2010 Central Iowa Fishing Reports

[JohnScott]

Much enjoyed following your thread over the course of the year. Thanks for putting it up.

John

[bluegill]

Dave, Thanks for posting all the information. It's really good stuff. I too keep a brief log of every fishing trip. Best use: recalling the fun times fishing with my buddies. Second: looking at seasonal patterns on the local ponds in SE Nebraska.

[FishnDave]

Since 2010 is now over, I've sort of finalized most of my statistical review from my Fishing Log.
Since my previous post of my year-end fishing log results, I did make a few ice-fishing trips that changed the numbers a bit.
I ended up with 2210 fish in 2010. What were the chances of that??
Anyway, as it pertains specifically to flyfishing, I made 114 flyfishing trips and caught 1,532 fish (average of 13.4 fish/trip).
Flyfishing made up 77% of my total fishing trips in 2010.

I caught 12 species on fly-fishing gear and flies in 2010, nearly all of which were flies I had personally tied.
In no particular order, those species were:
-Rainbow Trout
-Grass Carp
-Common Carp
-Channel Catfish
-Crappies
-Bluegills
-Hybrid Sunfish
-Green Sunfish
-Redear/hybrid sunfish
-Largemouth Bass
-White Bass
-Shortnose Gar

Of those, Rainbow Trout, Shortnose Gar, and the Redear/redear hybrid were species I had not previously caught on flyfishing gear....so that was cool.
Species still near the top of my fly-fishing "wish list" are Buffalo, Freshwater Drum, Longnose Gar, Brook Trout.
These will all be very challenging for me. Brook Trout will probably require me to drive to NE Iowa. I've seen shortnose gar in Polk County, but I don't think I've seen any Longnose Gar nearby...but there may be some? I've been told one good place for them would be in the DM River near Ottumwa. Not sure I'll be driving that far to fish anytime soon. Buffalo are largely filter-filters, but do sometimes hit lures....so I'll consider myself lucky to get one on fly gear. Drum....I'll need to be in the right place at the right time. They'll have to be actively feeding somewhere shallow enough that I can reach them without resorting to a sinking line.

Since I'm fairly convinced my "redear" was a redear/bluegill hybrid, I would also like to get a definite pure-strain redear on flyfishing gear.

Any suggestions or tips on when/where/what for any of these species is greatly appreciated!

[cycler68]

Dave
I've caught a few drum on the fly. The fly I've had the best luck with is, predictably, the clouser minnow bit I think you might have to use at least a sink tip line. At least that has been my experience. I've also caught a few smaller ones on a small woolly bugger when I was using floating line. I have caught my biggest ones in the fall of the year accidentally while fishing for white bass or walleye.
The one and only buffalo I caught on the fly was feeding in shallow water with some carp. I cast a crawfish imitation suspended under a strike indicator a bit ahead of them and when the indicator began moving in their direction I set the hook. After a rather weak fight I landed about a two pound buffalo.

[FishnDave]

Hey, it counts! Look at you! Right there you've caught 3 fish on flies that I haven't yet...walleyes, drum, buffalo. Good job on all of those!!

[cycler68]

I can't say I landed those three species because of any special skill. I was just at the right place at the right time and got my fly in the strike zone quite by accident. In the case of the buffalo it really was an accident. That buffalo was with some carp that I was sight fishing.
Which brings me to another point; though I have tried I still haven't landed three species that you have namely gar, common carp and grass carp and not that I haven't deliberately targeted them. I one saw a gar make a deliberate intercept of a popper I was fishing and I saw him hit it but no hookup. Another time I had a gar on long enough to make a positive ID but then he got tired of the game and let go. I have also seen carp make a beeline toward a fly I was throwing but either there was no take or I didn't realize they had taken it. In either case I didn't get a hookup. As for the grass carp I'm still trying to figure out how to make an effective presentation to one of them. From May until sometime in July or August they are in the shallows of Bacon Creek but if I cast my fly in front of where they are feeding it'll just sink down into the weeds and become part of the muck. I want it to look like an especially good and accessible part of vegetation. So far I don't have a clear idea about how to do that.

[FishnDave]

Mr. P makes a "Scum Fly" that has caught a number of grass carp for him. I tied one up. UGLY thing! I haven't used it yet. I've only caught 3 grass carp, all on flies. One was on a green (mallard) boa yarn leech. One was on a yellow boa yarn leech. The third was on a white "puff-ball" bread fly.
If you aren't too proud about how you get one, I found it interesting to ready recently that banana peels seem to entice grass carp into striking? One public pond I fish for bluegills has some nice grass carp in it. When they are in the shallows, I almost never see them before they see me and dart for deeper water. Spooky buggers! I was recently informed the City stocked something like 60 grass carp in one of their ponds. That was a rather clueless idea on somebody's part...but might provide me some interesting opportunities in the next couple years, even if the fish won't be very large.

For the gar...tie up a nylon rope fly...6" long. Comb out the fibers at the tail of the fly and singe the tips with a lighter/match. Color the head red. Cast ahead of gar that are near the surface. Bring the fly in front of the fish. They will usually follow. Keep the fly moving. When they grab it, let them snap their jaws a few times so their teeth get tangled in the fibers. Then start trying to bring the fish to hand (but wear a glove...or use a fine-meshed net). Some will still get away.

Common Carp...I'm still learning.