Roberts Gravel Pond-Report

[windriver]

I went after school on Wed to flyfish the pond and to my surprise it was covered with ice. So I went back the next morning before Turkey dinner and fished for a couple of hours. I caught 25 perch and 4 trout. The next day I brought my family back over and I fished all day. Fight4Not also joined me part way through the day and BSflies came and fished the other side of the lake. We left at about 4:00 and had 83 perch. We released the 12 trout that we caught throughout the day.

Fight4Not figured out an interesting way of catching the perch. He would get them really agrivated with a paddle bug, but the paddle bug was too big for most of them and then when the fish were attacking the paddle bug we switched to a smaller ice fly and the fish would hit hard.

The ice was 2" thick, and we were fishing mostly with small ice flies or lead heads.

Last night for dinner we had a great meal of perch tacos. I can't wait for island park to freeze now.

Thanks for the holiday fishing reports.
Windriver
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[Fight4not]

Like windriver said we had a great time out on the ice. It felt good to be back out there pulling fish out through the ice. On saturday I decided to try my luck out on the river. But I was only out there for one hour close to sunset and it was too cold. My eyes on my fly pole froze up every two casts. So that didn't last long. I fished for about 30 min and had a fish on. Is there anything that people do to keep the ice out of the eyes? I think it is time to turn most of my fishing trips to ice fishing. []

Fight4not
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[windriver]

I like fishing Roberts because you can literally watch the perch change moods throughout the day. One minute they will eat a 2" paddle bug. The next minute they won't touch a 1/64 oz. ice fly. So if you can stay all day they will hit if you move and stay on top of them.

I fried the perch in honey butter and then made a salsa of kiwi and mandarine oranges. Wow!! they were good.

I am sure I will see you out on the ice this winter. Will Island Park be ready this Saturday?

Windriver
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[BrianID]

Windriver,

Thanks for the report. I was going to head up that way last Saturday but decided to stay home because of the weather.

Fight4not,

I've heard of some fishermen putting different kinds of grease on the guides to prevent the ice from forming but have never tried it myself. I just think it wouldn't help enough to make the extra mess of having grease on my line, hands, reel and rod worth the effort. I try to reduce the ice on my guides by adjusting the way I cast and retrieve my line. I also only try to fly fish on the warmer than average winter days. Maybe someone that fly fishes in the winter more often than I do has some better ideas.
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