With a pending ice fishing season looming, how can a soft water angler survive until ice out? Do not fear anglers of the open water. There is hope. I have been tracking my progress while dealing with the SWW (soft water withdrawal) syndrome below.

Week 1

Pike On The Fly will help fill the open water void.

Having just spotted the first ice hut on Mary Lake, my sunny day turned blue. I waved to my ice and cold-loving fishing brethren as I drove past the lake’s scenic wharf. They politely waved back across the glassy water without skipping a beat on their jigging patterns. The cold – is not an issue in the least. This time of hard water is yours. Returning home, in a slightly depressed state, I resorted to watching some fishing DVD’s I had in my collection. Three hours later I was feeling better about myself and my self diagnosed condition. One movie in particular stands out in my mind as being very well done. If you have not seen or purchased it – please consider it. It’s called, Pike On The Fly, by Barry Reynolds. It has a perfect combination of instructional items and heart-pounding pike fishing action. There is a large number of huge pike caught in the movie and 8 of them are over 50 inches!

Survive Week 1 by watching, buying or renting some fishing videos.

Week 2

The videos were great. This week, my issue has been, the ‘call to action’ the movies have inspired within me. Dust off your fly tying equipment and tie these trout flies recommended by expert anglers and fly fishing authors I have had an opportunity to interview on my blog. I asked them a simple question: If you could only take one or two flies on a body of water you have never fished before – what would it be?

Mark Williams (author of So Many Fish So Little Time )
“It’s hardly fair to take away from me the boxes and boxes of flies I’ve tied and collected over the years. Rivers change hour to hour and you’re going to stick me with just one fly? Fine. I’ll take a size 12 Ausable Wulff and I’ll catch plenty of trout. But I’m stashing a Rio Grande Trude in one pocket and a beat-up Goddard Caddis in another.”

Rick Passek (author of Freshman Flyfisher Series)

Adams Dry Fly from Wikipedia

“This can be a tough question for me because I would research the stream before I went, But let us say I didn’t. I would take a Hares ear Nymph (picture right) and a Tom Thumb, why you ask, simple. The hairs ear and the Tom Thumb are an searching patterns. They don’t represent any one insect perfectly, but represent many insects well. These two flies will be taking by trout as Caddis Flies, May Flies, Mosquitoes, Midges, along with many others.”

Ed Quigley (author of In The Company of Rivers)
“Probably the Muddler Minnow because of its versatility. If gooked up with floatant, it can be used as a dry fly with what I call the ‘plunk-and-twitch’ effect on smooth water. In other words the plunk gets the trout’s attention; the twitch says, “I’m alive!”. Without the floatant, it becomes a streamer cast either upstream or down-and-across.”

Randall Kadish (author of The Flycaster Who Tried To Make Peace With The World)
“Initially, I would have two choices: An Adams, which takes fish on any river, or a Woolly Bugger. Because, I don’t know the stream, and because most takes are subsurface, I’d choose a Woolly Bugger and cover as much water as possible.”

Pace yourself through Week 2 by tying these effective fly patterns.

-To be continued-

I came across this video segment about an easy to tie pike fly last night. It looks simple enough for me to tie and lethal enough to make me look good catching some of Muskoka’s numerous pike.

Big pike on the fly from Johnny Saunderson on Vimeo.

Fellow Skinny Moose blogger at Aroostook Flyers and Tyers is hosting a fly tying contest for a worthy cause.

Every month he will tie a new fly and issue a challenge for others to match his pattern. As the flies are mailed in each month, Brent will pick a winner and feature it on his blog. The winner gets all of the flies tied that month OR they can be donated to Reeling and Hearing or Casting For a Cure.

His first fly will be an ice fly variation (photo right). In Brent’s words,

“… you will see that all ice-flies are nymph-like bugs or minnowesque. The fly I will tye will be particularly suited for perch, as they are the #1 ice species catchable with these bits of sparkle and stuff…”

Consider participating in this great opportunity. Follow this link for more details.

Finding smallmouth bass this summer may be easier than you think!

I was fortunate enough, last week, to have been invited to a small lake north of Huntsville by, Kevin Swinscoe. The lake, which can only be accessed by surrounding land owners, shimmered enticingly as I approached Kevin’s dock and waiting motor boat.

Before we left in the boat, Kevin introduced to me the equipment we were going to use:

1. A six weight fly rod and reel rigged with a Messinger Frog (photo right)
2. A ’standard issue’ spincasting rod with a Berkley Sabertail Grub (green)

I took a quick look up to the driveway where my car was parked. My own equipment was there occupying the entire back seat. If you listened carefully enough, you could have heard my favorite blue Rapala cringe, in it’s plastic prison, as Kevin said,

“You won’t need your equipment.”

When Kevin started the boat and we drove away from the dock, I hoped he was right about his assessment of my equipment.

Kevin’s plan was simple and effective. We would start at one end of the small lake and allow the wind to drift us down one side of the contoured shore. The motor was only used to make minor course corrections.

As we started our silent drifting, Kevin, reminded me to cast into the ‘pockets’ of weeds and shore structures that were prevalent along the lake’s banks. This proved key to our success as bass began to annihilate the top-water Messinger frog on the Kevin’s fly rod. The smallmouth bass were also hungry for my sub-surface offering of the frog-like Berkley grub.

One of my favorite times to fish for smallmouth bass is during the golden moment after a supper BBQ and the sun begins to set. Usually retreating with the sun -� is the wind. A small wind factor can help the angler to make some pinpoint casts while casting for pocket smallmouth.

At this time of the evening (at least in my experience – and Kevin’s) bass move into shallow water and occupy weed, dock and structure pockets along the shore.

Pockets are formed when any portion of weed beds and shore structures collide and create open ambush points for bass to sit and wait for incoming prey. I realize what I am saying should be obvious to most, but I have included some photos below to help illustrate what I mean. I have put red fish icons some of the places I would call pockets for bass. The splash seen in the middle photo (with the tree) is from one of the bass that made hammered Kevin’s frog fly.

Pay attention special attention where rocks, boulders, and trees interface with the water from the shoreline. These create fantastic ambush points – especially when in close proximity to docks. You don’t need a boat to capitalize on bass pockets. Find the nearest dock that has weeds on either side of it. Where the dock pasts the weeds and continues past them – that is a bass pocket!

After the smell of the BBQ is whisked away by the light evening breeze into the setting sun, look for smallmouth pockets along the shore of your favorite lake. Turn off your fish finder and forget fancy presentations. As Kevin says,

“You won’t need it…”

I have appreciated Kevin’s input in previous blog posts. This made me very excited when he sent me an email with some tips from his visit to the Little East River last week. To catch more speckled trout Kevin says:

-The little East fishes best around the bug time primarily as they give themselves away by rising to the top. I have done well with prince nymphs and Gold head nymphs size 18 and 16 as well as grizzle-gnat size 20 dry flies.

Use a 3 or 4 wt rod with floating line, 7foot 4x leader and 2 feet of 4 lb vanish fluorocarbon tippet. 

Also, a small spinning rod with the smallest kastmaster lures in gold/perch patterns have been good. My friend Ray has great success with a micro-hook and bobber system using meal worms.

I have had several fish 10-12 inches in 2 trips now. Last Monday was breezy and the bugs were not out it was great, I even had the dog come in the float tube with me (see picture below). Unfortunately with the dog in the tube I couldn’t takes pics of the fish I caught – he tries to eat them!-

Thanks Kevin. I can’t wait to see you on the water!! I love the dog’s collar.

Looking for a different trout fly to use that might give you an edge this spring? Why not tie on one of these flies as recommended to me from the blogosphere, twittersphere and the angler next door. They could be that special and different treat those cold water trout are craving.

Let’s get started:

1. Ben Rioux from Maine Fly Castings suggests:
My favorite fly for Brook trout by season..

Spring: Allagash Al, Grey Ghost
Summer: White Wulff
Fall: Wood Special (Orange Chenille Version, no ribbing, Large Partridge soft hackle)

*Bill’s Note – I have heard that Wood Special Fly can also bring in some brown trout

2. Noel Gyger from noelgyger.ca suggests:

My favorite steelhead fly is the Hawaiian Punch.  This fly is usually used on a spey fly rod but will work fine on a single hand also.  Little bit of detail given to me by Chad Black (one of the pro guides I book trips for):

As you can see by the picture, it’s a very bright fly.  I tend to fish this fly in rivers like the Kalum or Skeena, which have a large glacial influence and always seem to have that “Steelhead Green” colour.  My personal favorite variation on this pattern however, is tying an Intruder with this same colour scheme.  I find that the Intruder style series with a trailing hook seems to hold Steelhead better, as they don’t have as much leverage on the fly as they would on an Alec Jackson or traditional Spey hook.  In this case, I use 50 lb Fireline XS or XT (something like that) – it’s strong, and stiff.

Hawaiian Punch (Originated by Dustin Kovacvich)
Hook: Alec Jackson Spey or Similar
Thread: 6/0 Fluorescent Orange UNI
Tail: Chartreuse Rabbit Strip
Body: Palmered Orange Cross Cut Rabbit Strip (wraps easier, and makes a better profile)
Front Hackle: Cerise Blood Quill Marabou, tips facing towards the rear of the fly
Topping/Flash: Flashabou (my personal favorite is Mirage) or Krystal Flash, depending on your preference  – photo by Rodnew Daw (rodneydawphotography.ca)

4. epicflyfishing (via twitter) from Frontier Farwest Lodge suggests:

We swear by this leech in BC for monster steelhead!

The Strung Out MOAL Leech (instructions)
Front Hook: Cheap SE Streamer or Nymph Hook
Rear Hook: Short Shank Beak Hook
Weight: Spirit River Hot Bead
Thread: Flat A or other Heavy Thread
Rear Accent Bead: Cascade Crest Salmon Candy 4 mm Glass Faceted Bead
Platform: 30-pound Dacron fly line backing
Body: Rear Pink CrossCut Rabbit; Front Flesh CrossCut Rabbit

5. Rick Passek author of Freshman Flyfisher suggests:

I would take a Hares ear Nymph (picture right) and a Tom Thumb, why you ask, simple. The hairs ear and the Tom Thumb are an searching patterns. They don’t represent any one insect perfectly, but represent many insects well. These two flies will be taking by trout as Caddis Flies, May Flies, Mosquitoes, Midges, along with many others.

I am sure I have missed many other worthy mentions. If so, please comment your suggestion below. Many thanks to all those who helped me with my little fly fishing project!