrusive.  I tried a microjig & indicator.  I had some hits, and even caught a couple bluegills, but it was tough and slow.  I had a few good strikes at the indicator, so I tried a foam topwater pattern, the Chernobyl Ant/Hopper.  Got some good strikes on that as well, but couldn't hook up with the fish.  I switched to a yellow boa yarn leech and caught a couple more bluegills on that.  There were some healthy 8-inch bluegills! I switched one more time to a chartreuse Docaroo, and fished my way back to the car.  No more fish were caught, however.

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Today (9/23) during lunch, I fly-fished a local pond for 1/2 hour.  I had the chartreuse Docaroo still tied on, and I fully planned to change flies right away...until I walked down to the pond.  There is a large fountain in the pond, but it was not on this time.  The wind died down several times, and combined with the bright sun and clear water, I could see the tops of aquatic weeds almost everywhere.  Even out in the area I'm pretty sure is the deepest part of the pond!  The weeds came to within 12"-18" of the surface in most places, and even touched the surface in a few places.

I decided to go ahead and fish with the Docaroo.  I could see a few fish near shore, most were small.  Well, small is a relative term, I know.  There are Crappies in this pond that might touch 10", Bluegills might top out at 8" to 8.5" and the abundant Green Sunfish are all sizes from 1"-8".  I didn't see or catch any Crappies today.  I did catch 4 nice chunky Bluegills, and at least 10 Green Sunfish...mostly the larger ones, but I did catch 3 of the tiny ones too.  They're rather cute when they are that small!

I thought about taking some pictures of the fish I was catching, but in the end I didn't bother.

Lunchtime Report, 5/19/2011

Rain is in the forecast, but it didn't look like it would get here until after lunch.  So...I went fly-fishing during lunch!

I visited a local public pond at Westside Park, one I rarely fish and even more rarely is it worth the time invested (for me).  Meaning, I don't catch much, or they are really tiny Green Sunfish.  After ice-fishing there once this past Winter, I discovered there were some decent bluegills, green sunfish, and crappies.  Nothing HUGE, mind you, but certainly worth catching.  Some fish would be near shore, guarding nests, but I felt some of the better fish would be out in the middle and a bit deeper than I had fished the pond previously.  In past years, I fished mainly topwater or unweighted subsurface patterns.  Since then I've been using microjigs more often, and small beadchain-eye Clousers, which fish deeper.  I've been doing well with these.

So, I get there and tie on a dark-colored microjig thinking it will look more natural since the water here is very clear.  I put a Thingamabobber strike indicator about 4' up the line.  I'd cast out, let it sit...retrieve a foot or so, let it sit 5-10 seconds, retrieve some more...you get the idea.  I actually had some pretty good strikes at the indicator!

I saw some big tadpoles, an adult bullfrog, some green sunfish, a handful of crappies, and a decent bass.

I caught 8 Green Sunfish up to 8", 4 Bluegills also up to 8", and an 8.5" naturally-occurring Hybrid Sunfish.  I had 2 crappies hooked (one was pretty nice!) but both got off.  I messed around with 2 other crappies I could see guarding nests.  One just swam away.  The other one I coaxed into tasting my microjig a couple times, but it didn't take it in far enough for me to set the hook.  I really wanted to catch at least one of the crappies, so I guess that gives me a good excuse to fish this pond again soon.

I've fished ponds where the bluegills get a nice purple color during the spawn.  Others get a lot of orange.  The ones today had a pretty green cast to them (click images for larger version):

I also admire the pretty colors on spawning Green Sunfish:

And below is apparently what happens when Bluegills and Green Sunfish accidentally bump into each other on a dark night at this time of year: