New Records and Hybrid Sunfish

Charles and I planned our fishing for the morning today.  After a lot of discussion, we planned to go to a pond with a few grass carp and tons of bluegill, but there were baseball games in the nearby fields, so we had to find new plans.  We instead started fishing in a pond for carp.  Upon arrival, we found a very muddy pond.  Plumes of mud from tailing carp were everywhere.  The only problem was, we couldn't see any fish.  There was one massive grass carp in the middle of the pond, but we decided not to mess with it.  We threw our carp flies at the bass, but only managed a few small ones.

We shortly left to go back to my main pond.  Everything was out and about, but few bass wanted to look at our flies, especially after the fishing day yesterday.  





We spent a little time messing around with the bluegill beds.  They were still on fire, and we spent a bunch of time catching one after the other.  What else are days off for?  Charles and I killed time, caught multiple doubles, and daydreamed about a bag of deer jerky to enjoy while doing it.  Maybe some other time.

We continued our quest for bass, but only combined for two or three bass on flies as well as the jigs Charles started throwing.  We felt it was time for a throwback technique: live bluegill.
Only one problem: all the bluegill in the pond were too big.  I remembered the bluegill in the carp pond were significantly smaller, so we went straight over there, fly rods in hand, to put a beat down on some bluegill.  Charles carried a walmart grocery bag to put the fish in.



We got there and started catching bluegill in the 4-6 inch range.  These fish were perfect for bass fishing.  After a few fish, however, we noticed something strange.  Some of these fish were not purebred bluegills.  Neither one of us is sure what they are.  I talked to someone who thinks they may be hybridized with redears, but I'm not sure.  If you have any clue as to what this species is, let me know.

We caught a few of these mystery sunfish then released them.  In the end, we had two bluegills in the right size range for bass bait.  Just perfect.  Although their spines kept poking holes in the plastic bag, we kept them mostly safe and well watered.  After we got over to the main pond, Charles put one on a big bait hook on his 7' 3" heavy bass rod.  I just continued having fun catching bluegills and missing the occasional baby bass on a san juan worm fly.

A few feet down from me, Charles hooked into his first bass.  It was a very nice fish, probably over 4.  We never weighed it, but it was one of the bigger bass we've caught recently.  He ran to grab his last bluegill while I wrestled with more big slab sunfish on my 6 weight.

Charles camly walked over to the other side of the pond where he believed he saw a large fish earlier.  He later told me he had sight fished, and how he was able to do this without making a sound is unbelievable to me, knowing the way he is.  I know moments later I heard a yell that this fish was a monster and I had to come.





I was in the middle of a fight with another nice bull bluegill.  Once I unhooked him, I ran to the other side of the pond to see the fish.  Once I saw it, my jaw dropped.  I may never see another bass this large this close to home again.  Wow.

We had a short photo shoot then I ran to grab the scale while Charles held the fish in the water.  When a fish is this big, you have to weigh it for accuracy's sake.  By the time I got back, a homeowner was on his lawn mower near us.  He had been out mowing for a good amount of time, and he obviously had seen us fishing.  Even more surprising, he has lived there for at least as long as I have been fishing the pond, and has never once said anything before.  He had clearly seen the fish and I detected a tinge of envy in his voice.  He told us we were on private property (we were on grass that he has never once mowed right by the bank) and asked if we lived in the neighborhood.  When I responded with yes, he merely repeated that we were on private property and told us to "F off".  Some people just cannot stand to watch idly by while others have fun.  I motioned for Charles to come follow me and we walked across the property line to another yard, one whose owner has personally told me to fish there whenever I feel like it.


There, we finished our photo shoot and finally weighed the fish.  It topped the scale at 7 lbs 1 ounce. (Likely because of that bluegill it had just swallowed).  This fish was something special.  At only half the state record, it is still the biggest bass Charles has ever caught and the biggest I have ever seen in the state.

He finished up by releasing the big girl back into her home.  These fish may still be prespawn, but we suspect this fish may be too old to spawn any more.  Charles and I both looked at each other speechless.  Almost immediately after, we heard thunder.  We raced back to our gear, broke all our rods down, and sat in the car while it poured.  Overall, an amazing day, and one I won't soon forget.





A quick thank you to all to all those soldiers who fought for our freedom and gave the ultimate sacrifice.  This Memorial Day was well spent.

Summer Fishing Finally Heating Up

After yesterday's hard work, I woke up with a sore back and legs.  After I finished my plan for the day, I texted Josh and had him come over for some fishing.  

At first sight, I knew the pond was finally heating up.  Dinner plate sized beds lined the pond almost the entire way around.  I immediately set up my 6 weight and taught Josh how to use a foam spider to catch bedding bluegills.  These fish are all very nice sized, from 7-10 inches.

Spawn colorations on bluegills are some of my favorites.  I could sit on the bank with snacks and catch them for hours.  Reminds me of the day I caught the orange koi.  Charles and I spent hours on the bank with a bag of deer jerky between spurts of bass action.

While Josh was having fun with the bluegill on topwater, I put a blue boogle bug on the 8 weight and caught two bass very quickly.  I kept fishing for awhile with considerably less luck than my first two fish.

Josh finally tired of catching sunfish and grabbed a spinning rod outfitted with a texas-rigged worm, while I carried an assortment of streamers to test.  We ended up catching the odd bass here and there up to 2 pounds, but not much over.

While circling the pond for bass, I saw a bass leap straight up to eat a dragonfly.  I ran back to grab my 6 weight, tied a dragonfly on it, and ended up catching one bass.

We spent some more time fishing, then saw a small koi tilted up in a corner of the pond.  We couldn't have missed it, but he wanted nothing to do with us, and slowly drifted out to deeper water.  

This got carp on my mind, so I convinced Josh to walk across the street to the carp pond.

I went back to setting Josh up with a bluegill fly for fun while I tried to stalk carp.  There were plenty around under a weedbed, but trees and weeds never gave me a good cast.

Meanwhile, Josh was busy catching bluegill.  The ones in this pond have different colorations and are noticeably smaller, but still provide plenty of fun.  Josh also managed a small black crappie, which appear once in awhile in the pond.

Josh had to leave after a while to let his ankle heal (he sprained it in a volleyball game a few weeks back).

I spent the next hour and a half trying to catch carp.  I tried every angle possible, and got a few good shots at the fish sitting in the weedbed.

I tried every possible technique I knew to get a fly in front of these carp, but with no results.  

I ended up landing a white crappie, some more bluegill, and a tiny bass on my carp fly.

I think the carp may have been spawning, because they often jumped out of the water for no apparent reason.  These fish get tough to catch, so I finally left them alone.  Tomorrow will be another shot.

15th straight weekend with rain

I just got news that this weekend is the 15th consecutive weekend in Indiana with rain or snow, going back through this winter.  The rivers and creeks have barely been fishable this year with the weather.

At the shop, I spent the entire day building a kayak trailer.  With temperatures peaking over 80 and high humidity, it was a painful job.

Immediately after work, I decided I needed some fishing time.  I headed to the creek and was pleasantly surprised to find that although the water was running quite high, it was not as off color as I expected. 

Unfortunately, not many fish were to be found.  I started fishing a black clouser minnow, but as I continued, I never retied my knot.  On the first bump I felt, I pulled up my leader to reveal the fluoro on my loop knot had broken where it contacted the hook eye.  Very strange!

I switched to the next closest fly I had, which turned out to be a black crayfish fly.  It elicited a follow from a tiny little smallmouth in the main pool, but no strikes.  Finally, fishing a massive pool with some conflicting currents, I picked up a nice 12 or 13 inch white crappie, which I rarely find in creeks like this. 

I continued fishing through the numerous pools in the river, but it was really just running too high for me to navigate with confidence.  I left without being blanked, but without anything special.

I hiked the half mile back to my car while sweating.  The humidity had not gone down, and the route back to the car is all uphill.  Hopefully I can catch some decent fish with the remaining days of my weekend.

Brutal Weather, Better Fishing

I worked at the fly shop, and it started to drizzle around 3:30.  It wasn't the kind that lets up after 20 minutes, either.  This rain was going to stay steady for the rest of the day, maybe even the weekend.  After I got off work, I called most of my friends to see if they were open to go fishing.  Unfortunately, none of them were.

So, I decided to go out fishing the ponds in my neighborhood alone.  At this point the rain had picked up a little.  I drove to the ponds and immediately put on rain pants and a jacket.  This would be a case of blind casting.  I set up my 8 weight, grabbed a bunch of my favorite rainy day streamers, and walked to the water.

I have a particular fly pattern I have been working on for rainy days.  It is particularly effective on overcast, cloudy days because it is black with just the right amount of flash.  Fish love it.  They love it so much that I caught one dropping it in the water to wet the marabou.  I watched a flash whiz by to snatch the concoction, and I immediately set the hook and wrestled the little guy to my hand.  Only about fourteen inches, but a fun fish nonetheless.

I continued around the pond, blind casting the streamer out 40 feet then varying the retrieve to work it back in.  I made it over halfway around before my next fish, this one a little bigger.  By this time, I had figured out the kind of retrieve the fish wanted, which was surprisingly fast considering the temperature was at 50 degrees.  I landed two more from the same spot, then continued walking.

I stumbled upon a large dead fish.  It was nearly impossible to tell what it was.  I initially assumed it was the large 12 lb carp I moved to the pond.  I discarded that after I saw the monster minnow cruising the banks less than a minute later.  The dark shape scared the heck out of me, and I was entirely unprepared to sight fish to carp.  I hope the dead fish isn't the orange koi, but I also don't know what it could be.  Another carp, or even a bass?  I sent a photo to Charles later that night and we had a lengthy discussion about what it could be.  I may try to get a better look later to see.  If the fish was a bass, it would have to be 7 pounds or larger, and at least 28 inches.

Hopefully the rain will let up so I can check out a pond tomorrow for green sunfish.  There are a bunch of nice ones in a location Charles and I have fished before.