Solo Creek Fishing

August 16

College has been busy.  It's been a long first semester, but football season has ended and I've finally got some time to update.   I haven't gotten around to updating since the summer, so this will be one of a few entries.

I had a free day, and unfortunately Charles had a family event to attend.  So I decided to go to the creek solo.  This turned out to be an amazing move.


I hopped in at the same bridge we usually fish.  I initially wanted to try out a new crawdad fly using Kiley's Exo Skin, a new tying material.  This fly has been a proven producer for one of my guide friends.  It turned out that that fly was not the ticket today.  I wish I would have known earlier.

I started fishing this fly through a few holes, including one which is usually has monsters in it..  I had no luck.  I moved on to a hole behind a small rock that usually produces smallmouth and plenty of sunfish.  I didn't even get a look.  Right here I switched to a small swimming nymph fly.  I immediately caught around 5 tiny smallmouth and a few pretty green sunfish.



I continued moving on to what is typically one of the best spots in the creek.  One side has a gravel bank, while the other is a steep wall cut out of the shale and dirt.  I approached the first shallow pool and within 15 minutes caught 6 more of the tiny smallmouth.  The 8 inchers are tiny, but fight harder than many fish.  Creek smallmouth in my opinion are the hardest fighting freshwater fish pound for pound.  They really battle until the bitter end.  These fish were so much fun.

I continued for a few more minutes and got a fish that actually had a little heft.  He cleared the water twice, and I saw that it was a decent smallie, maybe a pound or so.  This fish tanked me for about 3 more minutes until I lipped him.  After this, I finally started moving down to the more productive end of the pool.

This pool is amazingly good.  At the tailout of the run there is a downed tree by the steep walls which feeds into a pool with one submerged rock.  I fished this pool for two minutes and caught 3 smallmouth right off of the rock.

All were small, about the same size I had been catching, but they were fun.

Then I got a nice one. This fish pulled back line when it bit, so I knew it had to be decent.


After a few absurdly high jumps, some tail walking, and a tough fight, I brought in a feisty 13 inch about 1 pound smallmouth.  Not a trophy by anyone's standards, but so much fun on a 6 weight in a tiny creek.

I continued on to the next hole, a short run next to a downed tree ending in a large, evenly deep pool full of isolated rocks.
I made one cast and drift with the nymph next to the fallen tree.  I hooked immediately into something nice.  It burned out 30 feet of line to get itself onto the reel in mere seconds.  I was almost frightened of the power this fish exhibited.  After 5 seconds of chaos, the fish jumped 2 feet into the air, and I could see it was a smallmouth of gargantuan proportions, surely close to the 20 inch mark.

As I was in awe of it crashing back down into the water, the fly popped out of its mouth.  Dejected, I stripped back in to find my fly, frazzled but fishable on the end of my leader.  Trembling with adrenaline, I checked my tippet then made another cast, this one to the rocks in the pool.  Immediately I pulled a 7 incher out.  I continued this for 15 minutes, casting to an isolated rock and catching small fish.

I made another cast and hooked up with a fish I could tell was big.  It didn't jump, but fought down deep for over 5 minutes.  After the chaotic fight, I lipped a nice 16 inch smallmouth for a few pictures.  This was an especially pretty fish with beautiful dark markings in certain lights and a smooth mossy bronze side in others.  After enjoying the pretty fish for awhile, I released it and made my trek back to the car.

While not the best evening for size,  I did catch a lot of fish end enjoyed a solo evening on the river before my night with friends afterwards.

Blue-Lining

I was in Colorado for two weeks on a camping trip and did not get to do any fishing.  On the upside, runoff was horrible, so it looks like I didn't miss anything good while I was there.

After my return, it was immediately back to work and scheduled fishing.  On Sunday, Charles and I had the bright idea to leave and go fishing at 4 in the afternoon.  We drove down past town and parked at a church, then made a half mile walk down to a bridge where we were able to hop into the creek.

After a few minutes, Charles stumbled on a territorial fish that seemed to relate to an area.  You could still see a cereal bowl-shaped beds where the fish had spawned.  Of course Charles was continually saying that the fish were bedded.  It is now July and the water is 75 degrees.  The spawn is long over, and these fish were not bedded.

Charles spent a solid 15 minutes trying to hook this fish.  He went through numerous fly changes and finally elicited a strike.  The fish immediately ran into the brush by the side of the creek, and tit took charles a few minutes to get him out.  The fish was fairly skinny, but probably went 17 or 18 inches.  I used a waterproof phone case to get an underwater release video.  We tried to do this with every fish.  Hopefully I can put some of them into a video edit on my youtube channel.

Charles found me one fish isolated by a rock patterning the same way.  I switched flies ten times and did not get the fish to swipe once.  Charles came over, took one cast, and hooked up.  I took a good look at his fly and immediately switched to clouser.

My next cast shot under the trees into a shady hole, and a nice 14 incher took my fly.

Charles was working on a nice female hiding behind a rock.  He switched flies multiple times and took plenty of time casting to this fish.  I got my payback on Charles and hooked this fish on my first cast.

It had been so long since I'd caught a nice smallmouth, I forgot how fun they were on a 6 weight.  This fish ran up the flat into 1 foot of water, then caught 4 feet of air on his first jump, almost hitting the tree branches above the creek.  He fought for a few more minutes then I grabbed him for a few pictures.

We continued walking downstream, catching more fish and then came to an area where the creek had scooped a 6 foot wall out of the shale on one side.  Here, we fished a good run, but with no success.

Dark clouds started to move in, and Charles knows from experience that being in the creek during a storm is dangerous.  The water starts to rise quickly and the current combined with the rock gardens can become dangerous.  We turned and high tailed it back to the bridge we hopped in at.

After checking the radar, we realized the storm was going to slide around us, so we continued upstream the opposite direction we started in.  I found a small run with a few gorgeous little longear sunfish and passed some time catching them.

I switched to a clouser tied with entirely gold ripple ice fiber.  I tied it from sample materials we received from a Hareline Dubbin shipment.  I swung it straight under the bridge and hooked up with another decent smallie.

We fished down to another area with more steep shale walls.

We continued fishing here, each catching two more nice smallmouth before it eventually became dark.  We ended up fishing for around 4 hours on a spontaneous trip that became one of most fun days of fishing I've had in awhile.

I miss just hopping in a creek and following it to catch fish.  I'll have to find some friends in college to enjoy the same thing with.  We ended up getting 15 smallies averaging about 15 inches apiece, which is very nice, especially for the size of this tiny creek.  We'll continue scouting new holes out and chasing them on google maps.

I expect we'll be back soon for more smallies, and maybe one of us will figure out how to catch redhorse suckers by the end of the summer.  They were everywhere but don't like looking at flies.  Until next time.

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.

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!