Spring Browns 2014

Yesterday I was glad to be able to get out and meet up with a few friends on a river for some spring brown trout fishing. The weather was beautiful, warm, sunny and there was lots of insect activity. I showed up earlier then my friends and after getting in the river upstream I worked my way down. I targeted a few shallow runs that had produced for me in the past and managed a few tugs but no hook ups. At this time I was using a bead head mirage back scud which has been a great producer in the past for me on this river. I had it rigged without an indicator and was just sort of tight line nymphing and swinging the fly at the end through runs and different pockets.

After working down there was a fair bit of shallow broken water with boulders leading to the next run which usually I would walk over. Since having a taste of competition fishing I have been forcing myself to fish odd and unlikely holding water to see if I could get a fish or two and hone my skills. About half way down the run I sent my nymph right beside a boulder and hooked a really nice fish that had been holding in the skinny water. After a brief fight I brought him to net, grabbed a few pictures and released him...apparently he was camera shy.

I then got into a nice run with lots of active feeding fish and started to get a few smaller guys nymphing through with the same pattern. Around this time my friends showed up and started fishing down...I usually do not get stuck in one place but for the next few hours I did not move more then 20 feet around this pool. It is a bit of a trough that holds lots of boulders and stone and ranges in depth from about 2-4ft along its length. At the end of this pool I could catch glimpses of larger fish at the bottom and while some looked like sucker I caught the occasional flash of what looked to be monster brown trout. At this time I put an indicator on, a technique I am not overly comfortable with in order to pick apart the water and hopefully coax a big brown to take an offering.

 

In the deeper parts of the pool mixed in with the browns were some decent sized suckers. This was not the fish I was targeting but I could not keep them off my line. I must have hooked and landed around 30 suckers trying to nymph out the browns in this pool. I eventually gave up and moved to dry flies to avoid hooking any more. The fish were rising all around and the surface action was intense but I had a hard time putting out what they were keying into. It seemed that later in the day it was crane flies and earlier small white duns. I would get a few blow ups on an offering, size 18 white parachute, griffiths gnats, elk and CDC etc and then they would get wise and follow it and reject. I have had great days on this river on the dry but today was not one of them.

I finished the day off down river at a deeper pool that runs for maybe 10-15 feet before a set of riffles. I could see monster fish in the 18-22" range rising and eating insects off the top but yet again after trying to match the hatch on dries I was defeated with refusals and no interest. I switched back over to an indicator rig with a bead head mirage back scud and picked apart the water for maybe half an hour without any success. I switched over to a caddis pupa pattern from the book Tail Water Flies and BOOM first drift through I hooked up with a fish larger then my first. I had him buttoned up for maybe 25 seconds before the small size 18 hook came loose for a long distance release...that was maddening to say the least.

All and all it was a great day and I learned and observed a lot. I flipped over some rocks to look at what was in the stream and noticed as always lots of sow bugs in sizes 12 to about 18, with the majority being around 14-16. Also saw lots of small dark nymphs and noted size and color for this time of year for later reference.


Tail Water Flies & The Caddis Pupa

Spring Pan Fish 2014 - Heating Up

As the spring chill has turned into more hot and humid days I have been thankful to see the rise in pan fish activity and spawning. Yesterday I spent a few hours in the afternoon fishing a local pond for blue gill, pumpkin seed and crappie. I met a friend and his family while on the water and enjoyed a nice laid back day of catching scrappy fish and light conversation.

The bite was on and within a few hours plenty of fish were brought to shore. Of course I started out with my blue gill slaying pattern the bead head mirage back scud and had plenty of decent fish on in no time. My buddy who was using spinning tackle put one of my patterns on under a float and had great success as well, dare I say more then I had partially I believe due to being able to suspend the fly above the weeds and right in the zone.

I left the pond to go have dinner at my parents and on the way home stopped back in for more action. As the night progressed the crappie bite started and I was able to land plenty of feisty average size fish. They keyed in on the retrieve more then the pattern, as long as the fly was retrieved with long strips and a pause they were all over it. I switched over to an epoxy minnow towards the end of the evening and had a fish on almost every cast. At 9:45 when I was having trouble seeing and the bugs started to feast upon my flesh I choose to call it a night. I took a few pictures just to share here, at this point I have caught so many thousands of pan fish that I normally only take pictures of ones that are larger then normal, or that have interesting markings.

Hot Patterns Today

Bead Head Mirage Back Scud

Bead Head PheasantTail Soft Hackle

Parachute Dry Flies

Epoxy Minnow - This pattern and the picture below is that of Ian Collin James, you can find a step by step tying guide here:  http://www3.sympatico.ca/ianjames/fly-tying.html

Practice Makes Perfect SUCKER!

I spent the morning of April 22nd 2014 at a local river system nymphing for a fish that most anglers would consider garbage, that being the sucker. It seems to me that fly anglers are more relaxed to the idea of fishing for many different species compared to those who say spin cast but there is still a stigma with some species of fish. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I had friends call me crazy or stupid for targeting pan fish when bass fishing was all the rage on the rivers and ponds. While they sat at home because there was no "good" fishing to be had I was on the water catching scrappy gills, pumpkin seeds and crappie having a blast.

Since switching over to the fly I have put a large number of new species under my belt in a very short time. It seems that all the fly fishing techniques that I learn and try to master help me down the road when targeting all sorts of fish and each new thing I learn is just another valuable tool to keep in the tool box for when different situations arise.

My first time on the river this spring was the perfect example. A good friend of mine helped me to refine some nymphing techniques on pre spawn suckers that can be very finicky and technical. With a short lesson and some help setting up proper rigs I was into fish in no time and having a blast. I took the same techniques learned this day and used them a month later on a steelhead river with stone fly nymphs and had an unbelievable amount of success. For many fly anglers sucker are not an interesting species to target but I tell you these guys fight almost like salmon for the first part of the fight, freaking out and stripping line off at record speed and strength.

I started the day running 4-5X tippet before switching over to 6lb fluorocarbon to stop these tough fish from breaking me off. On the menu for the day was a tungsten weighted hares ear nymph and unweighted pheasant tail nymphs on the dropper. I am glad that I had the practice that day with suckers in order to take the same technique with me to nymph for steelhead. The first day using only this technique I must have hooked 40+ steelhead, I doubt the same thing would have taken place if I did not have that practice session with the "garbage" fish.

The point of my ramblings? Never turn down an opportunity to fish. All of the techniques and presentations that fly anglers use can be adapted to different species and situations so look at each time out on the water as an opportunity to learn, try something new and refine your skills for later battles.

Steelheading Spring 2014 - Part 2

I just finished up the last little bit of steelheading over my holidays and I must say that I had an absolute blast. I lucked out with water levels and conditions after a hard dumping of rain earlier in the week. I could not have had a better week and wanted to share a few pictures and a bit of information with those who follow the blog.

Articulated Bunny Leechs

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On this day I hit two fish and managed to land one. The first tug of the day came on a black bunny leech and was only on for a very short time before the hook came launching back at my head. This second fish took the same fly on the swing, low and slow with a 10ft section of T-14 as a tip. She was in good condition but looked to be dropping back from spawning.

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This day the conditions were PERFECT and I managed to hit 4 fish in total and land 2 of them. The first was a nice little male drop back who took a copper and brown fish taco variant on the swing...HARD. My second fish came on a crayfish pattern that I actually tied and intended to use for carp fishing. Low and slow yet again. Nice average sized female drop back.

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This just goes to show quality over quantity. This fish was not only the biggest I have caught to date as far as steelhead go, but also the freshest. I swung flies all day without any luck and choose to try out some nymphing. I hooked this beautiful fresh fish and knew right away she was something special. After a long winded fight and some help from a friend to land her I got a quick picture and released her back on the way to find an area to spawn. This was an amazing way to end a week long binge of steelheading and I have to say thank you again to all my friends who I fished with over this time. I have learned a lot over this week and feel that I am finally starting to dial things in with catching fish on the swing.

In the near future I may do a step by step guide so I can share some patterns with you all that clearly are effective and work wonders.

For now I will be taking notes, contemplating and looking back fondly on steelhead fest 2014!

Steeheading Spring 2014 - Part 1

Well the trip up to a Lake O tributary has come and gone...normally I would go into great detail on the trip, events, how the conditions were, techniques and flies...however I am still exhausted from that trip and hitting the local waters today so I will just briefly go over what went on.

I started off the day swinging flies and after three hours I switched over to nymphing stonefly-esq patterns and boy did the action pick up. Over the entire two days of fishing I hooked 55+ fish easily and landed perhaps 9 or 10. The reason for so many long distance releases I think was due to the fact that I was using barbless nymph hooks and in a few cases hooks that were not up to the task of fighting feisty steelhead. On the second day I started swinging again for a while and hooked two fish that I did not land. After that I started to accidentally foul hook fish in the run so switched back to nymphing for the remainder of the day. Here are a few photos of fish that I caught, as well as a few caught by my good friend Mike B and some of the flies that did not stand the test of Mr. Steel.

Frank Sawyer Favorite Flies - Video

Just stumbled across this video on you tube that talks about and
shows how to tie some of Frank Sawyers favorite fly patterns. I really
enjoyed watching the video and will be tying some of these patterns to
stock up the nymph box in the future. Wanted to share it with everyone here
who follows the blog and hope you found it as interesting as I have.

Preparing For Battle

I am finally a free man...for the next 10 days I am free from the restraint that we call work and am able to explore the rivers and swing flies at beautiful silvery fish to my hearts content.

I plan to drive up to a Lake Ontario tributary this evening and tuck in for a few hour nap in the car before hitting the river before first light. I have brought the whole arsenal , flies for swinging, flies for nymping, rods, back up rods...I am set for whatever situations come my way. When I get back I will add a report on how things went and perhaps a few pictures...if it was anything like last spring I cannot wait to wet my boots in the river!