2010 Central Iowa Fishing Reports

[FishnDave]

Fly-fished during lunch today. It was around 64 degrees, partly cloudy, a bit breezy, but felt cool enough that I put on a jacket.
I fished a pond I haven't tried lately. The numbers of fish in this pond are dismal, but there have been some decent-sized bluegills in the past.

I felt I should have switched flies to a darker color, but I kept using a yellow boa yarn leech because it was already on the line. I'm lazy like that.
I caught a bluegill, around 8". Not big by any means...but a GOOD fighter! He went everywhere, and I even had to give a little line when it ran! Fun!
I also missed a good hit, threw back, and caught a small bass...maybe 11". He was a good fighter too.

Although scattered rains were in the forecast, and I could see a spot or two of rain in the far distance, I was in full sunshine (scattering of light clouds), when it just started to POUR big drops of rain! I thought to myself sarcastically, "Thanks for the warning!" It didn't last long. I was dry by the time I got back to work.

Here's the feisty bluegill.

[brandonl]

Dave, love the reports please keep them coming. Most of my warmwater fishing is during the year is done during our annual two week trip to IL in June, but this year another baby is due so that won't happen. At least this way I kind of get to "fish" through you.

[FishnDave]

Will do, Brandon. Whereabouts in Illinois do you visit? For seven years, I lived in the DeKalb/Sycamore/Genoa area, and worked in the Naperville/St.Charles/West Chicago areas. The Fox River and Kishwaukee River are both good fisheries for smallmouth bass, along with the occasional rock bass (nice ones!), pike, musky, walleye, etc.

[Sasha]

Another fine report! I do enjoy the warm water fish porn too!!!!!!!

[brandonl]

Will do, Brandon. Whereabouts in Illinois do you visit? For seven years, I lived in the DeKalb/Sycamore/Genoa area, and worked in the Naperville/St.Charles/West Chicago areas. The Fox River and Kishwaukee River are both good fisheries for smallmouth bass, along with the occasional rock bass (nice ones!), pike, musky, walleye, etc.

About half way between Peoria and Bloomington is a small town (village actually) called Goodfield. That's where my wife is from, and all her family is still there. She has a great uncle that has a pond loaded with bluegill and largemouth, also a few crappie. So far bluegill are my favorite fish to target with a fly rod. My grandpa-in-law got me into fly fishing a couple years ago, and when we visit he takes me to the local ponds and we also fish for smallmouth on the Mackinaw River and Walnut Creek. I caught my first smallmouth last summer on Walnut Creek my first time smallmouth fishing...on my third cast. A nice 15" fish. What a rush! No trout in Arizona ever fought (or jumped) like that. I'm hooked on them now. I just recently found out a section of the Verde river and Wet Beaver Creek here in AZ hold smallmouth, so you can bet I'll be fishing for them hopefully soon.

Sorry for the lousy phone pics and goofy hat, but here's a couple pics of me and two bluegill caught on the above mentioned pond:





I love fishing for trout, but if I could only catch one fish the rest of my days it would be a bluegill. Anyways I'll quit hijacking your thread now, and keep up the great reports.

[FishnDave]

Love the pictures, Brandon! Looks like some good bluegills! Sounds like you have several reasons to get back to Illinois ASAP! )

And now...on with the reports:
It was bizarre weather yesterday. I had to pick up my daughter from school, so I left work early. It was warm, humid, partly cloudy, breezy. Temp 79F.
90 minutes later, it was 63F, cloudy, and "blow your hat off" winds.

About 8pm, the sky was nearly dark. I was watching the trees in the back yard. About every-other time I'd look back at the trees, they would be still. Then I'd look back and the wind would be whipping them mercilessly. Then...still again, and so on it would go. Well, that meant it wasn't necessarily WINDY...it was GUSTY. And if its GUSTY, I can get casts in between those gusts, right? HONEY, I'M GOING FISHING!
I scooted on over to a local pond, started fishing around 8:15pm. First cast...crappie! As usual, a fish in the first few casts always gets my hopes up, and then it seems I don't catch much for awhile after that. Why is this??
It was rather windy & gusty out there, and cool. My hands were cold, but not too cold. The rest of me was comfy. I had the hood up on my hooded sweatshirt, and kept the wind at my back as much as possible. I fished one down-wind corner of the pond, but didn't have much action there. I decided against fishing another wind-blown corner, even though it is usually a very good area.

The crappies were active and aggressive, even with the waves and ripples on the water, I could see the rings of swirling fish. Not sure WHY they were behaving that way, but at least good numbers of fish were shallow. I missed a fair number of hits, and had a fair number of fish shake loose during the fight. My hook needs sharpened, but I left the hook-hone in the car...and also forgot my camera at home. The action wasn't super-fast, but it was fairly steady.

I ended up catching 50 crappies. Yes, I was counting them. I decided I would catch ONE MORE before I left, because if you tell people you caught 51 crappies, they believe you caught 51 crappies. If you tell people you caught 50 crappies, they think you are estimating the number, and really have no confidence that you caught anywhere near that number. Silly human nature. Well...after 50 crappies in a row, fish number 51 turned out to be a 4" bluegill! I tossed probably another dozen casts for CRAPPIE number 51, but it didn't happen, and it was almost 11pm. I was tired. I headed home.

Sorry, no pics again.

[JohnScott]

.... fifty !!

I'll have to keep that "51" thing in mind, Dave, just in case I ever catch fifty trouts again ??

John

P.S. I run into the same thing - when I catch a fish on the first cast it always seems to slow down, way down. The only solution is to keep on casting. Sometimes it takes another three or four casts, maybe even five, to get another fishy.

[FishnDave]

It holds true for any multiple of 10, it seems. So, I can tell somebody I caught 19 fish, or 21 fish, and they believe me. If I tell them 20, they think I'm estimating. I admit I think exactly the same way when people tell me how many they caught. I'm sure a psychologist would have fun explaining this phenomenon.

Another concern I have is...All last year and most of this year already, I've been using a yellow boa yarn leech at night on this pond. At some point, I'm convinced the fish will quit hitting it, and I will have to find another fly that probably won't work as well. But...until then....

[FishnDave]

The day-long rain stopped, the sun came out, the wind died...made for a nice evening, except it was sort of cold. It was 48 F as I headed for the pond. I had an 1.25 hour time slot to fish, between 7:45pm and 9pm.
This was "experiment" night. I had tied up some flies earlier in the evening, plus had some previous ties I wanted to try out.

There was already a "Rabbit Fly" on the line, so I started with that.


Didn't take long to get the first crappie.


I think I caught one more fish on it, then switched to a very small (1"-1.5") EP-style minnow and caught a couple crappies on that:


Then switched to a craft fur minnow about 2.5" long...olive over bright yellow over white, and caught at least one crappie on that:


Then I put on a fly I had tied up last night. I had planned to tie up Joe Cornwall's Crappie Killer (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...id=52479137997), but changed the body from chenille with tinsel ribbing to using estaz. I figured it would add flash, as well as some bulk for night fishing. I used pearl estaz on one, and the GRAND size chartreuse pearl on the other. I tied on the chartreuse one. This fly worked really well! I caught pretty good numbers of crappies on it, even after it got dark.
I also tossed it over in front of a storm culvert that empties into the pond. I figured the current from today's rain would bring some fish there. First cast yields a good fish! I admit I was sort of hoping for a catfish, but it turned out to be a rather chunky bass. I didn't measure it, I would guess it at about 15".


I wondered if a boa yarn leech would still outfish the new (modified) Crappie Killer fly. I put on a silvery-gray one. First cast...Crappie! But then that was about it for that fly. Maybe they couldn't see it as well as the usual yellow one I use? But I've done well on that color at night last year, so I know it can work.

But, for the remaining time I had left, I went back to the modified Crappie Killer. Caught more crappies. And last fish (again) was a bluegill. For a 7.5" bluegill (not very big), it is a mystery how he got enough of that big fly (#6 3xl streamer hook) in his mouth.

So, total was (at least) 17 crappies, 1 bass, 1 bluegill.

[JohnScott]

.... it wasn't twenty ??

John