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.

More White Bass Action

A week after hitting the white bass run with Bobby, I decided to go out again with Charles.

We decided to go at as soon as I got off of work at the fly shop.  Knowing Charles, he was late because he had already been fishing somewhere else.  He showed me this picture of a beast of a smallie he got from one of the smallest creeks we fish!

I've been to that creek before, and normally fish like that don't come easy.  The pre-spawn season is going, and the fish must be loading up on food to prepare.  That particular smallmouth seems to have a good amount of fat on him. 

Charles said he fished this creek all morning and afternoon with a few nice smallmouth.  We've gotten a lot of rain here, and I'm not surprised that the water ran colder and muddier than normal.

After I got off work, Charles and I met at the same park Bobby and I fished the week before.  The water was higher and muddier this time, and no trout were to be found.  But we were there for white bass.

Charles and I fished through the first two rapids with nothing.  This isn't surprising, considering the water was significantly faster, and it was hard to get a fly down without a sinking line.  It was easy to notice that the creek was colder this time, which probably shut down a few of the fish.

We headed to the run that produced fish last time, and after awhile, I hooked up.  It was a decent 12" white bass.  These fish fight hard, especially in the fast water we were fishing.

We immediately decided to start keeping fish, even though at this point we knew we'd only get a few.  After going a few minutes without a hit, I switched to a craft fur clouser in all black.  That turned out to be the switch I needed.

Immediately after, I landed two more white bass.  One was this fat spawner of 16".  This one almost got himself on the reel!  So much fun on the 6 weight!

We continued fishing down the river and caught a few more.  One or two we had to release because they were so small we couldn't get any meat off of them.  Once it started getting dark, we had 6 fish on a willow branch we used as a stringer. 

We went back to Charles' house to clean the fish.  He showed me how to remove the mud line on the filets, then we cleaned all of them and I went home with them.  Charles just told me to take all of them for a family dinner.  The next night, we fried them and made Po'Boy sandwiches out of them.  Very much worth the time to clean them.  I don't think I'll ever overlook white bass as food again.

A difficult day of fishing, but sometimes the numbers of white bass just aren't there.  The run still hasn't hit its peak, and I'm hoping to get out for more action soon!

Some Exciting Updates.... and the White Bass Run

Needless to say, I've gotten far behind on this blog.  Senior year is flying by and I have a lot of work to do on my final project.  After that, it'll be smooth sailing.

A quick update: I recently began working at Moving Water Outfitters, the local fly shop.  I currently work Saturdays, and will probably work often during the summer.  Working in a fly shop has been a dream job of mine for a few years, and it's just as fun as I'd hoped.  Even when I have to take inventory of flies (we have over 1000 egg flies in stock, by the way), I always manage to enjoy every day in the shop.  Another benefit: we are located less than 500 feet from the nearest creek, which has been on fire lately.

A few weeks ago, Bobby and I went out to the creek to check it out.  The town recently stocked rainbow trout in the creek, and everyone wants to fish for them.  We went searching for trout, but instead found much better fishing for another species.

We went to a certain park that is rarely fished.  This is because parking is a half mile from the water, and few people want to make the hike.

The first hole we hit had fast water.  I mean fast. Water was rushing over a barrier made of large boulders, creating a miniature waterfall section. I could not get a fly down.  Bobby fished a rooster tail spinner and hooked up a few times.  His first fish was a 16 inch trout.  We could not believe that the stockers had already grown to such sizes.  He caught one more, then pulled in a lone white bass.  This got us wondering if the run had started yet.  We headed downstream towards the reservoir to see if we could find more.

There was another hole with the same structure of rocks all the way across the river, with incredibly fast flows.  I waded in below the falls and cast a small yellow and chartreuse clouser.  I let it swing through the end of the run, then it got smacked.  The hook slipped and I cast again.  Immediately, a fish grabbed it and tried to run.  I pulled him back in.  It was only a ten inch white bass.  Bobby and I took turns, landing two apiece from the tailout.




Then, we waded 50 yards upstream to a sand bar. 
There was a nice looking run, so we both cast directly downstream and retrieved.  Bobby immediately caught a white bass.  I did too.  they were both over 13 inches and fought hard.  We immediately released them and cast again, with immediate hookups.  This continued for probably 35 minutes.  I have no clue how many fish we caught, but I'd say probably upwards of 30.  It was the most regular fishing I'd ever had.  We rarely made more than one cast without a fish, and every cast got a bite.  After years of trying, I'd finally cracked the run head-on, and the fishing could not have been easier.





When it started to get dark, the fishing slowed down.  By this, I mean we caught a fish every 3 or 4 casts.  Once the sun set and we could barely see, we decided we had better head back.  We both knew we had just hit a once-in-a-year night of fishing.  What a day!

Heartland Fly Fishing Festival

I really haven't been active recently.  This show was quite a few months ago, and I'm just now getting around to writing about it.  I'm currently so busy with track and my senior year, and the weather has pushed fishing to the backseat.

This year, the Heartland Fly Fishing Festival was excellent and very well organized. There were plenty of interesting booths, including the local Orvis and Moving Water Outfitters, our local fly shop.

I was lucky enough to get a table as a tier for Project Healing Waters.  I taught kids and others willing to learn how to tie some flies.  

We tied mostly terrestrials like Chernobyl ants, hoppers, and foam spiders.  The highlight of the day was teaching this man and his daughter to tie.  He let her select the materials for her foam spider, and every one was pink or purple.  A fun fly for sure, and the bluegill will certainly eat them up later this spring during the spawn.







There was also a casting competition to win a rod later at the show.  I did not enter, but it looked very difficult.  Participants had to put a fly through an elevated hula hoop, roll cast for distance, and put a cast inside a hoop with the line outside of one of two cones.  (A curve cast drill).  Very difficult drills I doubt I could have done.  I should start working on my casting.

I also received some information from a guide friend and a Trout Unlimited Chapter on fishing opportunities next year when I am at college.  BIG announcement coming ahead!  I'm very ready for next year and all the adventures it'll bring.

This show was just as good as last year, although a little sparse due to the wintry weather.  I enjoyed my time tying there and meeting new people.

I already have some exciting news and great fishing updates from the spring season.  This year is already off to a great start!

Heartland Fly Fishing Festival

While I was at the Orvis charity tying event last year, I met someone who helped set up the Heartland Fly Fishing festival.  To make a long story short, Charles and I will be tying at the event this year.  It will be at the Boone County 4H fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.  The event runs all weekend, but we will only be there Saturday the 19.

This is an exciting event with multiple vendors, shops and guides present.  It was great last year, and I hope it will continue to be great this year.