Day 16 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 4/14/2012

Location: Dixon Reservoir
 Time:  9:00- 12:30am
Weather: 65 Degrees wind variable... storm hit about 12:30

Best day of bluegill fishing so far this year!  Dad and I took the kayaks to Dixon and had a blast.  The fishing was kind of slow until about 10:30 and then it really picked up to the point where it was a fish per cast if the cast was close to the vegetation edge.  There was a major storm moving in and we left just before it hit.  The best fishing came in the submerged cattails near coordinate L18.   We were both fishing popper/dropper type rigs.  Dad had a big white foam spider on top and I had a white gurgler.  We both fished BBS spiders about 15" underneath.  The best colors for the BBS seemed to be tan and black.  Dad's foam spider seemed to get more hits on top than the gurgler, but the gurgler made a better strike indicator.  Lost count, but I'd guess we both caught in excess of 50 bluegill, most of them nice fish in the 6-8" range.  I also caught 4 bluegill over 9", including my biggest of the year so far at 9.5."   Just a great day on the water.

Dad driving the kayak like a boss.

Biggest Bluegill of the year so far!  He even had a big humpback head.

Day 15 - Troutman Park

Date: 4/11/2012

Location: Troutman Park
 Time:  6:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  50 Degrees, cloudy, no wind

I tried to target bass today with a 3" long bunny fly.  I fished it for about an hour and a half, covering the whole small pond and the Northwest side of the large pond.  I didn't get a single bite on it.  Just before I left I switched to a gurgler/pt combo and caught two small bluegill before leaving.

Day 14 - Troutman Park

Date: 4/9/2012

Location: Troutman Park
 Time:  6:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  60 Degrees no wind

Thea and I had an interesting day of catching tiny fish in Troutman ponds.  The water levels are very low with several weeks of hot weather and no rain.  All of the fish that were out feeding seemed to be very small.  We both caught 20+ fish, but they were almost all in the 3-4 inch range.  Thea caught a 6-7" green sunfish and I caught a 10-11" bass, other than that all fish were small.   We were using pheasant tail nymphs about 1ft below gurglers.  Most fish were caught on the PTs

Thea's pretty Green Sunfish.  

Video of Thea making a perfect cast to a pod of rising fish... and catching a tiny bluegill. 

Day 13 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 4/5/2012

Location: Dixon Reservoir
 Time:  4:00- 6:00pm
Weather:  60 Degrees 10-15 mph wind from the South

I took the Kayak over to Dixon after a short work day and fished for a couple of hours.  The wind was too strong to really fish well, but I drifted from K13 to I4 along the treeline on the Eastern edge.  I fished a Popper/Dropper type rig with a white gurlger and a yellow BBS.   I caught a dozen bluegill, equally split between both flies.  I had several more small fish strike/miss on top.  Overall, the fishing was slower than the last trip to Dixon, but still fun.  I also fished some larger streamers for bass, but no luck. 

Dixon from the Kayak:

Dixon Bluegill caught on a white Gurgler: 

Day 12 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 3/31/2012

Location: Dixon Reservoir
 Time:  5:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  70 Degrees 5-10mph wind from the South

Thea, Dad, and I fished Dixon and had a great time.   Thea decided to fish mostly from shore, as she hasn't gotten used to fly fishing from the kayaks yet.  She caught about 25 fish, including several 8" bluegill and an 8" Pumkinseed.  She didn't get a picture of the Pumpkinseed, not realizing that it probably would have qualified for a Master Angler award.  Thea fished between coordinates of H12 and I-15 and said the area near I14 was especially good.  Thea said that the fish were taking both the yellow gurgler she was fishing on the surface, and thepheasant tail nymph that she was fishing about a foot below the gurlger. 

 Dad fished for Bass on the very Southeastern corner of the pond, but didn't get any bites on a big popper or a rubber worm.  He switched over to a black gurgler with a green BBS and caught several on both.  I drifted the tree-lined Eastern edge of the lake, letting the wind move the kayak along, from coordinates K11 to I6.   Almost every good cast yielded a bluegill.  They were very aggressively taking both the yellow BBS and the black gurgler.  The bluegill were all in the 6-8" range and I also caught a nice 7" pumpkinseed.

7" Pumkinseed:

8" Bluegill:

 
Dixon Reservoir:

Day 11 - Troutman Park

Date: 3/30/2012

Location: Troutman Park
 Time:  5:30- 8:00pm
Weather:  70 Degrees and no wind


Fished Troutman park with Thea and Dad.  We all did very well, catching many bluegill all over the small pond.  I caught almost all of my fish on a Yellow foam gurgler with a pheasant tail nymph fished about 1' underneath.  Most fish came on the pheasant tail, but several hit the gurgler as well.  As it got dark, the fish stopped taking the nymph and focused more on the topwater presentation.  I switched over to a black gurlger and caught several nicer fish, including an 8" green sunfish, right before dark.   I was mostly catching fish in the J14 area of the small pond.  It was a very fun night of fishing. 

Day 10 - Lon Hagler

Date: 3/25/2012

Location:  Lon Hagler
 Time:  4:00- 7:30pm
Weather:  70 Degrees and no wind

Thea, Dad, and I took the kayaks to Lon Hagler.  I tried to fly fish near the inlet with no success. Dad caught one fish on a jointed Rapala near the North side of the dam.   Dad and I then switched off with the kayak and Thea and I trolled the dam face with the kayaks and I caught one small rainbow on a silver and blue Little Cleo Spoon.  Thea then caught two rainbows on the same Little Cleo spoon.   It was the first kayak fishing trip of the season and it was great to get out on the water!

Thea fighting her second fish of the day!