I Caught a Big (to me) Channel Catfish on a Fly!

On a recent Saturday morning, my wife, Wendy, my dog, Waylon, and I headed to a lake that I had never taken them before.  I cannot disclose the location of this lake because swore to keep the location of this lake a secret.  I had a couple of good friends share it with me but I promised to not share the name or location of the spot.  I'm not trying to be a jerk to readers but instead, I'm trying to uphold a promise that I made my friends.  Now that we are through the formalities, let me say that things did not start off the way I was hoping.

This particular lake is known for having good populations of big largemouth, crappie, and bluegill.  I don't know what is in the water in this lake but good gracious does it hold some nice fish!  I told my wife about the quality of fish we were looking to catch and in all honesty, I was trying to get her excited about getting up early on a Saturday morning and hitting the water with me.  As it turned out, we caught the lake on what I would call an "off day".  We didn't catch any bluegill, the bass we caught were small, and we only managed to catch one nice bluegill.  At one point of the morning, I actually said out loud, "We need to catch something worth a darn.  I'm going to be ticked off if we drove all this way and don't end up with a good story."  Minutes later, I got my memorable experience.

I had been throwing a Captain Quint streamer for big largemouth and crappie but I didn't get a single bite on that fly.  Wendy had been throwing a small jig under an indicator and had only managed to catch a small green sunfish and a little bluegill.  As with most things in life, I subscribe to the idea that the best options sometimes exists in the middle of two options.  What I mean is that a big, weightless streamer and a small, weighted jig didn't catch anything and that maybe a smaller weighted streamer might be worth throwing.  If the fish weren't shallow and didn't want a small meal, then maybe something medium size but heavy might entice them.  Just for good measure, I decided to tie on two streamers and settled on a pair of unhackled buggers as my best option.  I chose olive because the water was fairly murky.

Aside from changing flies, we also changed locations.  I went looking for some drop-offs and some deeper water.  I found what I was looking for and decided to cast to shallow water and to strip the flies into deeper water so that they could ride the contour of the changing water depths.  In other words, I was just trying to cover different parts of the water column in different depths of water.  I located a shallow mud flat that slowly descended to deeper water and made a cast.  My fly hadn't been in the water for 2 seconds before a felt a tug, set the hook, and watched a large forked tail slap the water not fewer than 10 times!

All I can guess is that I must have hit feeding a channel cat right on the nose with my fly and that the water was so shallow that it's tail and a lot of its body came out of the water when he went vertical and tried to swim to the bottom.  Wendy and I couldn't believe what we had seen and heard.  The behavior was probably amplified by the fact that we hadn't caught much that morning and this moment was a very big stray from our norm.  After the initial flurry of activity, the fish headed for deeper water and the fight was on!

The fish changed strategies a couple of times during the fight.  Sometimes it ran to open water and sometimes it ran to cover in the shallows.  I tried to situate the boat between the fish and cover in order to deter it from getting my line wrapped around some branches or vegetation and giving it the necessary leverage to break my line or come unhooked.  After putting a serious bend in my fly rod for about 10 minutes, I finally got the monster into the net.

Relief slowly faded as my excitement grew exponentially.  Wendy and I looked at the fish in silent reverence for a moment, but the laughter and hoots of excitement filled the air quickly.  I couldn't believe that my slow morning had changed into something so surprising.  The length and mass of the catfish was as big as I had ever caught before.  And finally, in my opinion, I was thoroughly impressed by how beautiful the fish was.  The pewter and gold hues that sparkled in the sun were breathtaking.

After a few measurements and pictures, the behemoth swam away without any assistance or revival.  The tale of the tape of this channel cat was 25 and 1/2 inches long and 6 pounds, 8 ounces.  This catch represents one of the reasons that I love to fish.  You never know what is going to happen.  A slow day can become really exciting in an instant.  Big fish are memorable and make for great stories as well.  I fish for the thrill, not the kill, and this fish provided a rush of adrenaline that I absolutely love!

Lawson City Lake

I really like fishing in small lakes.  Specifically, I like small lakes that are 100 acres or less.  Typically, here in Missouri, lakes of this size allow boats on them but are limited to only allowing the use of electric motors or outboards that operate without creating a wake.  I like these lakes and restrictions because I like the fact that I don't have to worry about people skiing, large boats creating wakes, or dealing with heavy boat traffic.  I thought that I knew about every small lake in the Kansas City area until I heard about Lawson City Lake in Lawson, Missouri.  

After learning about this lake, I instantly wanted to visit it.  I was curious about the species and size of fish that call this lake home.  What also piqued my curiosity was that I found out that walleye are stocked in this lake on an annual basis.  I had never caught a walleye on a fly rod before and while chasing them with a fly in a lake during the peak of summer is not optimal, it was still a possibility.  One day, my curiosity and optimism convinced me to hook my boat trailer up to my truck and head north.

When I arrived at the lake, I was thoroughly impressed by the amenities.  The parking lot looked new.  The boat ramp was paved and in pristine shape.  In addition, all I had to do was pull my truck forward to a parking space and then back it straight back to put the trailer back in the water.  It doesn't get much more convenient than that!  There were also some nice restrooms, a walking trail, and a life jacket loaner program.  There were even kayaks that you could rent by using an app on your phone!

By the time I hit the water, I was hoping that the fishery was going to be able to compete with the amazing setup that the city of Lawson had provided.  In short, it did not.  It was a slow morning.  I caught 2 largemouth on a streamer and a few bluegill on some jigs under indicators.  There were no walleye sightings although I do think I found some with my electronics.  I know this sounds cliche, but it was a beautiful morning regardless and I loved being on this body of water.

I believe that it is important to note that maybe it was ME that was off and not the fish.  Maybe the fish were moody on this particular outing.  Maybe I was throwing the wrong flies.  Maybe I fished spots that didn't hold fish.  More data is needed and you better believe that I will be going back to see if the fishing is different than on the one morning I fished the lake.  Stay tuned for more on this pretty piece of water.

Fishing West Lake near Lakeside Hotel & Casino...Part 2

Well, it didn't take very long for me to return to West Lake.  If you missed the previous post about me fishing at this lake, just click here.  If you don't want to read the entire post, please allow me to summarize.  This lake is located near a casino in Osceola, Iowa.  My wife likes to gamble and I like to fish.  While she is playing slots, I'm on the water.  During my last visit (which was the first time that I had ever fished this body of water) I caught quite a few crappie on a craft fur minnow.  The fish were close to the bank, in the shade, and willing to run down a streamer.  It felt appropriate to try the same approach and investigate whether the pattern had changed from what it was 2 weeks prior.

Like last time, I fished this lake in the evening.  I headed straight toward the shade where I had caught a few crappie on my previous trip.  I had a feeling that the pattern I found on the previous trip would not be in effect, but it seemed like a good place to start.  This lake was still pretty new to me and I am still trying to learn where the fish are and what they are eating this time of year.  To my utter shock and amazement, I caught a largemouth bass on my first cast and realized that the pattern had indeed changed.

As my boat approached the shade that I wanted to target, I started letting out some line and making a few casts that were intended to be practice casts to get me ready for casts that were intended to tempt fish.  What shocked me, beside the bass as I had only caught crappie on this lake previously, was the fact that the bite came approximately thirty yards off the bank.  Along with that, the fly that I was throwing was weightless and I worked it close to the surface of the water.  I was NOT expecting to catch anything that far off the bank and that close to the surface.

I thought that this fish as an aberration or outlier so I positioned my boat near the shallows and stripped my fly from the bank to my boat.  I fished this way for about 20 minutes without a single take.  It was at this point that I decided to move the boat about 30 yards off the bank to see if that largemouth that I caught was an accident or something that would offer more hookups.  

Over the course of the next 2 hours, every fish was caught the exact same way.  Thirty yards off the bank, on a craft fur minnow that was unweighted, and in the shade that was extending into the water as the sun set.  This was one of the strangest patterns that I have ever seen especially when you couple the pattern with the fact that I didn't see any fish chasing bait to the surface of the lake.  The only conclusion that I can draw is that bass were schooling baitfish in open water (like hybrid stripers do) and feeding on singles that were straying from the school.  The only other guess that I have is that bass were hanging out in the thermocline and weren't afraid to dart out of the cooler water to grab a passerby near the surface.  Regardless, I found the entire situation strange and foreign to me.

After I had exhausted the pattern as much as I could in the water that fit the mold, I started trolling and casting for hybird striped bass.  There were a few blow ups, and some signs that hybrids were eating baitfish in open water but I never hooked into one.  It felt like I was chasing ghosts.  By that I mean that if I moved my boat towards some hybird activity, the activity was over by the time I arrived.  While I was a little bummed to not catch any hybrids, it sure was fun catching the largemouth that I was able to find.

So what can you, as the reader of this post, take away from my experience?  In my opinion, I would answer that question by stating that you should never be afraid to try new and seemingly strange things.  I have learned to pay attention to the information that fish and a lake are passing along to you.  Even if the information seems strange, paying attention to your observations is extremely important.  Like me, making inferences and adjustments just might be the difference between a productive time on the water and not catching anything!

Fishing West Lake near Lakeside Hotel & Casino in Osceola, Iowa

You can see Lakeside Casino in the background.

My wife, Wendy, likes to gamble.  I like to gamble a little bit but not as much as she likes to gamble.  I like to fish.  My wife likes to fish a little bit but not as much as I like to fish.  A few weeks ago, we came across something that made us both happy in our own unique ways.  Please allow me to introduce you to Lakeside Hotel & Casino in Osceola, Iowa.

Wendy and I had been to Lakeside in the past a couple of times.  I bet on a few football games and she played slot machines in the casino.  Prior to leaving however, we decided to take a look at the lake that Lakeside Casino is situated near and literally on.  It looked pretty and like it had potential to hold a lot of fish.  Upon further investigation, I found out that the lake holds the usual species (largemouth, crappie, bluegill, and catfish) but also held populations of hybrid striped bass and even muskie!  This got my attention and I never forgot about this lake.

A few weeks ago Wendy and I were looking for something to do.  We wanted to get out of town but couldn't decide where to go or what to do.  We eventually settled on going to Lakeside.  It seemed like she could have fun gambling while I took a small boat and went fishing on the lake.  As fate would have it, that's exactly what happened.  We had an absolute blast but I would like to take a moment and focus on the fishing.

While I had never fished West Lake (that's the actual name of the lake that the casino is near/on) before, I had fished a lot of lakes that were comparable in size and location.  Honestly, it reminded me of a larger version of Watkins Mill.  There were a few points, some coves, and a little bit of structure along the bank.  It was late in the day so I positioned my boat near the shade that was building along the west bank which was not a long trip from the boat ramp.  My little two-man boat was only fashioned with a trolling motor and a single batter so I didn't feel inclined to explore the entire lake.

As I slowly motored toward the shade, I noticed A LOT of baitfish near the surface of the water.  I even found a few dead shad along the way as well.  These two facts told me that fishing a streamer was probably a good fly to start fishing with.  I tied on a craft fur minnow for a few reasons.  First, it came pretty close to being the right size and shape of the baitfish I was seeing.  Second, the fly is weightless.  I didn't know what kind of structure or vegetation was below the surface of this lake and I wanted to avoid snags.  Finally, I had enjoyed some luckwith this fly on recent trips and since it was a proven fly for crappie and bass in a few different places, it gave me a little confidence in its effectiveness on a lake that was new to me.

It is rare for me to find early success on a new lake.  Finding the right fly and putting it in the right place and finding the right pattern usually takes time.  This was not one of those days.  I found a bunch of crappie in the 10-11 inch range right off the bat!  They were about 5 feet off the bank and willing to eat the craft fur minnow I was throwing.  Simply put, it was awesome!  I landed enough fish to make me happy but I also missed enough to make me mad at myself.  

As I was coming off the water, I felt both lucky and fortunate.  I also felt like this setup, which made both my wife and I happy for different reasons, was something that needed to be revisited and enjoyed more often.  As fate would have it, the return trip happened just a couple of weeks later but was a very different experience.  Stay tuned for more!

This was one of a few crappie that took down a craft fur minnow.

That is my wife, longing for my presence as she stares at me through a window near the casino.

Fishing a Private Lake with My Buddy Nate

Private lakes are special places.  They can hold big fish, lots of fish, and sometimes they can hold lots of big fish.  Most times, the fish don't get as much pressure as they do on public lakes.  In my opinion, that makes them a little less educated and to me, it makes them easier to catch.  Private lakes/ponds also tend to be smaller than public lakes/ponds which gives the fish fewer places to hide as well.  There also tends to be fewer people fishing the lake/pond which can give an angler time to fish every spot on the water that looks like it could be holding fish.  Like I stated, private lakes/ponds are special.

When my buddy Nate invited me to fish a private lake in central Missouri, I was immediately interested to join him and full of excitement.  Nate also told me that he had fished the lake for many years and knew where the fish spent most of their time.  He told me that he was one of the few people that fishes at the lake so the fishing pressure was low.  He assured me that we were going to have a good time and catch enough fish to make the hour and a half drive worth the time and cost of gas.  So with a box of flies to tempt largemouth bass and my Maxxon Double XX 7 weight fly rod, I headed towards Nate's location.

I met up with Nate at his house, put my gear in his truck, and we headed to our destination.  I hope you can understand why I cannot disclose our exact location.  It is out of an abundance of caution that I don't share the spot.  I don't want to upset the landowner or Nate in any way.  I am always happy to share my fishing spots on public water but I have to keep private water information to myself.

When we arrived at the lake, we both started to prep our individual float tubes.  While I hadn't fished out of a tube in years, Nate uses one frequently during the summer and is more comfortable with his setup.  I, however, struggled to put my flippers on, get strapped into my float tube, and get my gear situated in the pockets.  After clumsily getting into the water, Nate and I had approximately 20 yards of large lily pads to kick through.  

Just after I made it to open water, Nate informed me that I had picked up a rather large spider on my raft.  I'll be honest, I don't care for spiders.  I've slowly gotten over my fears but when I saw that this particular spider was almost the size of a donut, I freaked out.  I might have splashed water, used foul language, and had a higher pitched voice than normal.  It was embarrassing but effective.

As we kicked across the lake to our first fishing spot, Nate informed me about the spots that we would be fishing.  He pointed them out and gave me some information about each spot.  Next, he graciously informed me that I would be hitting all of the good spots first and then he would fish the same spots with a different streamer and try to coax any fish that I missed.  I thought this was very generous of him, but then again, that's the kind of guy that Nate is!

I asked Nate about what streamers he thought I should throw and he said I should use something 3-4 inches long that didn't get too deep because there was aquatic vegetation growing up from the bottom of the lake that would give me fits if my fly got into it.  I decided to go with a Captain Quint because it is a weightless fly with a really slow sink rate and worked really well for me during the late spring and early summer of this year.  It is a big enough fly that smaller fish can't take it down but not so big that comes off as overwhelming to larger fish.

With a plan in place and with gear that was rigged and ready to go, we started catching fish!  The takes were aggressive and hard to miss.  I cannot remember how many fish I missed but I landed significantly more fish than I missed.  I didn't catch a ridiculous number of fish and I didn't catch anything I would call monstrous but it was exactly what I was hoping for.  The takes came in places that looked "fishy" and I didn't catch a single fish I would call a "dink".  The evening passed by way too fast and while gazing at a beautiful sunset, we kicked our tubes back towards where our trucks were parked near the bank.

This lake provided exactly what a good private lake can provide.  There were lots of opportunities to catch fish and the fish were good in terms of quality.  The takes were aggressive and the fish were not picky.  If you ever get a chance to fish a private lake, take it.  If you have access to a private lake already, enjoy it.  And if you have a friend that is as gracious as Nate to share a private spot with you, be grateful!

Fishing with Mr. Miller

Mr. Miller was my biology teacher in high school.  He made a lasting impression on me because of his passion for biology and his love of teaching.  I looked forward to his class every day and I often look back on things that I learned in his class.  After I graduated from high school, Mr. Miller and I have stayed in touch.  He has mounted a couple of deer for me (he's always an award-winning taxidermist), we taught in the same school district for a few years, and we follow one another on social media.  I am grateful to have known him for so long and to be able to call him a friend.

I follow Mr. Miller on Instagram and thoroughly enjoy his posts.  Over the summer, I saw a post from Mr. Miller which described a fly rod that a former student of his built for him.  It didn't take me long to suggest to Mr. Miller that we should hit the water and test (pun intended) his new fly rod out.  He was excited about the idea and within the next week, we were pushing off of dry land in my jon boat.

To Mr. Miller's credit, he had thrown a fly rod before albeit many years prior to our day on the water.  That is why I shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that he picked up casting REALLY fast.  The muscle memory of setting a hook and landing a fish also came back to him quickly as well.  In total, we landed four species (hybrid striped bass, bluegill, red ear sunfish, and crappie) but Mr. Miller landed three of the four!  While the fishing was good, I have to admit that the conversation and reminiscing was even better.

As I stated in my previous post (Fishing with Courtney Ball), it is a lot of fun to spend time on the water with someone that shares a passion for fishing.  While Mr. Miller does indeed like fishing, his expertise does not end there.  His knowledge of birds, mammals, and overall ecology is more than I could even hope to achieve.  He has spent over 40 years teaching young adults about the wonders and beauty of nature and is a role model that I look up to and have for decades.  As John Ashley-Cooper once said, "One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one's fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one's fishing companions."

Fishing with Courtney Ball

I've got an interesting story for you.

So there I was, sitting around one summer day and checking TikTok for likes, comments, and new followers.  I had posted a video recently and a gentleman made a comment that read something like, "If you're ever looking for someone to join you in your boat at Watkins Mill, let me know."  I said something to the effect of, "That sounds good.  We should do that."  To make a long story short, we actually ended up setting up a time to meet up and fish together.  Spoiler alert: neither of us were serial killers and we had a lot more in common than you might think.

Going back a little, I found out that the fella's name was Courtney Ball.  As fate would have it, he works in public education just like me.  We also don't live very farm from one another.  On top of that, we share a lot of similar views on life, religion, and education.  If you're picking up that Mr. Ball and I hit it off quickly, you would be right.

Over the course of the morning, we put a few fish in the boat.  We caught hybrid striped bass on chicken livers and panfish on flies.  We didn't catch anything big and sometimes the fishing was slow, but we caught fish.  We also shared a lot of laughs and swapped a lot of stories.  One funny thing that happened during the morning was that each of us received a message from someone that was making sure that one of us had not been murdered by the other one.  We each got a pretty good laugh out of that!  By the end of the morning I realized that I would share a boat with this guy again without any hesitation.

I'm not saying that everyone should meet a stranger on social media and go fishing with that person.  What I AM saying is that it sure if fun to share the water with someone that has the same passion.  Sure, it was a leap of faith to go fishing with a complete stranger and yes, I was a little anxious about how things were going to go that morning.  However, when you bring some anglers together that love the outdoors and get a kick out of putting fish in the boat, you're almost guaranteed to have some fun!

Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery

After our guided trip with Willowfly Anglers (feel free to read the post by clicking here), Wendy and I wanted to try our hand at fishing one more time before we departed for another part of Colorado where fishing was not going to be a priority anymore.  We wanted somewhere that was easy and quick to fish. We were prepared to do some wading but didn't have hours to spend.  We wanted to catch some fish and weren't picky about their size or species.  In essence, we wanted some easy fishing for dumb fish.  When I ran across the fact that Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery was near Gunnison, Colorodo, and had some ponds that were open to the public.  This seemed like the obvious choice and was exactly what we were looking for!  With a lot of optimism and hope, we headed to the hatchery.

When we arrived, I knew we had made the right choice.  There were multiple lakes, vehicles in the parking lot, and people fishing in various places.  There were a lot of fish that were easy to see and some of them were active.  It looked like we were going to have quite a few shots at catching fish so we got rigged up.

Wendy used a 5 weight and I used a 3 weight.  Most of the fish looked like typical 12 inch stockers but there were some bigger fish mixed in with them.  We started off throwing some jigs under indicators and the fish were somewhat interested.  They seemed to pick up on that trick pretty quick so we switched to flies that were more natural in appearance.  I made some hopper dropper rigs with zebra midges and pheasant tails as our bottom flies.  While we didn't get a bite on every cast, this setup seemed more productive than only using jigs.

I'll be honest, we should have caught A LOT of fish.  Maybe we were both late at setting hooks.  Maybe the fish were hitting and spitting as fast as possible because they were wary and well educated.  I'm sure that the fish in the ponds have seen a lot of flies in the past and are both picky and quick to spit out something that doesn't seem right.  Wendy landed a few rainbows with one coming on a hopper and two on a zebra midge that was the dropper.  I landed all of my fish on a dropper and missed a few on the hopper.  Since the bites were quick and subtle, we did a lot of sight fishing due to the blue skies and clear water.

Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery was a great place to visit and offered a fun fishing opportunity.  Was it the same as pulling brown trout out of the Gunnison with nymphs and wet flies?  No, it wasn't but it was still a good time.  Catching fish is always fun for me and there are varying levels of fun and a lot of different ways to catch fish.  The phrase "different strokes for different folks" comes to mind and if you're in the area and think that this looks like a good time, I hope you visit and enjoy this opportunity that is open to the public and FREE!

 

Tri-Lakes Fly Fishing Expo

Link: https://trilakesflyfishers.com/tri-lakes-fly-fisher-expo-april-13-2024-3/

If you live in the Midwest and love fly fishing, I hope you are able to attend the Tri-Lakes Fly Fishing Expo in Clinton, Missouri, on Sept. 11 and/or 12.  This is the first year that this event has taken place in September as it is usually held in early spring.  The organization decided to see if they could get an increase in attendance by holding the event towards the end of the summer and before many hunting seasons get started.  Make no mistake, this event gets a lot of traffic but the organization is always looking to see if they can improve on what is already and outstanding event.

On a personal note, I have been fortunate enough to attend this event for the last four years and it is something that I look forward to every single year.  There are programs put on by knowledgeable presenters, a silent auction, and a live auction.  There are vendors from all over the Midwest that are selling flies, other fly fishing items, and unique fly fishing related things.  There are quite a few fly tyers that tie a variety of patterns that teach a lot of different techniques.  If you like fly fishing, I can guarantee that you will find something interesting at this expo.

How much does it cost to attend such an event you might wonder?  THE SHOW IS 100% FREE!  In my opinion, that is one of the best things about this show.  You don't have to spend a single cent to attend the show.  It doesn't matter if you attend the show on one day or both days!  I will be at the show selling some flies, boxes, and merch.  I hope to see you there and if you do attend, please stop by my booth and say hello!  It would be a pleasure to meet you and talk about the sport that we love so much.

Link: https://trilakesflyfishers.com/tri-lakes-fly-fisher-expo-april-13-2024-3/

 

Fishing the Gunnison with Willowfly Anglers

Link: https://3riversresort.com/fishing/

During my recent trip to Colorado, I had the pleasure of fishing with Chad who is a guide for Willowfly Anglers out of Almont, Colorado.  We floated a section of the Gunnison river and caught some fish that I wouldn't have been able to catch without some assistance.  I lost a 17-18 inch brown but managed to land a 16 inch brown which helped to relieve the sting of losing a slightly bigger fish.  In total, I landed 8 browns, one small rainbow, and a big (to me at least) white sucker.  We caught all of our fish on Pat's rubber legs and RS2's.  Willowfly Anglers has a REALLY nice fly shop as well.  So if you find yourself in the Almont area and need some flies or a guide, stop by and give them a visit!  They definitely have their collective finger on the pulse of fly fishing in the area! 

Link: https://3riversresort.com/fishing/