Group Fly-Fishing Outing, 3/27/2012

My friend Ben had a couple of  fly-anglers (Mark and his wife, April) that he wanted to bring to one of the local public ponds for an evening of fishing.  Ben is originally from Utah...Mark and April recently moved to Iowa from Washington State, where they fly-fished for salmon and steelhead in one of the larger rivers there.  Pond fishing is still a fairly new experience for them.  They took to it like....fish to water!  :)

April has ideas and aspirations to maybe become another April Vokey (fly-fishing guide/author).  Why not? ... same first name, similar passion for fly-fishing!

I met up with them at the pond around 6:30pm.

We were all catching Crappies and Bluegills.  Not super-fast fishing, but relatively steady.  It was windy and warm.  Chartreuse microjigs seemed to be working the best.

There was occasional "big fish" activity at the surface... swirls or splashes.  Not a lot...but some.

April hooked into a big fish, and the rest of us came to offer assistance as she fought it.  The fish was landed, and April caught her very first Channel Catfish ever...on a fly rod!  It was a CHUNKY 23.5" fish.  Awesome!

A little bit later, I hooked into a big fish as well.  It put itself "on the reel" and did NOT want to come near shore!  It was a really nice Channel Catfish too!  I didn't measure it.

See the microjig?

Next I caught another bluegill (I ended up landing 5 Crappies and (at least) 15 Bluegills for the trip).  Then I hooked what I thought was a much heavier Bluegill or Crappie.  When I got it to shore (it was getting pretty dark by this time), I thought maybe it was a small Channel Catfish, which would be weird, since they aren't usually able to spawn successfully in these ponds.  Turned out to be a 10" Bullhead!  A "first" for me on the fly rod!

Bullhead on a fly rod...who woulda thought??

Very enjoyable night!  Got to fish with Ben, met some new friends, caught a big fish, and a new fly-rod species!

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.

Fly-Fishing Lunch Report - 3/13/2012

I visited a pond reasonably near work (ok, I had to drive by at least 3 others to get to this one...) to fly-fish during lunch today.  Wind was about 12mph out of the SSE, and it was sunny with a balmy March temperature of 65 degrees F.

Water was very clear, but fish weren't visible near shore.  I used a black microjig about 4'-6' below an indicator.  Nothing was happening for the first several casts, so I readied myself for disappointment.  Soon, my indicator ducked under the water, but I missed the fish.  DRAT!

Things slowly picked up after that, as I worked my way downwind along the shoreline.  I ended up catching 9 Bluegills, 1 Green Sunfish, 4 Crappies (biggest measured 11"), and I grabbed a HUGE crayfish that was marching beneath the water near shore.

Ended up being a pretty good lunch-time fly-fishing expedition!  Plus, it was so nice out that this was the first fishing outing of the year where I got to comfortably wear a short-sleeve shirt, and there was "No Jacket Required"!

Ok...now the fish porn:

Iowa Trout...Hat Trick Saturday, 3-10-2012

On a whim I decided to get out of bed earlier than I normally prefer on a Saturday...and go fly-fish for trout at a nearby lake.

Wind forecasts yesterday called for winds up to 15mph for today.  I can do that.  When I got up this morning, I checked the weather forecast again.  They had boosted up the wind speeds again.  But that was nothing compared to what REALLY was going on!  By the time I got back home again after fishing, I checked to verify my suspicions...sure enough, winds from 24-32 mph!!!  Cripes!  It was brutal indeed!

There were two gents fishing when I arrived at 7am.  One was fly-fishing.  After I had been fishing for a bit about 100 yards away, I saw the fly angler catch a trout.  He waved and started walking over.  It was my friend Dale Gooding, fellow member of Central Iowa Anglers!

Dale had caught 2 trout so far, including the one I witnessed.  He told me the shoreline I was working hadn't been producing, and invited me to join him.  He showed me the pattern he was catching fish with, which was similar to what I was using.  I'd been wanting to give him some flies I'd caught trout with at this lake in the past, so I brought out my fly box and picked out a trio for him to add to his fly box.  I decided to work a bit more of the shoreline near me, which I did unsuccessfully, and then walked down to fish near his spot.  I slowly worked down the shoreline away from him, making a half-dozen casts, then moving on.  I missed a strike.  Then had a big heavy take that quickly broke my line as I strip-set the hook.  Darn!

I caught a couple fish on the olive & black beadhead woolly bugger I'd been using.

Dale caught another fish or two.  He gave me a fly he'd tied that was working for him.  Looked good, so I accepted it and put it on my line.  Soon I was catching a few more trout.  I ended up catching 7 trout on that fly, before it started falling apart.  Not bad!  That kind of abuse on a fly gives it that ragged "Badge of Honor"!  Definitely a good fish-catching fly pattern!

Dale had caught & released 6 trout total, and decided to call it a day.  Casting into that wind was a lot of work!

I was one trout shy of a double-limit (5 trout is considered a limit, but of course I was not keeping any), so I decided to stay a while longer.

I switched to an orange-n-black beadhead bugger. I found a good spot or two, and caught some nice trout.

This was the biggest trout of the day for me...very chunky!

I caught 5 before the new fly I had tied on (one that I had tied) started falling apart.  I really need to reinforce the hackle with counterwraps of wire!  I switched back to an olive-n-black beadhead woolly bugger, and caught 2 more trout before I decided to call it a day at 11am.  I was BEAT!  It had been tough fishing conditions, and the trout were willing to hit, but hard to locate.  Plus our casting distance was extremely limited due to the strong winds.  I ended up catching & releasing 16 rainbow trout (that's a limit hat-trick plus one!), plus had long-distance releases on about 4 others, plus one broken line, and a bunch of missed strikes.  All in all...a pretty fair day of fishing.  I was happy with the results.

Thanks for the tips and the fly, Dale!

Lunchtime Limit, 3-5-2012

This past Saturday was COLD and WINDY (30mph winds).

Sunday wasn't as windy, but still cold (27 degrees F).  I squeezed in about 45 minutes of fly-fishing at a nearby lake that had been stocked with trout.  Ice was starting to form along the edges of the shoreline, and it was snowing.  I managed to catch just one trout, but that was better than not catching anything.

On Monday...WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!  It was sunny!  Air temp had reached 37 or 38 degrees F by noon, and wind was from the SSE at around 12mph.  During my lunch hour, I drove back to this same lake to try fly-fishing for trout again.  When I arrived, 95% of the lake was covered with ice.  In fact the only open water was a 30' wide strip along the west shoreline.  There were a half-dozen anglers with spinning gear fishing the open stretch.

I used the same olive-and-black beadhead woolly bugger that had been catching trout for me last week and over the weekend.  I started fishing near the south end of the open water since it was furthest from the other anglers. I didn't have a lot of hope of catching much.  And it started pretty slow, but I finished strong and managed to catch (and release) my 5-fish trout limit in about 30 minutes of fishing.  During that time, I saw one of the guys with spinning gear land a fish that appeared to be a trout.  I did also see a few other trout that I didn't catch.  A couple of them were pretty dark, but I wasn't able to verify whether they were Brook Trout or Rainbows.  I saved time by only taking pictures of one of the trout today.

My 2011 Fly-Rod "Firsts"

I caught Walleyes on fly-fishing gear in Iowa and Ontario, Canada this year.

This Northern Pike hit a Jointed Minnow pattern at Nungesser Lake, Ontario.

 

Every year since I started getting serious about fly-fishing, I've tried to add new species to the list of those that I have caught on fly-fishing gear.

The first year I ever tried fly-fishing, I caught Largemouth Bass, Crappies, Bluegills, Hybrid Sunfish, Smallmouth Bass, and Green Sunfish.

Ever since, I've been adding additional species to the list.

2011 was a "banner year", in that I was able to add 6 new species to this list.

This brings my total to 23 different species of freshwater fish I've caught on fly-fishing gear.  Although I've caught a lot more species on spinning gear, my Fly Rod list contains 6 species I've never caught on spinning gear!

Below is the entire list, with the top 6 being the ones I added this year.
1. Northern Pike
2. Walleye
3. Yellow Perch
4. Redear Sunfish
5. Brown Trout
6. Brook Trout
7. Largemouth Bass
8. Smallmouth Bass
9. Bluegill
10. Hybrid Sunfish
11. Green Sunfish
12. Crappie (both Black and White, but I lump them into 1 category)
13. Common Carp
14. Grass Carp
15. Channel Catfish
16. Shortnose Gar
17. Peacock Bass
18. Oscar
19. Tilapia
20. Mayan Cichlid
21. White Bass
22. Wiper (Hybrid)
23. Rainbow Trout

I'm really pretty satisfied with this list.  Where do I go from here?  What species should I add to my "fly-rod wish list" for next year?

Brook Trout from Lake Petocka, Bondurant, Iowa.

I've never caught Striped Bass.  Those could be a HOOT on fly gear.  There aren't any in Iowa, so I'd have to travel pretty far to find some.  I could try for Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, or Steelhead in the tributaries of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, maybe.  I've caught all those species on spinning gear, and they would definitely be fun to catch on fly gear...but again it would require a serious road trip.  I also haven't caught Freshwater Drum on fly-fishing gear yet.  Its just a matter of time I think, if I fish the DM River more often, with the right fly patterns.  Longnose Gar would be fun to add, but I'd probably have to find a good spot somewhere well south of Des Moines.  Flathead Catfish would also be awesome...but there population densities are low enough and they often are in water deep enough to make fly-fishing for them extremely difficult.  Not impossible, just unlikely.

18" Wiper (Hybrid) from the Des Moines River.

Honestly, what I'd like to do next year is catch even MORE of certain species that are already on my list...  especially Common Carp, Grass Carp, Channel Catfish, and Gar.  Hardly "glamour" species...but every one of those is very fun!

A Common Carp (above) and a Channel Catfish (below), both from Saylorville Lake, Iowa