It is easy to spot a rookie, and sometimes the saying, “If you want to be – ACT as if…” can speak volumes.  Fly fishing Author, George Douglas, announced the release of his new fly fishing book, Fish Like a Guide.

According to Douglas this book is,

“The first of a series that teaches anglers how to think, plan and adjust at the level of a professional fishing guide. The introduction of the book states that you can spot a professional fisherman a mile away. You can tell by the way they move, the decisions they make, their preparation and strategy–and it is all geared for one thing, catching fish consistently… if you do things in a certain way on and off the river, you will become a better angler.”

In addition to the book launching, Kype magazine (Douglas is a publisher) has announced a drawing scheduled to take place on September 1, 2010 for members of the social community at www.SteelheadSalmonTroutFishing.com. Membership is free for anyone to join. The Grand Prize is a guided trip with George Douglas in Steelhead Alley, Ohio, including two complimentary nights at The Lodge at Geneva on the Lake.

For more information on pre-orders of his new book, the drawing, guide service, and to join the Kype Nation Social Community, visit www.SteelheadSalmonTroutFishing.com

Douglas’ Blog: http://steelheadsalmontroutfishing.blogspot.com/

First, choose something that mimics the colour, size and shape of the natural prey your target species feasts on in the body of water you are on. When was the last time you saw chartreuse baitfish while you were freshwater fishing?

A shiner coloured minnow crank - a good start.

If fishing is slow on your first ‘natural’ pick, be sure to experiment with other colours. Let light conditions and/or water clarity dictate your next pick. If the water is murky or they sky is overcast move to a brighter colour like chartreuse or bright orange. When water conditions are clear and the sky is bright – try shades of blue, browns, or green.

These are just guidelines. It has been this blogger’s experience that the way fish react to your lures is far from predictable. When in doubt about what colour to use – experiment. Take time to try everything you got and forget the rules and systems often read about or seen on TV. My tackle box has cranks of various colours. The colour of your lure is just one of triggering mechanisms built into its construction. Vibration, flash and silhouette also play significant roles.

On day 1 of a recent sunny fishing trip on a local Muskoka lake, I started with a natural looking black-topped and silver-white bottomed minnow crank bait. My partner chose to start with a chartreuse coloured bait. Within four casts, he had landed a nice pike. Upon switching to a second bay, he pulled in another nice pike on his first cast. My natural looking lure had no hits. This all changed when I switched to a lure with similar colours (not shape) as my fishing partner’s. Colour in this case ‘trumped’ shape.

The second day of our fishing trip, I started again with a more natural coloured silver minnow crank bait. My partner, again, started with his chartreuse coloured lure. After a few minutes of fishing, I had landed two nice walleye. Things did not start to happen for the other angler UNTIL he switched to a silver coloured crank.

If you are deep water fishing, keep in mind that at greater depths, lack of light penetration makes a colour debate a mute point. Colours can not be differentiated if there is no light to reflect or absorb.

Colour can impact your fishing success, but not to the extent that it will benefit the angler to change a lure every second or third cast. Fish will not be caught if a lure is not in the water.

Justin's Splake

For those of you wondering a splake is a lake trout and speckled trout hybrid cross. This unique hybridization creates a species that has an increase growth rate over either of the ‘donor parents’. This increases survivability in re-stocking efforts in cold northern climate lakes. This new species is not able to reproduce with great success – although it is said to be possible.

Read more about this species in Wikipedia

Craig and I found that the trout did not start to bite until we reached and area of shallow to medium rapids that were impassable without portaging. The specks were hunkered down in the riffles and ambush points found within the fast moving sections. We used light cahills and casted upstream of potential hiding spots and watched them drift down with the current. IF the drift was right, we were rewarded with great aerobatics from the leaping specks.

To change things up in this post, I have put the photos together in a video slideshow format. The pictures should speak for themselves. Regrettably, there are no fish photos. It seems I could not juggle 6 to 11 inch trout and work my camera very effectively. Craig’s fish seemed to always be out of range for me to get to him quickly. We felt it was better for the trout to ensure quick releases.

The fast moving water seemed to retreat around him with every step. It was at that moment I knew that I had entered the water with a real Streamwalker.

Craig Releasing a Big East Brookie

When the fly, I tried to cast into the chosen pool, got hung-up in the branches on shore behind me – I knew my journey to becoming a Streamwalker was just beginning.

While untangling my fly line from the offending bush,  my eyes tried to ‘take-in’ where I was. I had never fly fished in an area like this before. It was like the pages of my favorite  fishing magazine had come to life and I was wading in a western Canada whitewater river. I was only 40 minutes from home and wading in a virtual trout paradise – somewhere on the Big East River. It was the kind of place only a Streamwalker would know about.

When I was ready to try a second cast, I noticed that the Streamwalker was already releasing a second trout. Amazed, excited and almost discouraged the words of another master came to mind,

“Do or do not. There is no try…”

I started my backcast and methodically started working the deep pool with a small Adams. Slowly, I began to work my way towards the angling master. It took me awhile to notice at the beginning, but I am pretty sure he would watch and anticipate my route down the noisy river. He would leave some pools and underwater ledges untouched by his fly. He at least hoped that the trailing rookie moving, clumsily, toward him might be able to tempt a wary trout.

That was the only mistake I saw him make. I could not catch anything but suspended branches behind me and hidden rocks in the babbling stream.

Halfway through our journey down this section of the Big East River, we both stopped and rested on rocky boulders. He asked me what I was using and hesitantly I showed him the tattered fly barely clinging to the hook.

“That’s no good,” he said. “Use one of these.”

Craig - Streamwalker

I think he slowed time as he reached for my fly rod with its shortened tippet. The route downstream had been hard on it.

Before I could protest with any kind of significant resistance, he placed the reel back into my hands with a new marbly, green-beaded nymph and fresh section of fly tippet. This time our adventure continued with the Streamwalker showing me how to read the water for ambush points, rocky ledges, and depth changes. He reminded me to start my casting close and finish towards a 12′oclock position when I approached a new section of stream.

“The least amount of times your fly hits the water before you let it drift increases your chance for a strike,”, he instructed while I struggled to get my nymph to reach a suspended tree trunk on the far side. My friend made his way upstream to me and kindly gave me a lesson in false casting. My casting distance improved slightly after that but it became quickly apparent to me that I may not ever become a Streamwalker.

With a looming sunset on the horizon, we decided to make our way back to our vehicle. The walk back upstream was silent and tiring. The problem with fishing in a spot chosen by a Streamwalker – is the walk back. I found myself wanting to make one last cast back into the pools we had fished hours earlier. It did not help that I had not hooked any trout. Despite this fact, the experience of fishing in such an incredible and seemingly remote area made this trip very memorable.

Later that evening, I tried to explain to my father where I had just been fishing. It seemed my description of area landmarks triggered some old and almost forgotten memories in his mind. He shared some stories of, some 50 years past, how he had spent time on that very section of the river with his father. He then proudly announced that his dad had once caught some nice speckled trout in the very pool my adventure today started in.

It would seem that my grandfather was once a Streamwalker…