Fishing Season 2k16!!!!!!!!!!!

[markstrimaran]

I'm eastern Iowa. I've gotten one nice lmb and a few smallies but the trout have been good where there's little pressure.

I trout fished the Rocky mountains for years, it boggles my mind that trout can actually survive in Iowa.

 

[Frank Castle]

Some highlights from the past few days. Erie was windy (20-33 mph) all weekend so we just fished the docks in our marina for Sunfish, Perch, Bass, etc. Also hit the local lake in SWPA yesterday with dry flies for Sunfish. Below is a 16" LMB, 15" Black Bullhead (new species for me and best fight of the weekend), an 8" Yellow Perch, and a nice Hybrid Sunfish (Pumpkinseed X Green) for Anthony Nolet .

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I just got around to commenting on these posts now, been a crazy few weeks, haven't been fishing either, but anyway:
That's a beautiful 'Eye....I love the frontal shot - shows how primitive and primeval they look - you guys also really have some healthy looking panfish and perch out there, I don't know if ours have that much color on this side of the state and that bullhead is a monster....I don't think I ever topped 14" iirc, usually when I get big ones they are like 12" and that's about it - very exceptional fish there

Pulled some nice fish out of the lake this weekend in 80-100 FOW. 4 for 5 on Lake Trout, all in the 22-29" and 8-16# range (admittedly, somewhat smaller than usual) plus a bonus 28" 10# Walleye. All fish were put back by hand. Dodgers caught most of them but plugs and spoons caught a couple. Oh, and also got a little 15" Largemouth fly fishing in the marina which right now is full of Bigmouth Buffalo, what I'll be concentrating on catching now when we're stuck in the marina.

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Decided to run out to one of the local lakes. California's drought has taken a beating on our lakes so no boat access at this point. Decided to test out a new spinning rod that I had recently bought. Second cast not really expecting to get bite and I got this fatty. I would say the fat girls are in.

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Dude, that's a beast....had to be an 8lb'er or more, huh?

Kicked off my 2016 Carpin' season last night at the local lake with a pair of 16"s and a 20", also had a few others chew but decide they didn't want to take the hook. In addition, the stocked Trout went crazy for the corn I was using and even a Pumpkinseed got in on it. Also got a Rainbow and little Smallie on streamers I tied two days ago.

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WOW...look at that old reel....is that an old Ryobi or a classic Daiwa? Nice carps too, I think 28" was my best, but I don't fish FOR carp, I just end up catching them on worms here and there....occasionally we will grab some corn, mulberries, etc and chum up a hole, and try for some, but I always feel like I should be fishing for Flatheads whenever i'm still-fishing w/ heavy line. I DID catch and fought w/ a carp pushing 48" when I was 13, and the fight on 6lb test lasted well over 10 minutes, but I tried to land the fish by grabbing the line and it broke right at the knot would have been my biggest.

Been working near an old pit I used to fish 15 yr ago I had my rods in the back of the van so I thought I'd get an hours fishing in at lunch time , it's still got decent sized carp in lol not a bad catch for an hours fishing
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ok, so tell me, why does YOUR carp look so different from Divemaster's??? I thought it was a Mirror Carp at 1st, but I guess it would have more scaling.....what and why are they so different? I thought Carp in the Americas came from Europe anyway?

Few highlights from yesterday. Got three fish over 18", but still haven't broke the 20" mark on the Deschutes. Still aggressively taking large dries but the salmonfly hatch is winding down. Solo fish pictures do these fish no justice.

You Flyfishermen do so much catch-and-release, yet for me, Trout is the only fish I ever keep and eat. Farmed, sustainable, and healthy populations for most species.....do you not like eating trout? I keep a handful of SW fish, but aisde from Trout and Crappie, there's not much else I keep, - but I want to eat Pike and Walleye at least once in my lifetime though

 

[Evz jardini]

Hi frank , mine is a mirror the scales are always random some show more than others
The mouth of the fish I caught was in a bad way though it was hooked badly when small so now it's got a crooked mouth

 

[Frank Castle]

Hi frank , mine is a mirror the scales are always random some show more than others
The mouth of the fish I caught was in a bad way though it was hooked badly when small so now it's got a crooked mouth

I WAS RIGHT??!?!! NO WAY, GTFO. I didn't even notice the mouth actually, I just meant the scales and coloration, but I guess I have to take a closer look. Don't the Mirrors get like over 100lbs?

 

[Evz jardini]

I've never heard of carp getting to 100 lb frank I think mid 70s is uk biggest , maybe in France or Spain in the big rivers competing with wels there's a 100 lb beast
Mirrors and commons get same size really they just look different due to scales and colouration

 

[Oddballs]

Frank estimate her at around high 9's maybe a 10. Not as big as my 11 but it was close was a fun fish headed back Saturday to try to pull a teener out of there before I head to Alaska.

 

[divemaster99]

I just got around to commenting on these posts now, been a crazy few weeks, haven't been fishing either, but anyway:
That's a beautiful 'Eye....I love the frontal shot - shows how primitive and primeval they look - you guys also really have some healthy looking panfish and perch out there, I don't know if ours have that much color on this side of the state and that bullhead is a monster....I don't think I ever topped 14" iirc, usually when I get big ones they are like 12" and that's about it - very exceptional fish there

Thanks. Eyes are also very delicious too, you definitely need to try one. They're easily my favorite eating fish out there, not much fight but very tasty. Although, ironically, I revived and released the one pictured above haha.

And yes, that reel is a very old Daiwa that I pulled out of our boat from the days that my grandpa and uncle on my dad's side still owned it. In addition to that, I also was able to pull out an OLD Abu Garcia Five Star and Shakespeare 2110 from my Pap's basement that I caught a few on that day as well. Amazing how well those old reels are built, just stick on some new 12# mono and they'll handle the blistering runs of those carp with ease.

 

[Modest_Man]

You Flyfishermen do so much catch-and-release, yet for me, Trout is the only fish I ever keep and eat. Farmed, sustainable, and healthy populations for most species.....do you not like eating trout? I keep a handful of SW fish, but aisde from Trout and Crappie, there's not much else I keep, - but I want to eat Pike and Walleye at least once in my lifetime though

These trout aren't farmed. Wild native redside rainbows. You can keep two per day between 11" and 13" but I don't think I caught any that small. I catch and kill salmon and steelhead - which taste a lot better than these resident rainbows.

 

[bottles]

 

[Frank Castle]

got a Flathead this morning pushing 40lbs.......42.5"L, 27" G, 39lbs......and more to come. Lots of pics and more surprises later