I Went to Macbride the other day (Sunday) to look for mushrooms. I gave up and decided to go fishing right before dusk. All I had with me was my fly rod and one black woolly bugger. I hammered the crappies from about 8:15pm 'til after 10pm when I finally snagged my bugger on some unseen object. I was on the very first fishing pier on the left as you approach Macbride from North Liberty (past Mehaffey bridge.) Most of the fish were 1 to 10 feet from shore and they responded best to looooong, slow, and steady strips of the line. Many of the fish I caught were around 14" and FAT. I put them all back.
WOW!!! 14 incers are great!!!! I've found similar fishing here in west central Iowa. fishing olive woolies, the crappies seem to hit it on the fall, most I caught were site fishing, the takes were very subtle.
Man I love Crappies on the Fly Rod! 14" Inchers are nice size fish indeed! The average size at Bigwoods Lake seems to be 11-12 inchers. It is pretty funny this time of year. My two cats are fishing crazy. They see me grab the fly rod and they will follow me around to wait for the bite. One of them thinks he is a tournament fisher because I have seen him hook a ride on a strangers boat before. It kind of blew my mind! I am out mowing my back yard and I see a bass boat crusie by with my cat on the stern.
I went to a farm pond I fish a lot today, and most of the fish were wiped out this winter, so it may have to be restocked. It used to be filled with fish, but when I went I only saw four fish. 2 bluegills and 2 crappies. I guess I will have to fish somewhere else untill the population builds back up.
