Central Iowa update

[FishnDave]

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.