With summer steelhead in mind I decided to tie up some skating-style dry flies in case the opportunity arises. Having steelhead in rivers with the water temps a bit warmer than fall conditions calls for some dry fly attempts.
Summer Steelhead
For most people in the midwest the 4th of July means fireworks, bbq’s, and beers. For some local anglers this day reminds them that summer steelhead are beginning to make their way into Indiana and southern Michigan tributaries. While things vary year to year depending on weather and water temps, the beginning of July is usually when good numbers of skamania strain steelhead start their migration into creeks and rivers. A week ago my friend Chad called me up saying how he was staying in a cabin in Michigan near the Indiana border over the weekend, so we made some arrangements to meet up at a small creek in Indiana early on Tuesday to see if any steelhead had shown up yet. Chad had a short 2o minute drive from his cabin which put him on the creek about an hour earlier than I could get there coming from the northwest ‘burbs. When I arrived Chad was fishing near the bridge and said he had already hooked 2 fish. One he played for a minute and lasted through about 5 jumps before the fish broke off. The other only lasted a couple head shakes and was gone. Needless to say I was anxious to get a line in the water. We spent the next 3 hours drifting nymphs and eggs through deep pools. Just when we thought our luck had run out I was into a nice fish. After the first 30 seconds I thought I had control of the situation, then I see my fish jump about 6 feet away from where my line is still attached….. to a log. Typical in these small creeks. I stayed another hour after Chad had left and hooked 2 more fish. The first jumped 3 or 4 times, then wrapped around a tree, broke free of the tree, then seconds later the tippet broke. The second fish ran me up and down the creek, in and out of fallen trees without getting hung up, and I eventually scooped him into my net. After a quick photo I held the fish in the water to regain his strength and marveled at its beauty until it finally swam off.
Everglades Adventure
I got back from Southwest Florida over a week ago and have been too busy with work and family stuff to get to the computer to share my experience until now. We arrived in Naples, Florida early in the day with enough time to stop at the local fly shop http://www.mangroveoutfitters.com/ to pick up some leaders, fishing licenses, flies, and some Mangrove Outfitter gear. My cousin and I always like to support a good fly shop by representing their logo. After we gathered some other supplies: beer, potato chips, bread, and some deli meats for the next weeks lunches we headed back to our place where we studied the google map over a beer and discussed the plan for the first day of fishing. Since the last time I was down in Florida my dad heard about a place with land-locked tarpon, snook, and even some largemouth bass. At least they’re land-locked most of the year. During summer months the rain and high tide floods these lakes and gives the fish access to and from the gulf. Which is how they got there in the first place. Regardless of how they got there I was anxious to get there and show ’em some flies. So, day one we headed to these lakes to get the skunk out right away so we could relax the rest of the week knowing that we caught some fish. Before I tell you about how we did I’m gonna give you an idea of what is going through our heads as we park the car right next to a panther crossing sign….. snakes, gators, panthers….. The list of things that can cause serious injury to you just seems to go on and on in the everglades, and we had to bushwack through a quarter mile of overgrown trail. Anyway, we made it to the lake alive and did ok. I caught one of the biggest snook of the trip in the first hour of the first day.
So the goofy hat and bandanna is obviously not a fashion statement, between the hot sun and bugs you have to cover up!
yes, those are gators
There it was… my first snook on a fly! taken on a deceiver style fly that I tied for the trip on the first day of fishing! After releasing the fish Chase and I saw a tarpon roll in the middle of the lake. We made some cast to where we saw it and there was no response. I switched up to my 10wt rod with intermediate sink tip line to get my fly deeper. A few cast later and I felt and aggressive strike! As soon as I had pressure on the fish a silver streak came flying out of the water in front of me once, than another time, than took almost all my fly line, and on the third jump the tarpon spit the hook! Chase and I were so impressed by the fish’s strength, especially because he was only about ten pounds, that we didn’t seem bothered about the fact that the fish got away. We simply looked at each other in amazement with big grins on our faces. That was the last of the action we saw at that lake for the day. We continued on at the same beach I had caught the pompano and mackerel in the spring time. Only the fishing was much different this time. No pompano or mackerel, but snook cruising by right in the surf every couple of minutes making a meal of the weakest baitfish. Before I even got a shot at a fish I looked to see chase with a bent rod. These school sized snook were stronger than they look and always gave you a couple jumps.
Chase continued to catch these smaller snook on the gummy minnow while a tried a few different flies. Eventually I got one to work.
There will be more to come from both chase and I on our Everglades adventure when we get back to the computers.
Norcal Trout
Several months ago my angling buddy Justin packed up his things and headed for the Pacific Northwest to start fresh in another part of the country. After he settled in Northern California and found some work he began his quest to find some of the local beats and start fishing again. Months went by and Justin struggled to find a fish at the end of his line. He then realized that fishing western rivers is a totally different ballgame than the small spring creeks and great lakes tribs he was fishing in Wisconsin. The volume of water averages about ten times the amount of our tributaries to Lake Michigan. This requires much heavier flies and sink tips when chasing winter steelhead. He also learned that regulations vary from river to river with trout seasons opening and closing all the time, and most require barbless hooks. Recently, he has met a few other local anglers who have been in the area for some time and has been figuring things out. Here are a couple pics from the last couple weeks and there should be plenty more in the future.
Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park
Before my brother left the great state of Colorado to spend the summer in Chicago, I took him up to Rocky Mountain National Park to chase some native Greenback Cutthroat. Upon arrival, there were over 200 small Cutthroat in full spawning mode along the east side of the lake (this area is off limits to fishing in order to protect native fish populations). Tate and I walked to the west side of the lake trying our hardest to lose the ever-present crowds. Once we found a weed line we though could see some fish, we through out some searching nymphs. Within the third cast, Tate was hooked up with a nice fish. As he was reeling in his fish, I hooked up and we shouted “double” just to solidify the deal. This type of action proceeded for the entire morning and into the first part of the afternoon. We never really landed anything huge, but sometimes you measure a fisherman not by the size of the fish he catches, but whether or not he can catch an eight inch fish and be excited about it.
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Musky Flies
In the past couple weeks when I’ve had time to get on the water I’ve been trying for my first ever musky. Not long after I began my musky research I heard about Pewaukee Lake in Waukesha County Wisconsin. After watching reports online of the consistent success people were having there, and because it’s not too far from where I live I decided it was a good place to try for my first musky. My brother and I tried there last Saturday and despite the awful weather we able to move a couple fish. The wind was blowin’ and it was a misty,cool day, but an hour into the morning and I hear my brother get excited. I look to see a 40+ inch shadow lurking beneath his fly. It startled him a bit and he was a little slow on the figure 8 and the fish disappeared. Later he had another follow from a fish at least the same size, and right before we ended the day I had one around 40 inches come to the boat and follow my figure 8 a couple times. Now I’m improving my flies and waiting for a chance to get back at it.
Categories: fly tying, pike, Uncategorized
Tags: fly tying, musky flies, pike flies
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