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

Woke up this morning and had a hunch the panfish would be moving in with this warm weather we're having... So I headed down to the local lake to see what's up... Fished for about 5 hours and couldn't keep the panfish off the fly!   I was right.. They moved in with no hesitation.. Were found anywhere from 1-4' of water along the weed beds.. Full of spawn and getting ready to move in and bed down.. So they are crazy aggressive.. Took them on buggers and on poppers.. The day was full of action and I imagine I would've been able to take my limit easily 3 times over..(which would be 60 fish).. A ton of bluegill in the 8-9" range.. Good eating size.. And one random black crappie.. I love this time of the year.. Panfish on the fly are a blast and the next couple weeks(weather permitting) should be full of top-notch panfish action..  Think I'll head back down there tomorrow with the bucket!

Another Day In The Water..

Had the day off yesterday so I decided I would dedicate it to the fine art of fishing... Woke up.. Got my head ready.. Gear packed... And headed south.. Decided I would check out a couple spots.. Unfortunately it is that time of the year where Wild Parsnip dominates the road sides and accesses to numerous holes until roughly August when it dies off... So right then and there had my options been cut down..

Unfortunately I ran into a second problem.. Cars at all the accesses I wanted to fish at.. I know that wouldn't stop some people from fishing.. But me personally.. I prefer peace and quite and no one in sight.. So I continued on.. So I ended up back at the creek I had fished the last couple times out.. It's a great "go to" stretch for me when I just want to get out and catch a couple trout without having to hike all day long to find them.. Was rather slow.. Managed about 3 browns with one rainbow mixed in.. All of which were Catch & Release..

Later on in the evening I was feeling hungry for some fish.. So I headed down to the local lake to slay some bluegill.. Sarah awhile back said that she wanted to learn how to clean/fillet fish.. And more than willingly agreed.. You'd have to be slow to not want someone else to clean your fish.. Or maybe to agree to cleaning fish you didn't catch.. Just kidding ;) ... So I took a dozen nice gills in the 7-8" range and brought them home.. Sarah was definitely a little hesitant at first.. Fish that are still alive.. *WACK!*.. excuse me.. were alive.. That made her uneasy.. But after walking her through how to cut and fillet them.. She was off to the races and filleted the 9 gills that I left her.. For a first timer she did a pretty good job.. Ended up with a nice pile of meat.. She tells me when she was all done "That wasn't too bad.. Now don't expect me to clean fish every day.. But once a week is not bad".. I don't think she knows what she signed up for.. But I'm not complaining!

A Few From Tonight

After a weekend mostly dominated by graduations and painting the living room... I finally decided to get out of the house this evening from 8-9:30pm... Caught some nice sized gills with a bugger tipped with an Alive! Maggot... Very fiesty and put up a great fight!

The past couple days...

Over the past couple days I have been able to get out here and there.. fish are biting.. gills have moved in and are starting to spawn.... but are not nearly at the level of aggression I prefer.. meaning they are not hitting the poppers that hard yet.. but anything else I throw at them they haven't thought twice about... Carp have been cruising the shallows.. but still have yet to have my go with one yet.. and the bass are there.. but they have definitely been small... and I've finally broke my 8wt's cherry... very happy with it.. was able to withstand yesterdays very gusty day with gusts ranging from 15-25mph it held up like a champ... have been catching a majority of my bass on it... but like I said.. smaaaall... but beggars cannot be choosers.... and in the end.. I really just like catching fish no matter the size

Also as a side note.. I think fly fishing is becoming quite popular on the local lake... this year I have seen a fair share of people with the long rods... back when I started 4-5 years ago.. I NEVER saw a fly fisherman on the pond and today I had seen 3 or 4!... The masses are figuring out the secret!

4/28... Some More Warm Water Action..

Got out for about an hour yesterday around dusk... down at the local lake.. This weather we've been having has made for some slow and very light biters.. Normally not even getting any indication that there may be a fish on the end of the line until you tug on the fly line.. and feel the slightest of resistance.. It's as if the pan fish are just like "ok.. the food is pulling me this way so i'll swim with it" and you won't even notice.. None the less.. I've been out a couple times since my last post.. With nothing to really  consider mentioning.. Mostly slow days with a couple 4-7" gills to hand... and then yesterday I had a first.. My first White Bass on the fly!.. Put up a nice little fight and was quite unexpected... Also had a nice sized Largemouth on that I lost half way through the fight trying to reel in extra line.. All in all.. It was a more productive day then the past couple outings.. And with weather getting up into the 60s today and storms to come Saturday.. Today should be a more productive day...

Finally Some Warm Water Action

With school and work.. time has been really limiting for me.. especially for fishing.. so when I have had the chances to get out so far this year.. I have headed south to be stream side and catch trout.. So today after work and homework I have a little spare time to get out to the local lake and hopefully put my 2wt to good use... And fortunately that was the case!  Took about 20-30 to hand in the hour that I was out this afternoon.. along with 2 8"ers that really made my day.. and an unexpected surprise in what was about a 1lb largemouth... which put up a nice fight on the 2wt.

Ol' Miss

Decided to head out and fish the spillway today with Sarah.  Fishing was slow at first but it started to get a little more excited as the day progressed.  Caught a couple gills on the fly... Caught a nice smallmouth bass off of the dock.. just let it fall to the bottom and I watched him slurp it up... Also caught a northern.. Seemed to have almost been big bird food.. but had gotten away... All and all in was a good day out...

Sun Is Shinin' And The Weather Is Sweet

Woke up early this morning.. No work.. Nothing but fishing on my mind... Decided to hit up the local pond for another day of pannie action.. This time just for fun.. Since I still have a bunch left over from Monday's outing.. After first going to my northern hole.. and getting nothing but wet feet thanks to my waders that need to be patched up. >.<  I got to the lake at about 9am.. It was beautiful.. Sunny.. No Wind.. Probably around high 60s.. Never did get a temp read on the day.. Started out at a spot that is not a normal spot for me and caught a few smaller bluegills and pumpkinseeds.. As I was walking along the shore I noticed carp cruising along the far side of the weed beds.. I started focusing on them.. Unfortunately today was not the day I was gonna get my first carp on the fly... After about 3 hours of fishing and too many pannies to count.. I headed home for awhile for a meal and to rest a bit..

     3pm I headed back out to do some more fishing.. It was around 80F.. A little windier than this morning.. But not awful in the least... Not really knowing where I wanted to go.. I headed back to the lake.. Opposite side.. Hoping to tie into some bigger gills.. which I did.. Had I been keeping.. I would have had a nice limit for sure.. Lot caught 7-8"+ range.. Got a lot of practice on distance casting.. being able to get my flies out roughly 50ft and with some accuracy when i wasn't getting lazy with my wrist action..

      As I was fishing for gills I got a hard hit.. and whatever it was put up a nice fight until it dove into the weeds and covered it's face.. It was a very nice largemouth.. My biggest on the fly so far.. What a great surprise when I'm just out fishing for gills.. Nice thing about flies.. Almost anything will take them..Given the chance.. I tied into a second largemouth but lost him just feet away from shore as like the previous.. He dug into the weeds... This has got me really excited for the 29th.. Bass Opener.. As I did see a couple hefty largemouth cruising the weed beds when I was fishing earlier today..

    After a couple more hours of fishing I decided to call it a day.. You can only fish for panfish for so long before the fun starts wearing off.. Especially when you start catching bass and are the better man and don't target them.. Unlike the couple of people I saw out today.. Grr..  But none the less.. A lot of fish were caught.. And it was definitely a beautiful day to be out....

...Unless you were this bird brain =P

Fruits of Labor

If there is one thing I love about fishing.. it's the part at the end of the day where i can enjoy my catch.. the "fruits of my labor"...  Today was a perfect day for getting some fish to fry.. nice and sunny.. temps in the high 60s low 70s... slight breeze but nothing to be worried about.. After work I decided I'd take the fly rod down to the lake and catch my limit of sunfish to fry up for tonight... Bluegills are stacked up in the weed beds for spawning.. and there were many people out enjoying the day to give me the weird looks.. as if they have never seen a person with a fly rod before.. Catching my limit was a simple task.. done easily in under an hour.. but always a fun task on the fly.. even if so simple.. kinda gives you that child like bliss -.-