Fish On The Fly

2012-01-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

MY NEW STAND UP YAK

After enjoying a fishing session with my grandaughter in my old canoe I started to save for the Wilderness Commander 120. This kayak with it's "captain's perch" would enable me to paddle her around while she fishes. With the sliding seat and the Captain's chair the yak effectively becomes a tandem for grandfather and his fishing buddy. I was extremely fortunate and was able to purchase this "angler version" for less than half price at a year end close out back in November. Now this cold ice and snow needs to go away. I'm really anxious to get this yak on the water.

On my way home from the dealer. I was able to test it out on a nearby lake. It paddles and tracks really well for having a pontoon style hull. I didn't notice it being any slower than my 12 foot Tarpon. I checked out standing capability and it works. This is going to be my "flyfishing machine".

Haliburton Bass

2011-10-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

On a Fall trip to the Haliburton Highlands in search of smallmouth this big pike was caught while dropshotting for bass sitting right on bottom. All the big deepwater smallies I have caught have bulldogged down deep and were reluctant to come to the surface. This pike which was at least a 10 pounder, had me convinced I had finally hooked up with a trophy smallmouth. I did get some big bass but they were of this variety........

Fishing was good and the Fall colours were spectacular. I will definitely be going back next season.

Smallmouth vs Largemouth

2011-09-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Floating the River In My Pontoon

Although in the same family these two members of the sunfish family are distinctively different. Length of the lower jaw and dorsal fin differences aside the two fish just look different, Smallies are brownish in colouration while largemouth are green in colouration. "Bronzeback" is a common name for smallmouth and the largemouth is oftened referred to as the "green bass". The largemouth above was caught in one of my favourite eddies on a local smallmouth river. The smallie on my plywood standing platform was caught while fishing a spot on the Rideau System where I normally catch only largemouth. These situations can often occur, but generally, smallies prefer rocky habitat, (Crayfish hide in those rocks!) whereas the largemouth likes the weeds and lily pads. (Frogs like to sun themselves on the pads and the largies lie in wait.)

The smallmouth also likes to dine on the four legged amphibians and largemouth share a liking for crayfish. Where the two species of bass co-exist you can often catch one type of bass in the other's preferred habitat.

Smallmouth bass are masters of camoflauge and will take on the colouration of their surroundings. Fish in tea stained waters will be true "bronzebacks" while Southern Ontario river bass tend to be olive coloured taking on the same hue as the river bottom.

My pontoon float partner and I have very different stles of fishing. He likes to anchor and stands on his seat to cast. I usually leave my "standing board" at home when I'm on the river as I use fins to help control my drift. I can slip out of the seat in water that's not to deep and wade to fish a good looking spot thoroughly.

Earlier this year I caught my first musky on this river. On this last trip, my friend observed several follows from toothy critters and managed to land a 10 pound pike. In a pontoon you are seated up fairly high, but the perspective he has while standing gives him an edge with the toothy critters who have a reputation for following lures right to the boat. Last time out with my friend, I used my flyrod most of the day. He caught all his fish baitcasting and spinning so on this outing I left the fly gear at home and did well on the regular gear. That blue Rapala crank accounted for all my fish on that float. When we return were going to toss some musky baits to see what happens.

Passing the Torch

2011-09-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

My little grandaughter who has never fished before came out with me recently. I got down my old canoe from the rafters. I had been saving it for fishing with the grandkids and that time has come. After going through some timing issues on the release of her cast my darling grandaughter got it dialled in and was casting spinnerbaits and buzzbaits right into the pencil reeds. As the day progressed she was even casting Rapalas into the pockets in the reeds. I enjoyed myself immensely just teaching her how to fish. She handled her own weed removal and tip top tangles with almost total independence. Even though no fish were boated she kept telling me how much fun she was having. I was having a blast being her guide and discovered that old canoe when rowed is just as fast as my kayaks. Most of my grandaughter's casting was done standing near the bow. Quite the fishing craft! It's not going back in the rafters yet!

Combat Fishing

2011-07-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

I kearned a long time ago that big fish like to hide where nobody will fish for them.
One of the ponds I fish has an inflow from another pond down at the far end where nobody goes because the water is shallow and covered in most areas by extensive "weed mat".

I'm about the only one who ventures deep into this heavily weeded area. When fishing this area from my float tube I have noticed a lot of light coloured circles on the bottom with no weed growth. This usually means there is a spring in that area. Sure enough as I kick into the weeds heading for one of the circles. I feel cooler water. I discovered that there are several springs in the weedy area. Cooler water and cover from the weedmat plus lots of minnows foraging the weeds make it a natural spot for big trout to hang out. The culvert offers shade and flowing water and makes for a perfect ambush station to snap up those forage fish that are constantly cruising by.

It's a bit of a challenge to quietly work through the weeds to get in range for a cast and present a fly to the culvert. The cast has to be perfect as there is pretty much the width of the culvert that is clear and the rest of the area is weed.

Well the Lord was with me. I made the perfect cast and plopped the beadhead right in front of the inflow and set the hook on the ensuing swirl. I never even felt a strike. After some interesting moments with the fish trying to wrap me in weeds, I brought this beautiful male rainbow to hand and snapped a couple of pics before releasing him back to his chosen environment. Made my day! Gotta love fly fishing!

This is the third big fish I've taken from the culvert.

Natives In Stocked Rainbow Ponds

2011-07-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

This season I have caught a few really nice sized wild brookies from the ponds at my trout club. The club hasn't stocked anything but rainbows since the 70's so these fish are a pleasant unexpected bonus. Ironically two of the "specks" I have caught at the club were bigger than any I caught on my wilderness trip to Kwagama Lodge last spring.

First Musky

2011-06-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

With bass season finally here. I got together with a friend to kayak fish my favourite smallmouth river. I gathered all my bass flies and got my six weight with a floating line and an extra spool lined with a "Streamer Express" line. When I got up at 4 a.m. it was pretty windy so I replaced the 6 weight with a 9 weight floater and an 8 weight fast sinker. Well even those weights were no match for the strong winds which pushed us back upriver as we tried to drift down. Fishing was tough under those windy conditions and all we had to show near the end of our float was a small smallmouth that my friend caught almost in sight of the takeout. I had missed one fish that struck right beside the yak and I was headed for a no fish day. However, I stopped flailing with the flyrod and started tossing a Storm "HotnTot" with my baitcaster. Just before the takeout my first ever musky nailed the lure and after an exciting battle, I brought him to the net. Thank the Lord that I had remembered my pliers. The fish slimed me pretty well but didn't do any damage. The debarbed hooks came free and I was able to get the fish back in the water to fight another day. This fish definitely made my day. Now I want to get one on the flyrod.

Bead Chain Bugger Scores at Dusk

2011-06-27T21:35:00.001-07:00

After kayakfishing the local reservoir where I took a back seat to the fishing prowess of my friend, Peter, I decided to stop by my trout club on the way home. I wanted to fish the evening rise from shore. This magnificent brook trout took a wooly bugger with big bead chain eyes cast on my intermediate "camo" fly line. It was the last cast before calling it a day. What a fish! Thank You, Lord.

2011-05-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

LOVING COUPLE

I came across these two while finning along the shore of one of my favourite stillwater trout ponds. Fishing has changed dramatically as a lot of yearling rainbows were stocked. They seem to beat the big rainbows to the fly. They are fast and energetic and give a good account of themselves. Last year I caught a lot of big rainbows and I am used to fishing big streamers. These little guys just nip the tails on my big flies and are frustratingly hard to hook. Whereas some of last years big boys made me start fishing my 8 weight flyrod, these energetic 12-14 inchers have got me thinking 3 weight with normal nymphs and wet flies.

I have hooked a couple of the big guys but two of them escaped by straightening my hook and the other one broke my leader at the fluoro to mono connecting knot. I have had a lot of problems with fluoro/mono connections and usually avoid them when I can.

This was my first outing in a while as it has rained a lot this May. Yesterday was pretty decent weather wise and today was insanely hot. I'm glad I chose yesterday rather than today.

2011-05-25T21:38:00.001-07:00

BIG FLIES/BIG FISH

I got a couple of friends of mine to consider upsizing their flyrod offerings. The results are self evident. Now I have to show them that although the fish like "wooly buggers" there are lots of other effective streamers to try.

Fishing With My Boys On The Rideau

2010-09-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

I guess it's every dad's dream to spend time doing what he loves with his children. Thanks to the kindness of my wife's cousins, my boys and I have been able to spend time together fishing on the Rideau. The cousins have a place just north of Kingston and they have graciously offered us the use of it for a while the past two summers. My older boy is a very serious university student and has many years of study behind him and still ahead. He really appreciates the chance to unwind and fish alongside his younger brother and his dad. We catch a few bass and a few pike but we really have a blast fishing for bluegills and crappies from the kayaks and float tubes.

I really enjoy watching my sons catch fish and supplying them with my hand tied jigs. They are impressed at how well they can catch fish with dad's " fur and feather stuff"

There was even a new personal best bluegill for Dad on our visit in July of this year.

Solo Kayak/Camping /Fishing Trip

2010-09-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

I was all set to go out with a fellow yakfisher and had my Tarpon on the car and all my gear packed when my friend suddenly had to cancel. Since I was ready I decided to go to another lake closer to home where I have soloed in the past. This lake has big smallmouth in it but the shoreline is swampy almost every where. There is only one good place to camp. I set up right at the water's edge. Kayak paddled a little easier with the two coolers on shore. It's rather amazing to find this one grassy piece of solid ground in a place where the shore line is a boggy mess of Labrador Brush and drowned cedar trees. Anyway this would be my bed and breakfast for this excursion.

I was able to pitch my tent right at the water's edge and my kayak slid right up on the grass in front of it. One of the most convenient pitches I've ever made. I was able to organize a nice cooking area with some logs and an old piece of plywood. After cooking lunch I inflated my backpackable float tube by mouth. It rolls up small enough to lash onto the bow of the yak. Got my flyrod and a couple of boxes of flies and kicked around in the tube for a couple of hours with nothing to show for it except a couple of rock bass.

The day was too windy for the flyrod and the float tube so I explored a bit with my spinning rod in the kayak. After a couple of hours of casting practice I paddled back to camp and pulled up the yak for the night. After supper when the winds had subsided I planned to go out in the tube again and cast surface poppers with the flyrod. It took quite a while for the wind to die down and the results of my efforts with the flyrod were again a couple of rock bass. I decided to call it a night and get up at dawn.

In the early light of morning I made coffee and enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and eggs. I'm a surviving heart patient who underwent quintuple bypass 10 years ago so I hardly ever eat bacon anymore. Boy was it good!
With little to show for my efforts with the flyrod and the spinning rod I decided to give my baitcaster a workout. That proved to be a wise choice as you can see below.

That is a big net and that is one of the biggest smallies I've ever caught. It was just shy of 23" long and with the girth I estimate this fish was easily 6 pounds. It fought hard for quite a while and went on several reel screaming runs. Tried to throw the hooks on a couple of spectacular leaps but for once, I was able to land the big one. With bass I usually just "lip" them but too many fish lost at the last minute have made me wise and I now carry a net for the big ones.

The fish took a white "lipless" crankbait trolled slowly from the kayak. So as you can see although I love to catch my fish with flies I am definitely not a purist and will try a number of different presentations before admitting defeat. Twice now I have camped on this lake and almost been "skunked" but both times I caught a very significant fish to save the trip. Last years fish was almost a clone of this one and it too was caught on a crankbait. Unfortunately I had "stowed" the camera as I was on my way out. That fish took on the "proverbial last cast". It's picture is permanently etched in my mind and the "last cast" aspect will help me remember it for a long time.

River Smallmouth From the Pontoon

2010-08-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last outing was for river smallmouth, floating and fishing from my pontoon boat. I took along the whole arsenal. Baitcaster, ultra-lite spinning and of course the flyrod with a zillion flies. I even added some nice new crayfish patterns that I had tied up the night before. As things go I started out with a jig and twistertail and the fish wouldn't let me put it down. I missed a huge bass on a Zoom Fluke with the baitcaster. With results like this the flyrod didn't get exercised the way it should have. My buddy was doing okay with his flyrod crayfish but he wasn't hitting fish the way I was on the jig. So to make a long story short. I had my small tackle box full of Rapalas, cranks and spinnerbaits, a big carry bag of plastics and my usual arsenal of flies. I got all my fish on that one jig and twistertail. I keep telling myself that one of these days I'm going to go minimalist and fish out of my shirt pockets but it hasn't happened yet. You never know when you might need something that wouldn't fit in the shirt pocket.
Here's the first fish to grace my new landing net.

Yarn Flies

2010-08-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

I enjoy fishing streamer type flies. For several years now I have incorporated various craft store yarns in my tying. They have been very effective. Some of the poorest quality "Dollar Store" yarns have great mobility in the water. Try it you might like it!

Personal Best Crappie

2010-07-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

Got this "binder-sized" crappie on a tiny chartreuse and white jig fished with an indicator on my 5 weight flyrod. Bluegill and crappie are a blast on the fly. So too are their beautifully coloured cousins, the pumpkinseeds. These panfish give a good account of themselves on a light rod. (3 weight is even better) I'm hoping my next post will include lots of panfish caught on my upcoming trip to the Rideau River north of Kingston, Ontario.

Hybrid Yaks/Standing

2010-07-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

As a 64 year old man I am blessed with good balance and have always been interested in standing capability in a self propelled fishing vessel. Recently I had a chance to fish from a Native Ultimate 12 on the Grand River near Paris and Bradford. It's probably a good thing that I didn't come away impressed by being able to stand in this yak. (more money invested in the fleet). I can stand almost as well in my own Tarpon but even with good balance, standing in a kayak is an accident waiting to happen. I have no qualms about standing in my 16 foot canoe but even these hybrid canoe yaks need stabilizers to provide confidence while standing to fish. All that aside, this Native Ultimate has an incredibly comfortable seat that all yak manufacturers should seek to emulate.

Pentax Optio 90

2010-07-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a new waterproof camera and all the recent pics uploaded are coming from it.

I still haven't had the courage to "dunk" it yet for some underwater release shots but I have checked out its fine "macro" capabilities. Here are some fly shots from my early experimentation.

Here's just the head from the same streamer.

The Other Flyfishing Vessel

2010-07-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

With my love of kayak and float tube fishing sometimes my pontoon gets neglected. I bought a new set of oars and rigged a piece of plywood to act as a standing platform. It is pretty cool to be able to stand and flyfish. Here's a large trout I caught recently while standup fishing. Although stand up fishing is good, I still have to sit down to land the fish. Also I like to kick troll at times so standing in fins is somewhat problematic.

Big Rainbow

Old Mojo

2010-07-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I have been using my 11 year old Outcast Fat Cat lately instead of the new Fat Cat that is to be its sucessor. "Old Blue" still has its mojo. Here are some of the trout I have been catching in the month of June. Should have taken this tube on my recent Kwagama Lake trip. This speckled trout caught from one of the ponds at my trout club was bigger than anything I caught on the wilderness trip. The great thing about this fish is that it is a wild trout as the ponds have been stocked with nothing but rainbows for a couple of decades.

SPEAKING OF RAINBOWS

Moose Encounter/God's Grace

2010-07-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

By the Grace of our loving Lord, my friend,Bob, and I arrived home safely after our trip to Kwagama. Between Sault St. Marie and Sudbury, after dark we came within inches of hitting a huge cow moose. It was after dark and I was driving the Forester around 105/110 kph. We were enjoying Bill Cosby on my mp3 player. All of a sudden we had the closest encounter with the big moose. The big cow was crossing oblivious to the presence of my vehicle. To imagine the scenario think of a horse coming to your driver window to take an apple from your hand. If my window had been open I could have touched her. She was that close.

My reaction was to rotate the steering wheel an inch or two in the direction away from her and she raised her head with this “holy shit” look on her face and the top of my vehicle went under her head and we passed without contact. A normal violent knee jerk reaction would have had me cranking the wheel frantically and probably flipping the car off the road or into the animal. I know it was the Lord’s presence that made me turn the wheel just ever so slightly to keep us away from tragedy. Praise God! We’re safe at home and exhausted. Would you believe there is no gas on the Trans Canada Highway between the Sault and Parry Sound? If not for the Esso station at Parry Sound we would have had to pull over to sleep in the car until something opened up in the morning.

It is truly miraculous that I made such a minimal steerage correction. That creature just appeared out of nowhere and I wouldn’t have had time to even react on my own strength. It is amazing that I could see the shocked look on the face of the cow and even more amazing that she was able to lift her head and allow me through unscathed. Bob and I could hardly talk we were so taken by the experience and the reality that God was there with us at that moment.

I got to thinking of everything we had done to bring us to the point in time where that moose was going to be there on that stretch of road at precisely that time. If the train had been on time (Was an hour and a half late!) we would have been well on down the road. The stops for coffee and dinner all conspired to put us fatefully on that stretch of road at exactly the same time as one of God’s magnificent creatures was sauntering across the road. Good thing God is in control and fate is not a factor.

Oh, I had to use the spinning rod at times. Ultra-lite of course!

Trout On The Fly

2010-07-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

Kwagama Wilderness Speckles

Kwagama Lake is surrounded by Canadian Shield mountains typical of the Lake Superior area.

This lake is reported, by the ministry, to have only speckled trout and it has them in abundance. However, our Humminbird finders kept marking fish at depths which are not frequented by speckled trout. My friend just picked up a portable downrigger to attempt to fish those depths to see what is laying on the bottom in as much as 100 feet. We suspect that there is a lake trout population as well. He'll have to wait until next year to find out as we don't have the financial resources to visit these kinds of places at will.

That's Bob sitting in the ATV trailer waiting for me to take the picture. Some lodge guests choose to fly in at 5 times the price of our Algoma Central Railway train ride. The "Windsor Wormers" on the other ATV chose the economy route as well. The lodge owner and his son meet the train with two 4X4 trucks and then load all the gear onto the ATVs and trailers. After that everything is loaded on a party style pontoon boat for the trip down the lake to the lodge. Those Windsor boys were deadly with a spinner and worm or a worm on a floating jig. The Ministry encourages harvest on this lake and we had a couple of big feeds of fresh caught speckled trout. The wormers from Windsor could have kept all of the guests fed every day the way they were catching fish. Although I'm still a dedicated flyfisherman and ultra-lite spinning enthusiast if I had to compete against these guys I'd be using worms. Good old "garden hackle"!

The boys from Windsor set for the "ride" in. Maybe it was a combination of the worms and the Bass Pro camo that was the secret to their success. Bob looks out of place in his regular jacket. The boys make regular cross border hops from Windsor to the Detroit Bass Pro Shop.

Kwagama Lake Lodge

2010-07-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

Got to the wilderness just in time to rendevous with the black flies. We were actually there for two days before they arrived. Am I ever glad I brought the head net. They seemed to like me better than anyone else.

Didn't land any personal best brookies. But fishing was good and we caught our share. Apparently the "wormers" were apportioned a greater share as they caught fish with their worm-tipped spinners at will. In comparison us fly flingers had to work harder for our fish. My flies did take some of the better fish but I definitely have increased respect for the "power of the worm"

First Ever Total Wilderness Trip

2010-02-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

Not much to say right now as I'm waiting for all this cold weather to go away. I'm tying a lot in anticipation of my first ever paid wilderness trip for speckled trout. My friend and I will be taking the Algoma Central railway, flagging down the train at Frater and loading our gear. We will be dropped off and met by the lodge owner who gets us in by truck, ATV and then barge. We have the use of a boat and motor, but we will be using it mainly to transport our float tubes around the lake. There are also a few back lakes we could portage into with the tubes. I'm really looking forward to the middle of May. My friend went with his son last Fall and here is a pic of the kind of fish that can be caught.

THE BEAST

2009-09-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here's my outfit from a recent camping trip. My Fat Cat float tube is bungeed to the tankwell of the kayak for hands free precision fishing once at the destination. After a last desparate cast I landed a beautiful 24" smallie. It pretty much spanned the width of my kayak. After reaching back into that load trying to locate my camera I decided to release the fish without any undue stress due to me scrounging for the camera. I burned the image into my memory banks rather than on camera so you'll just have to take my word for it. Hope to get back there soon. It's a back lake accessed by a creek so fishing pressure is relatively light.

YAK BUDDIES

2009-07-24T14:49:00.001-07:00

The "sound guys" at my church turned me on to these cable cuffs. They use them to retain microphone and instrument chords. I have found them invaluable for securing things to my kayak, pontoon or float tube. I definitely think of them as my buddies and never go out without them, However here are a couple of shots of other "Yak Buddies"

The Magic Combo

2009-07-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more efficient to fish from than a float tube. Hands free fishing, pin point positioning and easy slow trolling make it my favourite fishing platform.

The kayak though is also an excellent trolling machine and equipped with a rudder you can get a controlled wind drift that allows for hands free fishing. And nothing beats a kayak for moving over the water (unless you're into motors).

I will often tie my inflated float tube on top of the tankwell at the rear of my yak. When I reach my fishing destination I can tie the kayak to an onshore tree and put on my fins and fish most efficiently from a fully loaded float tube. If I choose to, I can switch back to the yak whenever I feel so inclined. This is definitely an awesome combo for "silent sports" flyfishermen.

Float Tubing For Trout This Season

2009-07-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

My friend and I have been having a banner year flyfishing from our tubes or "toons" this year. Fish have been hitting and fighting hard. While other anglers sometimes struggle, my friend and I will keep changing flies and exchanging notes on the water and we eventually key in on the winning pattern.

BETTER FAT CAT

2009-07-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

After 10 years my original Fat Cat float tube is semi retired for use by guests or relatives. I have replaced it with a new Fat Cat and am very impressed with the improvements. There are pockets on the seat back for storage. Side pouches are bigger and better. More D rings and velcro rod holders. There are external storage pockets on the inside of the tackle pouches. The pontoons are more streamlined and the tips are protected by the same material that is on the bottom. In my assessment Outcast has taken the design forward and has made there Fat Cats tougher and more efficient.

Great Fishing Vessels

2009-01-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am so pleased with the decision to graduate from my old sit in kayak to the Wilderness Systems, sit on top Tarpon. There is no comparison when it comes to convenience, freedom of movement and stability. I can sit sidesaddle like in the picture. I can straddle the yak and I can even kneel and stand. Standing is reserved for poling through shallow flats. (I would not attempt to fish in that position.) Throwing your legs over the side makes it like fishing from a chair. Waders are standard when waters are cool but in summer lightweight "quick dry" pants work well. If you really want to have an armchair fishing experience you can pack your tube. Paddle down to the hotspot and then chill out in the tube. Nothing better for pin point control fishing than the trusty old float tube.

FLOAT TUBE TROUT

YAKFISHING CAMP

2009-01-14T20:46:00.000-08:00

A good friend and fellow flyfisherman and I enjoyed a few days of river fishing for smallmouth on one of the local rivers back in August. This lucky fellow is taking his kayak to Florida soon while I sit around in the Great White North tying flies and waiting for winter to go away. It was minus 21 today where I live.

Late Season Bass

2009-01-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

This largemouth was caught in Early November while standing and flycasting from my pontoon boat. The plywood that the fish is resting on prior to release was found in my garage and happened to span the frame of my pontoon perfectly. Now whenever I want to stand I just reach behind me and pull out the plywood and place it on the frame in front of me. It slides a few inches under the seat and thus is held perfectly in place. When I don't need it it stores behind my seat on the rear storage shelf.

On October 24th I continued my experimenting with gear . This personal best river smallmouth was caught on unweighted plastic on my ultra-lite spinning rod.

Some Successful Jig Flies

2008-07-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

Some of those big largemouths I caught last month were enticed by my hand tied jigs so You see I never stray far from my Fly Tying roots.

Holiday From The Fly Rod

2008-07-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

As much as I love using my fly gear I decided to give baitcasting a try to see if I was missing anything. Well by being able to present larger baits I caught and released 14 big bass during the month of June. But you never know what to expect. The bass have moved out of the areas I was catching them in and now I have to work to find them. In the meantime while searching with my flyrod and a deerhair mouse. I caught a big slab crappie on the mouse.

One Month Later

2007-08-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-21T11:53:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-07-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-20T04:21:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

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.