2010 Central Iowa Fishing Reports

[FishnDave]

Such a beautiful day today during lunch...6mph wind, 72F...I HAD to go fishing!
I hit a pond that 2 years ago was EXCELLENT...big bluegills, good numbers, plus a shot at some decent catfish on occasion.
This was the pond that got ruined by an ice-angler who apparently didn't practice catch & release or selective harvest. Last year it was rather poor fishing, except for the occasional catfish. I caught and saw very few bluegills there last year, even during the spawn.

But, its close to work, so that's where I went today. I thought maybe I saw a bluegill, but whatever it was came to the surface, than dove back down…so it could have been a frog or small turtle.

I DID see a couple grass carp, and put a fly in front of them a few times, but they weren’t interested, and finally headed for deeper water. And here I have to admit something...as soon as I saw those big grass carp lurking in the shallows, my I started SHAKING! I noticed my legs really shaking, and then when I tried to change flies, my hands were doing the same. I guess it was the anticipation of what would happen if I managed to hook one. Now...I always get excited when I see a school of white bass smacking baitfish on the surface within casting range. THAT always puts a big smile on my face. But this was totally different. I'm at a loss to describe it.

But anyway...Skunkeroo, baby. I did see 2 bluegill carcasses…probably winter-casualties.

[KeatonsDad]

Such is life. Still great to be on the water isn't it.

My parents have a pond with some big Grass Carp in it and I hooked into one of those things one summer. It was quite a ride! The pond was only about 100 feet long and that fish ran from one end to the other and back again about 10 times.

[FishnDave]

They are tough to get to bite, but once they do, all the effort is worthwhile!

I fished last night (3-31-10) from 10pm-Midnight. It was such a beautiful night, I HAD to try it. With the warmer temps, and very little wind, I figured the fish would be going CRAZY!
I figured wrong. Sheesh, where were all the fish? I fished around almost the entire pond, and didn't find willing biters anywhere. Well, a couple, but not many. For my two hours of effort, I caught 3 small crappies and 1 largemouth bass. The bass was 18", so I guess that was the high point of the night(...besides the great weather and getting to go fishing).

[KeatonsDad]

Nice Bass!

[TheFreak]

Dave,
I completely understand the skunkaroo feeling. I was hanging the big 0 for my first 3 trips this year. I think my biggest problem was Hidehunter catching all of those big bass and so I figured I needed to try that. I finally gave in yesterday to chasing some panfish instead and traded in my 7 wt for the 2wt and hit a small pond at lunch yesterday. Finally connected with my first fish of the year and low and behold it was a 22" catfish that looked like it had swallowed a softball. Needless to say it was some fun on the 2wt. I also caught a decent crappie in the 11' range. Not bad for a 1/2 hour during the middle of the day. Most importantly no more skunk smell!

[FishnDave]

Ha ha! Yes, HideHunter sure makes it look easy, doesn't he?
22" catfish...That's a GOOD battle on a 5wt....I can't imagine how that would feel on a 2wt! NICE JOB getting that one landed!
By the way...I seem to be missing a softball. LOL
So...what fly did your fish hit?

That bass I caught in the dark... It was a really good fight! A muskrat had been swimming around...so I couldn't see what it was until I got it to shore. The whole fight I was wondering,"Bass? Catfish? MUSKRAT??" Catfish are GREAT fun on fly gear. Muskrats...they are fun until you have to try and land them.

[TheFreak]

Dave,
He hit on a pattern called a Boudreaux. Its just a small panfish fly that I was trying out for the first time. The catfish was a lot of fun on the 2wt. Its kinda funny, last year I caught 7 catfish on the fly with my biggest being a 28", so I called it the year of the catfish. I had only caught 3 catfish in my life before last year. Well 2010 starts off with a nice cat, so it will be interesting to see if I can beat my total from last year.

I usually don't start fishing at night until the June, but I might have to start early after hearing your success already this year. What did you catch that bass on? If I remember correctly from last year, you mainly fish at night subsurface with Boa leech's. Do you ever chase them at night with topwater flies once it warms up?

[FishnDave]

Yes, on the calmer nights especially, I will sometimes fish for bass with topwater flies. Usually just medium-large foam poppers, but I have also used crease flies. I've tied up some foam frogs to try this year. I've even caught catfish on the topwater flies while fishing for bass at night!

I caught the bass on an unweighted yellow boa yarn leech.

28" catfish is a BIG fish!! This past summer, I caught my personal best channel catfish, 31", on a fly during my lunch hour on a sunny day!

[FishnDave]

I fly-fished a local pond again last night after dark. I fished from about 9:15pm-Midnight. It was a warm night, I wore shorts! But it was windy...like 17mph winds! Since the previous night was calm, but the fishing was slow, I figured I'd give this windy night a shot.

Well, the wind was from the South. So, I fished the west side, and caught a few fish, then moved to the south end, caught a few more fish. Then I fished the east side. Again, caught a few scattered fish. As I got close to the Northeast corner of the pond, I started getting more frequent hits. I also had 3 bigger fish on. One shook free right next to shore, so I turned on my cap light and shined it down on the water to see if I could tell what it was. I'm not 100% sure, but it looked like a nice bass. A couple of the other bigger fish could have been catfish or bass.

So, as I started along the North side of the pond, where the waves were crashing agains the shore, I caught several more fish, which was fun. But...it was a lot of work fishing into that wind, plus the wave action made it difficult for me to see my line and detect strikes.

I ended up with exactly 20 crappies and 5 bluegills. I did seem to lose quite a few fish last night, which I attribute to the barbless hook being shook free during the battle. I DO still prefer using barbless hooks at night, though.

This experience showed me that although it is more difficult to fish in windy conditions at night, the fish certainly ARE more active in the shallow waters on windy nights.

[FishnDave]

4-4-2010
Local pond
Wind: less than 5mph
Weather: Clear, cool, 62 F (but got colder after sunset!)
Time fished: 7:30pm-9:45pm
Fish sought: crappies
Fish caught: 25 crappies, 5 bluegills
Gear used: fly rod, yellow boa yarn leech fly

How things change...Fished until midnight last week wearing shorts because it was so nice out...and then last night I wore long-sleeves and jeans...and was still shivering most of the time once the sun went down!
The fish were hitting pretty well, but it slowed down after dark, which is odd....usually that place gets a lot better after dark. I guess you just never know!

Before it got dark, a young kid came by walking his little dog ...I let him release a crappie, and he stood and talked fishing for probably 20 minutes or so. Really very nice young man...I'd guess he was probably 7 or 8? LOVES FISHING...prefers to "catch & release"...would be happy to take a boat to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and fish for the rest of his life. :thumbsup:
I didn't catch his name, but I bet I see him out there again sometime.
He even said he's tried fly-fishing once, but wasn't very good at it. I told him it takes some getting used to...a bit of practice...but its very worth it!

Well, its not a good picture, but ANY picture makes a fishing report better, right? Sort of a typical 9" crappie. Not big, but they are fun and cooperative!