May 10th

Got out a little bit before work yesterday.  Was a nice day to be out.. Temp was in the mid 60s with slight gusts here and there.  Panfish were still as active as ever.. Was able to take a couple on foam bugs when the wind wasn't blowing.  But a majority of them were taken on a bugger.  When the wind calmed down the panfish would move back in shallower... Once the wind picked up.. Slowing down the retrieve seemed to keep them on my line.  I caught numerous gills and pumpkinseeds in the 2 hours I spent fishing yesterday... Plently in the 8-9" range..  With the river high and muddy the lake has been my only option for a quick gratification.  Hopefully in a week or so I'll be able to head back to the river for some more serious fishing.

Foam Panfish Bug

So I was cruising through the craft section of the hell that we all know as Walmart.. And I came across these X-acto Edgers... 4 for $5.. Figured they would make some nice outlines for foam panfish bodies.. and Was I ever right.. No more neurotic clipping here and there to try and get a symmetrical design..

Here is a pictorial Step-By-Step as I find it hard to put my actions into words sometimes.. And well this is a pretty self explanatory pattern...
 

Hook:  Eagle Claw #8 Aberdeen Hook
Thread: 210 Denier, Any color.. I use black
Legs: Round Medium Rubber Legs
Foam: 2mm Craft Foam(Lifetime supply for $5 at Wally World)
Body: Chenille, Small 
Misc: X-Acto Scrapbook Edgers

 

 

With darker bodied bugs I like to add a hi-vis post to see them easier on the water.

Pantastic Part II

Woke up this morning to quite the storm rolling through.. Waited it out and then headed to FleetFarm to pick up some size 8 Aberdeen hooks to tie up some more foam panfish flies.. Today's tie of choice was foam spiders..

Got down to the local lake with my 2wt in hand around 11am.. Temp was somewhere in the low-mid 60's... Not much wind and pretty overcast still from the storm system in the area.. But the sun was peaking out here and there.  Decided to check another spot on the lake today as I knew where they definitely were already from yesterday's outing.  Well needless to say.  The panfish are everywhere.. The one difference.. Size.  They were definitely bigger overall yesterday.  Lot more dinky guys today.  Which was kind of a surprise.. Since I'm use to catching pretty big panfish on this shore as well.  Bass were moving in too to start spawn and were making things rather annoying.  And then there were the carp cruising also... They definitely were not feeding.. Just dispersing the bluegills every time they all came through...

It was a nice day.. Caught plenty of bluegills and dinky bass.  Switched things up from the spider back to a black mini-bugger and back to the spider when the sun would come back out.. Seemed they were more willing to take the spider when the sun was beating down.. And when it was overcast.. They much preferred the bugger.  Even the spider trailed with a nymph took a couple bluegills.  Ended up forgetting the bucket. So I didn't take home any to fry up today.. But I'm sure I'll have no problem getting a meal in the days and weeks to come.