March 2008 eNewsletter

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Towne Lake - February 27, 2008 (PM)

Fished Towne Lake this evening. Used a Carolina Rigged Corn on the bottom. One nibble but no hook-up. Switched to lures and tried out a Kastmaster and a Super Duper without success. Changed back to bait but used a float and fished the upper column with Bread for bait. Several hits but no hook-ups. Could see fish activity on the surface but failed to get a decent strike let alone land a Trout. Hopefully, it was just a slow bite since it was night and not the Cormorants reported earlier by the Field Team.

Towne Lake Field Report - February 27, 2008

A member of the Field Team reports limiting out with a five fish limit at Towne Lake at Noon today!  Unfortunately, he mentioned the Cormorant have returned. 

 

So, better fish when the opportunity presents itself before the birds clean out the Trout.

 

Asked him what he was using - Carolina Rigged Corn fished from the bottom.  However, he did see others using floats getting strikes with one of the old timers limiting out fishing with Bread.

 

Did not send pictures but they were the norm - 8" to 10" in size.

 

Towne Lake - February 25, 2008

Returned to Towne Lake in McKinney for another chance at Trout after work today. Tried flyfishing with the Cigarette Egg Fly; struck out with no hits.

Went back to the Carolina Rigged Corn fished on the bottom. Caught 5 fish limit ranging in 7" to 9.5" in size in less than 45 minutes. Would have limited out sooner but missed a lot of light strikes.

Cleaned the fish and noted the stomach contents. Most were filled with Corn. However, two Trout had a Chartreuse PowerBait Nugget along with Corn in their stomachs.

At this point, suggest fishing with Corn until the Trout start feeding on midges. Then, will try catching them on a nymph.

Good luck and good fishing!

Trout Stringer:

Stomach Contents:

FAQ - "Preferred Bait and Rig for Trout Fishing"

While fishing for Trout in the community lakes in the local area, our team is frequently asked: "What bait are we using?" and "How are we rigging our fishing poles?"

We don't consider ourselves fishing experts but willingly provide information and tips to others. The following are the answers to those questions for your reference.

Good luck and good fishing!

"What bait are we using?"
Typically we use Corn when fishing for Trout. It is cheap and works well after a Trout stocking. We also keep Bread, Cheese with Garlic, Salmon Eggs, and Trout PowerBait on hand in case the Trout are selective. Since things change from year to year, one bait may outfish what worked the year before.

"How are we rigging our fishing poles?"
Normally we fish the bottom using a Carolina Rig. We opt to fish on the bottom when we first arrive at a fishing area but will shift to fishing with a Bobber / Bubble Float, casting lures, and flyfishing. Adjusting as the situation dicatates. For your information, the illustration below details the Carolina Rigged Corn, the rig we use when fishing with Corn on the bottom.

Towne Lake - February 24, 2008

Returned to Towne Lake in McKinney for another chance at Trout in the late afternoon. Started out slow with no hits on a Carolina Rigged corn but then it picked up about a half-hour later. Partner and I ended up limiting out - 10 Trout ranging from 8" to 10.5" in size.

Saw a lot of limits taken using bait. Also, observed others taking them with artificials. One fisherman took a ~14"+ Trout on a chrome Kastmaster.

Several flyfishermen were also tempting them with fishing flies but did not see any hook-ups despite a lot of surface activity. A school of Trout were boiling on the surface several times.

FYI: Saw the Game Warden out issuing citations, so beware and heed the five fish per person daily limit and ensure you have a license.

Towne Lake Trout (8" to 10.5" size)

Towne Lake - February 23, 2008

Participated in the City of McKinney Trout Derby this morning at Towne Lake. Caught five fish limit in less than 30". Checked in my stringer for a whopping 442 grams!

Opted for spinfishing gear and fished corn on the bottom on a Carolina Rig. Observed children and adults catching Trout ranging from 7" to 12"+ in size.

Returned later in the afternoon with my fishing partner. Same story, different fisherman, five fish limit on corn fished on the bottom on a Carolina Rig.

Small but fun fishing for them.

Note: Saw fish taken on Corn, PowerBait, and Cheese. Also, observed others taking them on silver and copper Super Dupers. Noticed some fishing with Salmon Eggs with some results. First day of trout stocking pretty much anything goes.

Trout Derby Stringer - 442g!

Partners Stringer taken in the afternoon.

Celebration Park - February 22, 2008 (PM)

Able to make it back to the East Pond this evening. Chummed with bread but had to ball the bread up into dough balls and sink them because a trio of ducks decided to eat the floating bread.

Slow start with no hits for 15", and then it picked up. Caught four Sunfish and one scrappy, little Catfish on the Cigarette Egg Fly.

All were caught slowly crawling the fly below the water's surface. Note: See the Catfish's belly in the picture below; it is bloated most likely from the dough balls.

Sunfish:


Catfish:

Celebration Park - February 22, 2008

Stopped by at lunch today, despite the cold, to check out the East Pond.  Fish were there and nibbling at the bread chum but could not get a hook-up on the Cigarette Egg Fly.  Had some light strikes fishing it slowly on the bottom; most likely they were small Sunfish.  Will try again later hopefully when it warms up this weekend!

 

Quick Updates

Quick updates from the team.

 

In the City Of Allen:

 

Celebration Park.  Our team has been using the North and East Ponds at Celebration Park for testing two fly patterns - Bread Fly and Cigarette Egg Fly, created by one of our members.  Both fishing flies have been successful at catching Bluegill, Sunfish, and Catfish and are designed to imitate a piece of bread.

 

To fish them, we have been chumming with bread to attract the fish, and then casting the fly to the chummed spot.  As we are fishing a community lake where a number of park goers feed the resident ducks, the fish have grown accustomed to feeding on bread.  We were concerned about the ducks and seagulls eating the chum before the fish at first; however, the birds tend to stay away as long as we kept the bread within 20' to 30'.

 

The North Pond is a sure bet for Bluegill and Sunfish with the Cigarette Egg Fly producing excellent results the first time we tested it.  No dryfly floatant is applied. Instead, as the fly became waterlogged, it slowly sinks below the surface at the same rate as the bread.  Even more enticing is the coloring of the filter material, the nicotine stains produce a color pattern that closely resembles a rolled piece of bread with its brown crust.

 

The East Pond is also good for Bluegill, Sunfish, and Catfish.  Our best Catfish so far is a 20" Catfish (slightly over 2 lbs) caught with a Bread Fly fished wet and pulled slowly through the chummed spot.  We have not tried the Cigarette Egg Fly in the East Pond but plan to do so once the weather clears.

 

Also, in either pond, we have found the Prince Nymph and Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Nymph patterns work well for Bluegill and Sunfish.

 

FYI:  Instructions for tying the fly patterns have been posted on the Web Log.  If unable to locate the posts, use the Blogger Search Function on the top of this page, entering "Bread" or "Cigarette" as the search criteria.

 

 

Other Locations:

 

Frisco Commons.  Frisco Commons is still seeing trout activity after receiving its stocking 9 February with Salmon Eggs being the preferred bait.  Earlier reports indicated lures and fishing flies were taking trout; however, recent reports suggest fishing with bait.

 

Towne Lake in McKinney. Towne Lake is scheduled for its trout stocking this weekend.  To kick-off the event, the city of McKinney is hosting a Trout Derby on Saturday, 23 February.  From previous trout stockings, we have observed lures and fishing flies work well the first week (sometimes two weeks) after a pond is stocked.  So, fishermen who want to take trout on artificials should plan to fish Towne Lake this weekend!

 

Denison Dam Tailrace.  The tailrace is seeing some activity with reports of smaller-sized Striped Bass being taken on shad imitations.  Overall, it is still hit or miss for fishermen given the a large number of shad in the area.  A lot of bait, live or dead, is in the tailrace; therefore, fish are being more selective.  Give it a try and check the generation schedule and the release schedule for Denison Dam to get a feel for when they are releasing water / generating power (see link posted in the sidebar).

 

 

 

Good luck and good fishing!

 

 

Celebration Park - February 20, 2008

Fished the North Pond at lunch today to test out the Cigarette Egg Fly. Chummed with bread, and then fished for about 15 minutes. Caught five fish ranging in 4" to 6" in size. Hooked but missed a lot more.

Did not apply dryfly floatant; opted to let the fly slowly sink like a water-soaked piece of bread. Also, fish readily hit the Cigarette Egg Fly despite the chum dissipating.

Results are promising! Will keep testing it out and post results.

FYI: Latest Audio Fishing Reports has been posted. See the audio player in the sidebar.

Fish caught on Cigarette Egg Fly

Another Fishing Fly - "Cigarette Egg"

Here is another fishing fly that can be used like the Bread Fly. It is called a Cigarette Egg because it is made from a cigarette filter.

Basically, it is tied like a Glo-Bug Egg but instead of using Glo-Bug Yarn, I used a cigarette filter. Had to improvise as the only Glo-Bug Yarn I had was chartreuse.

Separating the filter from the cigarette, remove the paper from the filter. Then, break the filter material length-wise into three pieces. The material is fluffy and almost feels like Glo-Bug Yarn.

Have not fished it yet but will post results first chance I get.

Good luck and good fishing!


Illustrations:

Instructions on tying a "Bread Fly"

Below are a series of illustrations showing how to tie a "Bread Fly" for your reference. Other material was used for the body and wing but the inner core from a polypropelene rope seemed to get the most hits at least for the ponds we fished.


Material used are as follows:
Thread: White Dacron
Body: Inner Core of Polypropelene Rope (1/4" Diameter)
Wing: Same as Body
Hook: Mustad Lazer Live Bait Hook - Size 6
Other: Super-Glue and Head Cement


Illustrations (Steps 1-4):






Illustrations (Steps 5-7):






Illustrations (Steps 8-9):






Illustrations (Steps 10-11):

Celebration Park - February 17, 2008

Fished the East Pond this morning; finally caught one of the larger Catfish. Caught it using flyfishing gear, a Bread Fly, and chumming with bread. Catfish went 20" in size and just over 2 lbs.

Started fishing on the surface but did not get a strike. Soaked the bread with water, and then chummed a spot by letting the bread sink. Then worked the Bread Fly slowly along the bottom.

Not a bad size for a community pond Catfish. Fun fight on a flyrod!

Bread Fly

20" Catfish

Celebration Park - February 15, 2008

Had another go at the East Pond. Chummed with bread and caught two Catfish and one Bluegill on another variant of the Bread Fly. Used dubbing material, a palmered hackle, and larger size hook. Also, hooked but lost a nice size (2-3lbs) Catfish; this time my tippet brook off.

Catfish 15" Size


Catfish 9" Size



PS: Stopped by later that night and caught two more Catfish. One on a Bread Fly; other on a baited hook. One went 15" in size; other barely broke 10".

Celebration Park - February 13, 2008

Had another go at the Catfish in the East Pond using the Bread Fly. Caught one Sunfish and two Catfish. One Catfish was 9" in size; other Catfish was 14" in size. Tried several Bread Flies. Best one again was the one made with the innner core of some poly rope.

9" Catfish

14" Catfish

Celebration Park - February 12, 2008

Stopped by this evening for another try at the Catfish. More wind, more cold, ... Catfish were still there and active. Hits on the Bread Fly but no hook ups with Catfish. Caught one Sunfish about 5" in size.

Sunfish on the Bread Fly

Celebration Park - February 12, 2008

Checked the East Pond at lunch today.  Despite the wind and drop in temperature, Catfish, Sunfish, and Bluegill continued to take bread chum floating on the surface.    Will have to try catching one of the larger Catfish on a Bread Fly this weekend. 

 

Have been experimenting with different material for tying a Bread Fly.  So far, have tried deer hair, rabbit fur, bath sponge, and the inner core of poly rope.  The poly rope seems to work the best, just need to work on the hook size. 

 

More to come later.

 

Celebration Park - February 10, 2008

Fished the East Pond to catch a Catfish using Flyfishing gear. Chummed the pond with bread and started catching Bluegill and Sunfish. Catfish followed with the action remaining steady.

A lot of strikes but few hook-ups with Catfish. Did hook but did not land a nice size Catfish - maybe 2-3Lbs. Kept at it for a couple of hours finally landing one on the Bread Fly.

Sunfish caught on the Bread Fly

Catfish caught on the Bread Fly

Celebration Park - February 9, 2009

Fished the North and East Ponds this afternoon. Caught three small Sunfish on flyfishing gear using a Prince William Nymph in the North Pond. Caught two small Bluegill using a Bread Fly in the East Pond. Bread Fly is a pattern that I use when fish are feeding on bread thrown in the water by park goers to feed ducks and by fishermen chumming for fish. Probably could have caught a lot more Bluegill but I had to leave for home. Will give it a shot tomorrow and post results.