September 16-18, 2016

Quick update on some flyfishing I've done in the local public ponds.

End of May-First week of June, 2016

Pond fishing is slowing down as crappies, bluegills, bass, etc, spawn and head out of the shallows.  Algae and weed growth is hitting the point where fishing is difficult.  But I've caught some decent fish lately.

Jumbo 9.5" Pumpkinseed (one pic above and one pic below)!

Below is a single yellow chick amongst all the regular-colored mallard chicks.

Here's a very Pumpkinseed-looking Hybrid Sunfish:

Have caught some nice bluegills...some females, but mostly males:

I've caught a lot of little bass, a few medium-sized ones (13"-16")...no big ones, but I have seen them.

I thought this was interesting.... I was flyfishing with a grayish boa yarn leech.  A fish broke my line on the hookset (bad line, NOT a big fish)..it then jumped out of the water trying to throw the fly, so I got to see it.  I tied on a yellow boa yarn leech and continued fishing.  About 10 minutes later, I caught the same bass and got my original fly back!

And...because I just can't get enough Pumpkinseed pictures...

Flyfishing Report for Mid-April 2016

Still getting some decent bass on flies.  Size 2 baitfish/sunfish patterns and tiny 1/80 oz microjigs have been catching most of the bass.
19":

19" Largemouth Bass

18.5":

18.5" Largemouth Bass

Also catching a few Pumpkinseed Sunfish.
9":

9" Pumpkinseed Sunfish

and others:

Pumpkinseed Sunfish

Pumpkinseed Sunfish

This is a naturally-occurring Hybrid Sunfish:

Hybrid Sunfish

Have also been catching some decent bluegills:

Male Bluegill

Male Bluegill

I've been catching crappies, but the big ones recently have been throwing my fly.  Hey...the fish gotta win sometimes!

October Bass in Iowa

I have no explanation for it, but many of my local fish in Central Iowa seemed to have a serious case of lockjaw during the month of September.  Fishing was great, but catching was TOUGH!

With the start of October, the fish seem to have gotten over whatever issue they had with holding up their end of the flyfishing game.  Perhaps they are satisfied with their contract negotiations?  I've been reading too many sports articles lately, I think.

Anyway, I went flyfishing Sunday morning, October 4, 2015.  It was cloudy, with a slight breeze that would occasionally die down to practically nothing.  Air temperature was chilly....started off around 40 degrees F, and rose to maybe into the upper 50's before I left.  I wore a hoodie over a longsleeve tee, and long underwear under my jeans.  Only my hands got a bit chilled, especially after getting wet.

Fishing was good!  As usual, I was hoping to spot a Grass Carp, but never saw one.  I caught a full size range of bass... from a trio of 3.5-inchers to a pair of 18-inchers.  Lost one good one after numerous jumps near shore.  Also had one break my line near the knot as lifted it from the water, and it fell back in and swam off, blockhead popper still sticking out of its mouth ahead of its nose.  I hate to see fish swim off with my fly still in them....I expected this fish to wear this foam jewelry for awhile, but just a few minutes later the popper floated back to the surface and I was actually able to make a series of, need I say, amazing casts....and retrieved the popper for future use. :)

Here's pictures of the two 18" bass:

Typically at this pond, a fishing trip might yield 0-2 Pumpkinseed Sunfish.  They seem to have an affinity for the color Chartreuse! I love catching them because they fight well and are absolutely beautiful fish....so I was pleased to catch 5 of them on this trip.  The biggest measured a hair over 8.5".  These two were practically twins:

Finally..a great day for CATCHING!  :)

Pumkinseed Sunfish & Hybrid Sunfish

My buddy Jay met me out flyfishing Sunday evening.  At long last, this particular pond is pretty much free of its wide band of algae that typically clogs the entire shoreline all summer.  The geese and ducks have the shallows pretty muddied up right now.  I tried a topwater for bass, but did not get any along the stretch of shore I tried.  We fished for panfish instead, and caught plenty.  Mostly we caught Bluegills, with a few naturally-occuring Hybrid Sunfish.  I hoped for crappies, but did not catch any.  We tried a variety of fly patterns.  As long as it was chartreuse, it seemed to catch fish well.

In Iowa, the "Master Angler" qualifying size for Pumpkinseed Sunfish is 9".  We did  not catch any quite that big, but each caught Pumpkinseeds that measured 8.5", which was new personal bests for each of us. Such beautiful fish!!

I did catch one bass while fishing for the sunfish.  Most of the Hybrid Sunfish were moderate size, the 8.5-incher below was the largest, and also appears to have had a Pumpkinseed as one of the parents.

We left before it was completely dark, which unfortunately is only @ 7:15pm right now.  Too early!!!!  :)

Mixed Bag Flyfishing, 9-14-2014

I visited a local public pond on Sunday evening.  I flyfished from 5pm-8pm.  Hard to believe it is pretty much completely dark by 8pm!

There were hundreds of wild geese and ducks scattered all around the pond, and they had the shallow areas pretty well muddied up.  Deeper areas were reasonably clear, and most of the algae mats around the shoreline were gone.

I switched back and forth between a blockhead popper (trying for bass), and a chartreuse mylar bugger (unweighted, trying for everything).  I caught one decent Largemouth Bass and a 9.25" beastly Hybrid Sunfish on the blockhead popper, along with a smaller Hybrid or two, and some aggressive Bluegills.  A large bass broke my line and stole one of the blockhead poppers!

9.25" Hybrid Sunfish...inhaled the blockhead popper!

On the mylar bugger, I caught 4 Crappies, 1 nice Largemouth Bass and some smaller ones, a couple Hybrid Sunfish, and 3 beautiful Pumpkinseed Sunfish.

While I was fighting one of the Pumpkinseeds, a BIG bass attacked it right in front of me!  I tossed some flies around for it, be never saw it again....although I had some really good strikes on a blockhead popper that never got hooked up.

Evening Flyfishing, 5-28-2014

Flyfished last night at a pond that SKUNKED me during the ice season.  Turns out, there ARE fish in it!
I caught over 20 Bluegills (biggest by far was 8"), 5 Crappies (to 11"), 4 Pumpkinseed Sunfish (to 8"), 7 Largemouth Bass (to 14"-15"), and 1 Hybrid Sunfish that seemed HUGE (but measured at 9.25").

Also saw some Grass Carp.
Here's the beast Hybrid:

And here's a Pumpkinseed.  I thought maybe it was too dark out (I was wearing sunglasses), so I took a picture with and without a flash.  I thought the differerence was interesting:

Most of the fish were caught on a chartreuse microjig under an indicator.

Flyfishing Saturday Evening, 5-10-2014

I flyfished a public pond on Saturday evening from 7pm-8:45pm.
Saw a pair of geese with their young ones walking around...and the nest with the egg that didn't hatch:

Using a microjig under an indicator, I caught @ 60 fish!
7 Crappies
5 Largemouth Bass
8 Pumpkinseed Sunfish
10 Hybrid Sunfish
30+/- Bluegills