Dan Staggenborg sent us this trip report on a surprise he got by fishing a farm pond.

I had a pretty cool fishing experience last week that I would like to share. Got a chance to fish my buddy’s neighbor’s farm pond. I brought my fly rod in hopes of catching some crappie. I had tied some flies that had gold heads and had turkey butt feathers that ended up looking like small (1” + long) silver/grey marabou jigs. The idea was to imitate a tiny minnow which crappie love.

Since I had been Euro nymphing a lot lately, I thought I’d give that a try. The results were pretty spectacular, actually. First fish was a crappie but after that it was bluegill mostly hand sized but a few that were larger. The technique I used was to flip the fly out, give it a quick second to sink and then drag it slowly parallel to the bank, keeping it off the bottom. I also worked it around a dock with great success. As I dragged it, I would feel a tick (or slight bump) and would set the hook with a flick of the wrist. Invariably there would be a fish on.  If you‘ve ever caught bluegill on a fly rod you know that they are terrific fighters even though they soon tire out.

The technique was very productive. I would estimate I caught at least 50-60 bluegill, a few crappie and a couple of bass, including a 16 incher.

Keeping in mind it IS a seldom fished farm pond, I can’t really brag about fishing ability. But I do try to get out with my fly rod whenever and wherever the opportunity presents. Hope you will get on the water and have as much fun as I do.

danstag