One Month Later

My friend and I revisited the smallmouth river that we floated back in July. On that float I was really happy with my Tarpon 120 kayak. On this recent float I took the new Fish Cat pontoon boat for its first taste of moving water.

I caught and released several of these fiesty fish. The first one I got was hooked on a small minnow jig using my ultra-lite spinning rod. This fish came out of a logjam to smash the jig and with the help of the current went right back in where I lost him. After leaping several times and before breaking me off this fish spit out a couple of minnows which were exactly like the plastic minnow I was using. So to make a long story short the flyrods took a back seat to the two ultra-lite setups I had brought along. I often cast jigs with my flyrods but with two spinning rods set up with small jigs I just kept casting and catching bass on the ultra lites. One was rigged with a plastic minnow and the other a fur and feather jig. Each rod caught about equally so the fish didn't necessarily need the plastics.

My friend was doing okay with his own fur an feather creations fished on his flyrod but I did really well with the jigs because the Smallmouth were hitting "on the drop" a lot of the time.

I found the pontoon boat was extremely comfortable to fish from and I could control my drift and even kick across the current to get to the other side of the river with the aid of the fins on my feet. Anyone who does not wear fins while fishing from a pontoon boat is really missing out on some quality hands free fishing. As much as I love my kayak I have to admit handsfree fishing in a river is impossible in a kayak. It was easy to accomplish on the pontoon.

My Floatilla Is Complete

Here I am on the bluegill grounds on the lake down in Rhode Island. We were having a brownie break. My friend's wife makes the "best brownies in the world" (quote from my 19 year old son)

The new Fish Cat pontoon works really well. It kicks nicely for its weight (I'm used to kicking around in my float tube.) It rows very quickly and tracks straight. It is a very comfortable fishing platform. As usual the bluegills were very co-operative. Placing the fly tight to shore under overhanging brush produced a big 10" "gill' almost every cast. Amazing fun when you make one of those unbelievably accurate casts and a fish smacks the fly as soon as it hits the water. Here's a picture of a much smaller bluegill that I caught in a different lake we checked out. Look at those wonderful colours. Truly an amazing creation! (Better looking than a big bruiser carp!)

I managed to get my 19 year old son away from his new "Play Station" long enough to check out both the pontoon and the float tube. He preferred the floatube and was able to get around nicely. Now I have to teach him to flyfish. his spincasting outfit was no match for my 3 weight flyrod.

Here's Dan relaxing at lunch.

My friend Bob contemplating his next move. Should I have another brownie or go put the hurt on the jumbo perch.

In the past after catching and releasing loads of bluegill and jumbo perch (two of the best tasting freshwater fish) we would dedicate an afternoon to filling the stringer for a family fish fry. Sadly we learned this year that their is evidence of mercury pollution in the fish from that lake. The fish all look like beautiful representatives of God's Creation. They are so healthy looking it is an incredible shame that they have been defiled to the point where it is recommended not to eat them.

Now we will be on the hunt for a place with the same quality panfishing where we can keep a few for the frying pan.

PONTOON BOATS

We were wet wading in the trout ponds the other day. I was in my float tube and my friend was in his pontoon boat. The weather was strange as soon as you got dressed like this the sun would come out and you'd have to shed all the raingear. Then about 10 minutes later there would be another downpour. With the combination of the rain and getting wet up to the top of my thighs in the Fat Cat float tube I was getting chilled when the wind started to blow. After we finished up and went for a heartwarming supper I noticed that he was only wet to the knees. I had suggested coming back after supper to fish the evening rise and he was all set to leave his pontoon waiting on the bank for him to return and pop right back in it. I, however was done and thinking of dry clothes and casting from shore. This got me thinking again about the strengths of a pontoon boat.


He can row faster than I could ever kick.

He can still use his fins for handsfree fishing.

He is almost completely out of the water, especially if he chooses not to use fins.

When we were out on the river he was just as efficient as me in my sit-on-top kayak. (Except for the capability to go back upstream.)


So I came to the conclusion that when fishing with my two pontoon buddies I would like to enjoy the benefits of a pontoon. These guys have a blast on the trout ponds and management for some reason does not allow canoes or kayaks. So to make a long story short, I am soon to be the proud owner of:
FISH CAT 10 IR

from Outcast. This boat is tough enough to do rivers really well. And will hold enough gear to satisfy the camper in me.

Will this replace my float tube for my flyfishing adventures? Not a chance. I may even stow my lightweight backpackable tube onboard for portages to lakes inaccessible by other means. Check my earlier post on float tubing Saturday June 9, 2006 to see the advantages of the tube for total hands free fishing.

SHORE CAUGHT RAINBOW

After much consideration I have decided to add a pontoon boat to my collection of flyfishing vessels. The two fellows I float the local rivers with both use pontoons and with my kayak I am always ahead of them. (especially if we fish a lake) I figured with the three of us in pontoons it would keep us together like the 3 Musketeers. "One for all and all for one!"

After a nice outing in my tube on Thursday, the best fish was taken from shore while casting an extremely small rabbit fur streamer that I tied up to imitate the abundant pinhead minnows in these trout ponds.

I'm hoping to pick up my Fish cat Pontoon before I leave for my annual bluegill trip. Don't laugh the bluegills are a blast on a 3 weight flyrod. They are all pretty much the size of the one at the top of my BLOG and they give an excellent account of themselves. Makes you feel like a kid again!

A Good River Smallie

Look How Fat He Is!

This fish was caught on the "Big Nymph" (See pic on June 16th posting. Click on it and you will see it in all its glory.) This fly is weighted with a hook length piece of lead solder and casts nicely on my vintage 308 ultra-lite.

Floating A River With My Sit On Top Kayak

Smallmouth bass are a great sportfish to pursue with a flyrod or an ultra -lite spinning outfit. My friends and I had a great float trip last week on an Ontario river. They used their pontoon boats and I brought along my new Tarpon 120. We caught some nice scrappy smallmouths and got a healthy dose of fresh air and exercise. Here's one of my friends with a good smallmouth.

CARP ON THE FLY

I have a long distance friend (He's in Oregon , I'm in Ontario Canada) whose exploits have convinced me to try persuing carp with my flyrod. If you go to this link:

http://zonkersfishingblog.blogspot.com/

you will see that he has been having a great time targetting these fish. The rubber legged nymph in the picture is my first attempt at a carp attractor. Now to get out and see if I can make this work. I'll keep you posted.

BIG NYMPH

Sent a photo of this fly to my friend and he asked where I got the pattern. I actually just started fooling around with some materials and a #4 hook and this was the result. I'm trying to give some finicky suspended crappies something different to look at. With my sonar rigged to my kayak or tube indicating schools of fish right below me it's kind of intimidating to only catch one or two fish. But thats what makes it "fishing" rather than "catching".

FLOAT TUBING

A good float tube is a fishing machine with some of the features of the most expensive bass boats. Fins on your feet take the place of the expensive bow-mounted remote controlled electric motor. You can fine tune your casting position with subtle movements of your fins. The tube itself swivels quickly in any direction at the thrust of a fin just like the swivel seat on the expensive boat. No need to worry about launching fees or line ups. No gas to buy. Not much to maintain. No storage worries. Super quiet and stealthy. (Fish will rise right beside you and can often be caught vertically jigging right below the tube.

The tube in this picture is my portable tube. It folds up quite compactly weighs only 6 or 7 pounds and can be stored aboard my kayak or carried in a backpack. Float tube fishing is highly effective . To learn more about it do what I did and visit this site.

BIG FISH TACKLE TUBING FORUM

Fishing Kayaks

The purchase of my Tarpon 120 was motivated by having paddled a friend's Pungo 120 which is also built by Wilderness Systems. I used this kayak to tow my float tube to the hot spot on the lake one windy day. (That's it along side my tube in the "Fishing Vessels" picture.) It was a long kick which we did every day but the wind complicated things that day. I'm glad for that complication as it led to me investigating what has happened in the kayak world since I bought my first yak many years ago. I was actually looking to purchase a Pungo which is a sit-in-kayak but with a very large cockpit. A Pungo 120 would be an efficient kayak fishing vessel as well. You can check out different options at:

WILDERNESS SYSTEMS KAYAKS

KAYAK FISHING STUFF

KAYAK FISHING

My latest "passion" is paddling and fishing my recently acquired Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 seen here atop my vehicle waiting for the next adventure. This is my first sit-on-top kayak and it is really efficient. It handles just as well as the kayak I have fished and camped with for years. However it is so much more enjoyable to fish from. At this point I have tried river running wavy conditions etc. and the kayak has impressed me in all situations. I am hoping to soon get it out on a multi day fishing/camping trip to really put it through its paces. When I do, my tube will be tagging along. As much fun as it is to fish from the kayak, nothing beats the positioning and stalking ability of a modern float tube

Flyrod Rules

My favourite method of fishing for anything that swims is with my flyrod. The creativity involved in tying and fishing your own flies adds much pleasure to my preferred way of fishing. I am definitely no purist though and love to think outside of the box. So I guess you could say I'm not your typical dry fly guy. Don't get me wrong though if I can get fish on dries that's what I'll be using.