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.

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.

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!

Mmmm Meaty..

John Barr and his absolutely amazing Meat Whistle.. Well now I know why it's called that.. Because the Largemouth Bass were loving it today!  Was a little rough trying to cast it with my 5wt.. But by the end of this week I should have my 9wt.. And chucking them socks will seem much much easier..

Overall was a great day.. Sunny.. Slight breeze but definitely not enough to effect my casting too much... Got water side around noon and from there it was Bass central.. All were in great health and a couple went beyond 16".. And to top it all off.. My first 'Eye on the fly!


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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!

Triple X-Rated Carp

.. Viewer discretion advised.. =)


Carp were in a spawning frenzy this morning on Lake Winona.. Some of them had size to them as well...

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!

The Maiden Voyage!

About 2 weeks ago I put in an order for a Creek Company Super Sport XR1.. I decided upon this one because it was reasonably priced.. not too cheap.. not too expensive.. the reviews on it were more than welcoming as well.. So yesterday I drove to Cabela's in Prairie Du Chien to finally pick it up.. When I woke up this morning I immediately looked at the weather to see if I could get my new toy into the water for its maiden voyage.. and to my luck.. it had stopped raining and radars showed nothing in the area... Overall I'm very comfortable in it.. One of my key points when purchasing a pontoon was to make sure I would be comfortable and feel safe in it.. As I cannot swim.. can tread water but that's it.. The learning curve for rowing is definitely steeper than i had imagined.. and wasted more energy than distance traveled.. but that will change as I get use to it.. Overall.. I think it was a great investment and it will definitely get a workout!

On a side note.. Winona Park Rec offers FREE kayak and canoe rentals 7 days a week.. at the Lake Lodge.. Mon-Fri 3-6pm and Sat-Sun 1-7pm April 15-May 25th.. and then they also have summer hours as well..

Updated Lake Winona Map

Here is an updated depth chart of Lake Winona(thanks to the Lake City Fisheries Dept.) ... most websites.. and including Navitronics and the DNR have an outdated version of the map.. pre-dredging.. things sure have changed...

Map Courtesy of St. Mary's University & Lake City Fisheries Dept. 2006.

The older map can be found HERE for comparison 

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.

Round 2.. More local pannie action...

So knowning what I am going into this weekend.. 2 smallies were definitely not enough to hold me over... I needed another fix... So I headed down to the local pond once again for some pannie action.. I figured most of the spawning would have been done by now.. But there were even more beds in one of my spots than were there the last 2 weeks... I decided I would use a new top water that I picked up at Bob's Bait n' Tackle in LaCrosse.. and it worked wonders.. Some people have maybe argued that I am using too big of a popper for panfish... They couldn't be any more wrong.. These Accardo top water lures drive the bluegills into a frenzy.. Even a 4" sunnie will make a quake and hit these things hard... I could have easily taken home a limit tonight.. But I didn't want to be filleting til almost 11pm...

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

Pannies on the fly

Today started out with the normal problem I often see myself faced with... Where and What do I want to fish for?   Since gas and money are on the low end of the scale right now.. and since the sun was shining high.. I figured today would be a great day to catch some pannies on good ol' Lake Winona..  Pannies are still in spawn on the lake.. the last couple weeks of cold weather probably forced them back down deep and held off on their spawning pattern.., It was easy pickins... Tied a popper onto my fly rod and I was tying into the pannies for 3 hours until I filled a hefty limit.. Boy are panfish a hoot when you are using a popper on a fly rod.. You really get to see the true aggression of these little guys as you see their wake as they zip across the water to pounce on that popper.. And not only are they entertaining to catch on the fly.. But they are delicious as well...