Central Iowa update

I fly-fished a local public pond on Sunday, 4-27-08. I fished from about 3:30pm-6pm. It was 53 degrees F, and winds were averaging around 17mph from WNW.

Water was a bit clearer than the last time I fished this pond. I was doing well catching bluegills on small silver mylar tubing "minnows". Even had a number of hits and a couple of fish on small sponge poppers (which I thought was odd, considering the wind & waves, but I put one on after having a number of hits on the end of my fly line, and when my fly was shallow)!
I was experimenting with a number of flies, and tied on a soft-hackle fly. I caught a bluegill on it. Also had a BIG crappie hit it. I was able to see this fish, as it hit near the surface, and was on for about 10 seconds before shaking free. I'd guess it was somewhere over 13", which is good for that pond.
A number of casts later, I hooked another crappie, and managed to get it all the way to shore before it freed itself. I'd guess this one was around 12". Tried some other flies trying to find something the crappie couldn't resist, but there were no other hits for awhile. So I moved around the pond a bit. Later on I did connect with another crappie and finally landed this one on a purple wooly bugger. This one was 11.5".
Anyway, the crappies in the ponds seem to be getting more active, and are probably looking for spawning sites now. Water temps are in the low 50's, so the actual spawn is probably several weeks away yet.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...pie4_27_08.jpg

Nice Crappie. Caught a good sized Bluegill the other day and it was a good fighter. I love setting the hook and watching the line take off to one side or the other with the rod bending like crazy. They may be small, but some of those Crappie and Bluegill put up good fights.

I agree, Joe! I've already caught a number of bluegills this Spring on my 5wt that fought extremely well! I've even had some that took a bit of line out from my stripping hand, and when the water was colder a few weeks ago I had a number of them that were actually jumping out of the water like bass after getting hooked!! That is unusual in my experience, but I'm not complaining. :D

I need some help with the crappies, though. I seem to land only about 1/2 of the ones I hook. If I pull to hard, the hook can come unbuttoned. If I go to easy, the fight longer and shake their heads more, and come unbuttoned. Any suggestions on what I can do to increase my "landing" percentage? :confused:

a Public Pond in Ankeny
4-29-08
Time Fished: 12:25am-1:05pm
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 48 F
Wind: 7mph from SE
Fish sought: Bluegills
Fish caught: 8 bluegills, 3 largemouth bass

With the weird, cool weather, I was skeptical on what fishing would be like today.
I missed a bunch of hits, but caught some nice bluegills! I tried the "Cap Spider" pattern I had tied from a post on this website from last week. Worked great!
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...nCapSpider.jpg

I fly-fished a Public Pond last night from about 7:10pm-8:30pm. Water clarity was slightly improved since my last visit to this pond. Fishing was good.
I caught 16 bluegills, 4 crappies, and 4 hybrid sunfish, all on a "Cap Spider" fly. I'm becoming a fan of this pattern, for sure!

Here's a couple of the hybrid sunfish:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...idSunfish1.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...idSunfish2.jpg

And here's a couple of the crappies. The one in the second picture was around 11", and had a fat belly:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...leCrappie1.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...aleCrappie.jpg