2010 Central Iowa Fishing Reports

[swen]

Dave, sounds like you had fun on my "home" waters. I wanted to get there but was busy "babysitting" a server with a bad hard drive. Actually I was babysitting a boss while he was babysitting the server. The north shore of the north lake of Ada is by far the friendliest spot to throw flies, the rest of the lake has shoreline that goes almost verticle in spots.

[FishnDave]

Yes, it really WAS a good time!
I was wondering if you had made it out there that day or not. Sorry to hear you weren't able to get there.

I did hear some guys talking about the lake...One guy had caught a 24" 7lb largemouth bass out of there (not sure how long aga, though), and another guy was saying walleyes and wipers had been stocked into the lake in 2009, and he had caught fish as big as 17" this fall! Another guy said a HUGE yellow perch was caught there by a fly-angler...earlier this year I think.

Its a nice lake! It sounds like most of the shad are trapped in the south part of the lake...with a barrier net under the bridge?

[swen]

The net was put up to keep the Trout in the north lake so they would have less space to hide. There are some nice sized fish in there, not a lot of them yet, though they are trying to solve that.
Wipers were stocked to chase the shad when they move to open water, the walleyes were a one time thing and I hope they survive.
There is a lot of variety in that lake. With the long rod I've caught, from shore: bass, bluegill, crappie, carp, green sunfish, and shad. I have seen perch caught and now there are walleye and wipers, but I'm not likely to get those from shore.

[FishnDave]

Walleyes and wipers might be more difficult to reach from shore, true. But, they will follow the shad around, and especially in Late August-Early September, the shad often run along the shorelines. If the wind is blowing fair into a certain shoreline for a few days, the fish can be stacked up along there. And wipers will bust topwater presentations, too!
I imagine in the early Spring and again in late Fall, the walleyes will be reasonably shallow all along the rocks, especially at night.

[FishnDave]

I fly-fished Monday night, Nov. 29. It was really cold and VERY windy. I didn't catch anything.
I really think I COULD have caught something, but I didn't have much time, and instead of putting on a new leader (badly needed), I simply tied to the end of it as it was...which was JUST barely thin enough to slide into the eyelet of the microjig. It was ridiculous tying to that thick part of the line. The fly didn't sink well or move well. I stuck with it, convinced I could catch fish anyway. It was too dark, cold and windy to attempt doing things the right way.
Oh well.
This morning, local ponds were anywhere from 75% ice-covered to 100% ice-covered. I'm conceding that my 2010 fly-fishing season is completed.
Thanks for letting me share some of the trips with you.
I will probably post some sort of summary later.

[FishnDave]

2010 Fly-Fishing Statistics:
-I took 114 Fly-Fishing Outings.
-Fly-Fishing acounted for 79% of all my fishing (which includes spinning and ice-fishing, this percentage might change slightly if I ice-fish this month)
-I caught 12 fish species on fly gear locally.

2010 stats thus far (all-tackle)
-2,142 fish caught / 11 fish harvested (0.5%)
-22 fish species caught
-145 Fishing Outings
-Total time fished: 222.83 hrs
-Avg trip= 1.5 hrs
-Avg fish/trip= 14.8
-Avg fish/hr= 9.6 (or 6.25 minutes between fish)

Best months:
September - 568 fish
April - 380 fish
October - 340 fish

Top 5 Species:
Crappie - 788
Bluegill - 487
White Bass - 400
Largemouth Bass - 248
Rainbow Trout - 101

[KeatonsDad]

That's a lot of fish Dave. Looks like a good year!

[FishnDave]

I'm very happy with 2010. It was a very difficult year for fishing locally, what with all the rain we had much of the summer that raised the local reservoir 40'+ over normal pool for much of the summer, and the raging rivers were basically unfishable.
I started keeping an electronic Fishing Log just prior to 2006. In those 5 full years of data, I fished the LEAST amount of time in 2010, but had the highest fish/trip or fish/hr.

I spend most of my time fly-fishing for crappies and bluegills. So, I feel I did well to catch 26 fish that were 17" or better. The biggest was 33".

I know...I'm a numbers geek. ;o)

[KeatonsDad]

I know...I'm a numbers geek. ;o)

Well I guess that makes two of us. I too have enjoyed keeping a fishing log for the last few years, and on some slow days I find myself crunching through numbers figuring out what the best pattern for the year has been for different species, and locations etc, etc.. It can get kind of addicting.

[FishnDave]

Yes! Exactly!

It certainly isn't my intention to sound like I'm bragging, but I can see how some might take it that way. I don't keep my Fishing Logs to compete with anyone. I know I fish more than most, but less than some. It is what it is. I don't think ANY of us will ever fish as much as we'd LIKE to!

I do like to see how my own results vary from year-to-year, and thats why I calculate most of these numbers in my yearly summaries. Then I try to answer the questions relating to "WHY were my results this year different than previous years". What was good? What was bad? What worked, what didn't? Which species am I not targeting enough? Which species would I like to add to my "list"?

Its a learning tool. It helps me set my plans and goals for next year.