Tag Archives: One Pound Bluegills

HFF Picnic

The Annual HFF Picnic was a big success despite foul weather and wet dogs. The weather for the picnic was not so nice with 20mph winds and cool temperatures. Not good for fly fishing, however a few brave souls tried their luck with an assortment of small flies hoping for that one pound bluegill that Barry said hangs out around around his cove. Randy fared the best on the gills with several being caught off the point, casting downwind of course.

As usual Barry served up the best burgers and brats on Lake Lemon and everyone enjoyed the meal and the fellowship inside out of the cold winds. Buddy, the black Laborador,  was the life of the party, getting the most exercise of us all chasing tennis balls. He even took a dip in the lake. Actually the lake temperature was much warmer than the air and he loved the attention, there’s nothing like a wet dog to get you moving after a full stomach. Thanks Barry for the hospitality and Buddy for the entertainment.

FISH REPORT: Monroe Lake is still 5 foot high and will be high for quite some time. The Corps Of Engineers have the lake dam wide open now and it will be 3 weeks before the lake is good wade fishing. A few brave souls have been wading a little for carps in the shallows Wiper May 19on sunny days. A few wipers are being caught near the dam.  A few trout have been caught below Brookville and the smallies have been biting in small creeks, if you can find one at normal levels. White bass runs should be in full swing if you can find a spot to cast. The warmer temps this next week should turn the bite on, GO FISH!

April Meeting going once, going twice……..

Kernal Kevin
Kernal Kevin working his magic.

The April Hoosier Fly Fishers Meeting was a great success.  Everyone had a good time visiting and telling fish stories as well as welcoming some new faces to the group.  There were several of us old faces there for the fellowship and  a helping of  Steve’s awesome cooking but mostly we were there for the Annual HFF auction of good stuff.  The Annual HFF auction helps to fund the club’s activities and any Environmental Projects we support.   As usual, Kernal Kevin was in good form for the occasion and with his quick wit and humor he managed to auction off tons of good stuff.  Among some of the more popular items were fly tying supplies, fly rods, and fly boxes full of one pound bluegill flies.  Kevin worked hard at clearing the tables full of stuff and when the dust settled he had raised over $600 for the club.  Many thanks Kevin for a job well done and thanks to all the members that brought in all that good stuff!

After the meeting, I was standing in the Colorado Steakhouse parking lot talking with club president TimM about all the one pound bluegill flies he had been tying.  All the good stuff had been loaded and hauled away and all that remained was a small car exiting the parking lot. As the car turned south on College I heard a faint voice say “going once…… going twice…….”

HFF Projects: The HFF Club has purchased 500 trees for the Indiana DNR to plant around Monroe Lake.  The DNR plans to plant the trees the morning of May 21st. Fishing clubs and the Boy Scouts have volunteered to help plant the trees but more help is needed. If you can spend a couple of hours with friends and help with the planting you can contact Rex Waters at the Paynetown Office and let him know you are coming to help. Bring a shovel and meet at Paynetown.  PH: 812-837-9546

The club also purchased some fishing line disposal units to be placed around Monroe Lake. More info soon.

Fish and Lake Report: Fishing has been good pretty much everywhere. We have received good reports from North Carolina, Lake Lemon, Griffy Lake, farm ponds, Monroe Lake and a few local creeks. We have had reports of almost every species of fish being caught on flies. Warmer weather has the fish in a feeding mood, Spring is a great time to fly fish, try it.

Monroe Lake is 5ft high and dropping slow, surface water temperature is hovering around 60 degrees and warmer in the backs of bays. Northern Indiana Reservoirs are at pool or below, expect low flow rates downstream from them, southern reservoirs are high and releasing lots of water, expect high water levels if you fish downstream from them. If you fish below reservoirs or in Indiana streams or rivers you can get water flow rates and levels on the USGS website. You can read historical, recent and real-time water data by clicking on a location in Indiana. Some of the gauges even read real time water temperature.  Check it out here: USGS Water Data for Indiana