A month?

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post?

Looking back over last years posts, I'm seeing a pattern develop. As gung-ho as I am to get out there, the reality is that my body is gets to beat up when I string together to many days.

I have been out. However, I'd be lying if I said it was for anything more than stocking up the freezer with perch. I can live on a steady diet of perch, but I'm not so excited about inflicting that upon you folks. A couple of outing reports of that nature per year is probably more than enough.

I honestly can't say I'm to upset about not getting in the water much lately. Other matters have taken over top priorities as of late. My house on the lake is FINISHED! The builder had originally hoped to be finished late spring. As things go, that did not happen. I had hoped to be up there to take advantage of the spring Laker' action. Instead, its ready for the opening of hunting season. All good.

The end result very much matches what I was envisioning from the outset. I'll have some pictures here eventually. Just have to get the deck installed. I had to hold off on that till the final bill arrived as things were looking tight. All is good so the deck goes in now.  A little slower to come to fruition than one would hope, but its always a good thing when a plan comes together.

Now onto the fun part. It will be nice to get the veggies in next spring. I have a lot of brush to be cleared. You can well imagine how much I am enjoying that. A very painful enterprise. Good news is it comes down a lot faster than I would have suspected. Machetes are exceedingly efficient. In a couple of hours I have cleared a noticeable swath along the shoreline.

May not be another fishing post this season I am afraid. Maybe something on hunting, maybe on the houses progress. I have a crap load of footage from the season I should probably string together at some point.

Dropped

So, a couple of days ago, the air temp was 29. Currently...........a balmy 12. Didn't even think of going out. Would have been hard work that would unlikely get rewarded. Done that dance enough in the past.

A couple of days.

I probably shouldn't have said anything. The next day the temperature was lower by 5 or 6 degrees. Guess what the fish did? Or didn't do as the case maybe. That was the 7th. I took the 8th off to check out the property as the builder is just finishing up. On the 9th, the temps shot up. And guess what the fish did? Simple formula really. One of those cases where had I landed all the fish I had shots at it would have been stellar. I missed a bunch of big topwater strikes that really would have been nice to net. Still landed a half dozen or so bass ( and a few perch ), though only one was noteworthy. Still, better than nothing. At least the fish were active.

Stable.

When the weather wants to be nice and stable and seasonable norms, things are so much better. Today was the fourth day ( or so ) of a nice stable weather pattern. Yesterday I noted an improvement due to the stable weather, and today was even better.

Fish were just as happy to pound a surface offering as the were something drowned. At one point in a rather short period of time, I had two large bass smash my popper repeatedly, but the hook ups were for not. I was perplexed. After the initial strikes, I worked over the water and managed to get both fish to react. Still missed the hookset.  Sometime later I notice it wasn't popping right. When checking the fly, I found the leader was wrapped around the bend of the hook.............and my hooksets were just never going to work like that. Once I rectified that little bit of stupidity things worked much better.

Not Just Me.

Its not just me.

The bass have been less than playful as of late. The weather has been yoyo'ing up and down, and the fish have noticed.

Now, I had been second guessing myself a bit on recent outings. I was doing all the things that I thought should equate to success, but they weren't panning out. Why? Me? The fish? The weather? The planetary alignment? A butterfly flapping its wings in China???

I had to meet with my builder at the house recently. He is also a fly guy. I hate to say it, but I was a little happy when he started telling me that he was having to work for his fish lately. Hey! So, it's not me. He, like I, are both suspecting the weather. Makes the most sense.

We have had three days of high temps, with fairly stable weather, so I was hopeful for this evening. I wasn't disappointed. Things were definitely more active tonight. I hooked into a good number of bass, and some sizable ones. Had I landed them all, it would have been a stellar outing. As luck would have it, few fish actually made it to hand. Still, much better than things were.

Most of the fish were caught deep, on a muddler variant. Some fish were hooked up top, but the numbers were nowhere as good as subsurface.

Esten

So, I finally made it out.

Recently, its either been the weather, or my banged up body, but I have only rarely made it out. When I did, the results weren't up to par. Things weren't a whole lot better tonight, but better it was.

It was pretty windy, much more than I prefer. Usually I would have passed on such a night. However, it had been a while and I was itching to play. I caught enough fish so that it was fairly steady action. None were great, and only one landed would qualify as 'good'. Most of the fish were caught on a popper, though the larger fish were all hooked subsurface.

Out.

I haven't been out much recently. I could use the weather as an excuse, but the real culprit is my beat up body. Couldn't push myself past some rather exquisite pain to make it out. I may have been out once or twice, but the outings were nothing to speak of.

Tonight was similar to those outings. Not a lot of bass, and no piggies. Perch have been rather consistent however.

All the fish seem to be down deep. My fish finder seems to concur. I was marking larger fish 5' or so off the bottom in 15' or so of water. Despite dragging the bottom of the lake, my only bass came when I put on a GFC, and fished that on the sinking. Figured that would put it were the fish seemed to be. Was I right? It did produce bass when nothing else had, but who knows if that was due to my reasoned approach of not.

Emerger

I had a bit of a wander around the shore line for a couple of hours last night.Wasn't hoping for much, and thats what I got. That a couple of fish blew up on my fly was more than I had expected.

While going through some archived files, I came across a vid I shot several years back, but never posted. So. here it is now. Apparently made during the Cahill emergence of that year. I caught a lot of fish of nice fish using that fly.

Esten.

It was overly hot yesterday afternoon, so I decided to cool of in the lake, and dragged the pontoon up to Esten Lake. Not my best idea. For fishing that is. Worked great for cooling off.

In the few hours I was out, I had to work hard for the few fish I caught. I try to avoid that these days. I searched the lake from top to bottom looking for fish. I eventually did land some bass, though this was probably due to the later hour than my changing of flies and techniques.


I suppose I can take some solace in that one of the bass was a decent fish that fought well above his wait class. I had hooked him deep, on a clouser, so I initially didn't have any look at him. Most bass come to the surface for me fairly quick, regardless of size, seemingly willing to duke it out on top on their terms. This fish went deep, tried runs, and circling the boat. For a while I was wondering what it was I had hooked. It was a bass, just one with his own ideas on how to combat a fisherman.

Top.

I was out on Esten Lake for a couple of hours tonight. Loads of fun. The recent cold front has passed an the rising temps brought a good number of fish to the surface. Didn't land near as many as I enticed into striking, but it was still fun.

Would have had some excellent footage of the endeavour, except it seems my cam has died. I'll be replacing it, but we'll see how long that takes.

The fish I landed were on the smaller side for up here. Hooked, and got nice strikes of some larger fish. My head wasn't really in the game. It was my first night on Esten this season, and I spent a lot of time puttering about. I was so busy checking things out that I was always a bit late on my hook set.

I started off with a full sink, as thats what had been working lately. After a half hour or so I decided they weren't really bottom hugging, though I did manage a fish this way. They were definitely hanging much higher in the water column. Makes me happy. Looking forward to more surface fun soon.


So, no video from tonight ( or for the next foreseeable future ), but here's the last time I got them to be playful on the surface. :)

Clip.

Echo Solo Review.

I recently purchased an Echo Solo 4pc 8wt. The rod it was replacing...................had issues. I decided on the Solo for a couple of reasons. First, was price point. When researching other rods in the same dollar range, the Solo seemed more appealing. I suppose this might be because of Echo's, and Tim Rajeffs respective reputations.

So what does Echo say about this rod.

Creating a travel rod that helped more people get into the sport of fly fishing was high on Tim's priority list. Thus the ECHO SOLO Series. This series blends performance and durability into a great looking, four piece design that will turn more than the fish's head. A beautiful gloss brown blank and premium components wrapped around a forgiving Medium Fast action will help every new fly angler get the feel that will stay with them for a lifetime. We have added five new models for 2014 giving the ECHO SOLO series six trout sizes as well as three large fish models that cover salmon, steelhead and saltwater species. Awesome sticks, nothing in this price range compares.

SOLO Rods feature:

• Four piece travel design
• Half wells cork handle on the 4, 5 and 6 weight models
• Full wells cork handle with fighting butt on the 8 weight
• Carbon fiber reel seat with anodized components
• Rich brown gloss blank
• Hard chrome single foot snake guides
• Rod sock and cordura travel case
• Echo lifetime warranty

I purchased it from amazon.ca, through a vendor called Fishwest. They offer 9 rods from three to nine weight, all in 4 pc. They start at 99$. When I bought mine online it was for that, though I see they are now selling them for 129$. 

My impression on opening the tube? Pleasantly surprised. Entry level rods have come along way. The only component that immediately stood out as something somewhat less than a more expensive rod was the cork. Nothing wrong with it, but certainly not the highest grade I have ever seen. However, keep in mind what we are talking about here. Its an inexpensive build. I was expecting the components to all be of a much lower quality than they are.

Its a pleasant enough rod to look at. Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I can't say the brown blank thrills me. However, it is a better looking rod than some in my staple. Overall, I'd rate it as a pretty decent looking rod.

It cast nicely. A casting champion I am not, I do have a lot of experience though. The rod casts nicely. No issues with it whatsoever. In the time that I have had it I have nothing but positive experiences with this rod. I would called it a medium fast rod. Maybe on the faster side of the scale.

Would I purchase this rod again? Absolutely. In fact, I think I would default to this rod. Excellent bang for the buck. I have paid a lot more for rods, and got little more to show for it.

Would I recommend this rod? Highly.


First fish caught on the Solo

Bottom banging.

I decided to take a full sinking line with me tonight. The fish have been hanging down deep. Today I found them in a little shallower water than the last few outings, but they were still hugging bottom. My floating line setup with a Clouser just wasn`t doing the trick.

In the few hours I was out, I managed a few bass. One was fairly decent. I tried the floating setup to no avail. All the fish were deep. The perch to. No interest in flies at the mid to high part of the water column. Down deep the flies would get a fair amount of attention. I managed a good number of perch. Also on the clouser.

As of Late.

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been out, though I do not know how much you would all want to hear about it. Mostly I ( and my mother ) have been doing the shore thing for perch. Until the last outing, that had been good enough to get us some for the pot every outing. It has slowed up, and now I am back to the pontoon to get at them.

New toys.

So, as I mentioned, I picked up a new rod the other day. I ordered it online from Amazon, sold by Fishwest.com. The reason for the Echo? Easy. The company has a great reputation. So when I was searching around for rods that would fit my low end budget, it was hard to pass up the Solo for 99$. Well, thats what I paid. When I ordered, I was contacted by Fishwest to say they had recently run out of stock. No biggie, I wasn`t in a hurry and I was very interested in the rod. I noticed that after my purchase, the price of the rods went up a few bucks. When it shipped  it became a debacle. No fault on the seller. USPS managed to somehow hold onto the parcel for almost 2 weeks before it even entered their system. Incredible. Even better, when it did finally arrive, one end have the tube had been completely removed. The rod ( in its protective case ) was free to slid in and out of the shipping container at will. In the end, it is a wonder that USPS an CanadaPost managed to get it here at all.

So, whats the Echo Solo like? Well, I had the same reaction to it that I did with the White River Hobbs Creek reel from Basspro. I was shocked that such a nicely made, and appointed rod could be had for so cheap. The low end entry level gear has come along way since I first started in this sport.  I have paid a lot more, for a lot less. I`ll likely do an in depth review of it some time in the future.

The second two is a Classic Accessories Roanoke Pontoon boat. This is also an entry level model from the manufacturer. I had it out for a bit this evening. Impressed with it so far, though there are a couple of minor complaints I maybe able to make. It was fairly easy to assemble. Again, a more in depth review will be forthcoming when I have used it more.

Vid Clip

I took out an Echo Solo 8wt I had recently purchased. Here's the first fish.

Well........

....................as much as I profess the whole " you don't know till you go." bit, its like this. Cold front. Fuck it. Been waiting for a positive change in the weather.

Some times you win........

..........and sometimes you lose.

Birthday Bass.

G.F.C.

I had taken the last couple of nights to clean up my shop. I'm about to start turning out lures and needed to get it into shape. Today, being my birthday, I decided to take it easy, away from workish type endeavours.

I enjoyed a perch feast for my dinner that was just amazing. The recipe we have rivals anything that Fish and Chip joints serve. Better actually. I far prefer our fare. I headed down to the lake around 7:30pm. Mom was with me, but we ended fishing different sections of the lake. She was looking for perch, and I was hitting bass. She ended up finding a school and bagged us some table fare.To my delight, the bass were happy to take topwater patterns, and I did very well on the GFC. The weren't huge bass, but decent. One was looking like he was close to deserving the title of big, but was just shy. The bass are in close. I watched one chase a rock bass around a log before given up, and saw the evidence of bass slamming minnows in the shallow. The largest fish of the night I saw smash some minnows along the shore from 50 yards ( or so ) away. I worked my way into casting position and found he was still hanging around.

You'll see in the video,  that most of the fish sucked the fly in, as opposed to smashing it. Its always a surprise as to how they hit it. Often those small sips hide the nature of the leviathans hidden just beneath the surface. You get some very pleasant surprises. 

Just when you think you've got it.....................

So yeah, wanted to find some perch............found a few, but not near enough to be happy about. Tried the usual spots to no avail. There were a few, but that was it, a few. The search was not a total loss. During my foray around the lake I hooked up with a pike. Didn't put it to scales, but I would guesstimate above 3, under 4. Smallish for the area by my standards, but a decent enough tussle to make me smile. I hooked into something else large but lost  that rather quickly. The pike was caught on a small spoon I had painted up a while back and forgot about. When I came across them today, I figured I would see if the perch liked them. Will have to try again, but at least I know Pike will chomp them.

Shopping.

With the perch accessible from shore now, you can bet thats where I'll be setting my sights. At least for the short term.

I had my mother with me tonight. She has been itching to catch some fish lately. She's also been bugging me to bring home more fish............so this killed two birds with one stone. My initial choice to start the night was devoid of perch. I did find chub, and a small bass. But that wasn't on the menu for the evening. We were looking to take care of the menu for tomorrows dinner.

Our second stop on the lake was the ticket. I set mom up on a point that allowed her a free backcast. The fish pool up there frequently. She spent the rest of the night catching perch at a steady pace, and bagged us enough for a nice feast tomorrow. One of the perch she landed was likely the biggest we have caught to date.

My night saw a lot less perch. I was content to let my mother have the prime spots. I kind of just hovered around. I did hit a second bass. Bigger than the first, but still small by the lakes standards. However, the bass were incidental catches as they weren't our prime quarry.

All in all, not bad for two hours of fishing. Dinner is taken care of for tomorrow, the first perch fry of the season. Looking forward to that. Its likely that I'll be looking for more perch tomorrow as well.

For beginners, there are 2 parts of the video you might want to take notes on. The first is the 'figure 8' retreive. I use this method............alot. If you keep your rod tip low to the water ( if not in ), you will be in constant contact with your fly. If fish are taken flies subtly, this will help detect hits. Its slow, steady pace is often a better choice to mimic the movement patterns of insects than a strip. Its definitely something to put on your list of things to learn. The second comes with the second bass. As I as am picking up the slack line to the reel, I am also backing up physically. These helps keep tension on the fish. Fish can be lost easily if tension is not kept, and this can easily happen when your trying to get a fish on the reel. In this case, the fish was coming straight towards me.

Fish never cease to surprise me. Surprise of the night was that Black and Olive Wooly Buggers were of very little interest to the perch. The little olive jig flies my buddy had sent were received with much more enthusiasm.

Perching.

Took them long enough. We are like 2 weeks behind schedule here. Glad I am not setting a clock by these guys.

Where there was one caught yesterday, there were many caught today. The overnight change is welcome. Mind you, I did not run across the larger perch I was hoping to hit, but hey, it makes for a fun evening of catching......with  a little fishing too. For those new to the sport, it can provide a great opportunity to work on skills while also being rewarded for their effort. Other species can be less unforgiving to a beginners foibles.

..........not even a fish stick. Back he goes to grow.

A buddy of mine, Dan Heculuck, makes up these jig flies which account for a lot of fish. They are like crack to panfish, but I have also taken bass and carp on them. Perch make themselves stupid over these flies. As fortune would have it, a care package of these little gems arrived they other day. Had I not forgotten them ( and all my other flies ) they would have seen action yesterday. They certainly were welcome today.

Anyone remember the video on Crappie I posted way back? Maybe? Maybe not? Anyways, I talked about, and showed, that when those fish are spawning, they can be had on pretty much every cast. You can catch them until your bored. Perch can be very much the same. It will probably not be to long before I am of hunting something else, though I will chase perch throughout the season for their fabulous table fare.

Here is a short exemplifying the type of hook up rate that one can encounter when doing the early season perch thing. No edits, just one straight shot.

Plastic fantastic.

I know I have mentioned it before, but plastics can be used on a fly rod. I reminded myself of this once again this evening.


I had wandered down to the lake before I realized I had left my flies in the van. There was pretty much no way I was going back to the car.......just way to painful an experience to have to do that walk anymore than I have to..........I don't move too well.

I figured I would be careful...........not put my only fly in jeopardy. That didn't last long and it was soon hung up in a tree. I did have access to a rubber worm, and associated hook, so on it went. Being bulkier and heavier than most ( not all ) flies, it requires a bit more thought to cast, though you approach it in pretty much the same manner as a heavy fly. A great, big, open loop cast. I cast it the same as I would a sinking line. Not the most fun one can have casting, but it is what it is. Back in the day when chucking plastics with a fly rod  was more fashionable, folks would chop down the tip of their (fibreglass) rods to aid in throwing the bait.

Its not just plastics that have fallen out of favor with todays fly anglers. If you pick up books old enough you will see that spinners, plugs, spoons, jigs, etc, used to be part of a fly anglers arsenal. Occassionally you will still see this pop up in the boxes of some anglers.

Such as things are, I was rewarded for my perseverance with a bass. Not a big bass, but a bass all the same.

I don't throw plastics alot. Well, at least not with the fly rod. If I am fishing spin gear for bass its a mainstay. Mainly I like to throw plastics because few others do, and I like to point out that it is an effective method......though far from my favorite. It maybe something you want to give a try. In a pinch like I did tonight, or on an outing when the fish just aren't responding to your usual flies. Plastics work.

Still slow.

......decent fish, until compared to the next one.

I did go out yesterday for a wee bit. Long enough to ascertain that yes, cold fronts still fuck up the fishing. Not sure why I had to reassure myself of this, and venture out into the shitty weather, but I did. My 'you never know until you go' philosophy doesn't always work. Especially in a case were I pretty much could have won a bet on the outcome.

Pig.

Today was slightly warmer, and definitely not as cold. Heck, the sun even poked its head thought the clouds at times. It was pretty much a repeat of a couple days ago. A few fish in an hour. Two piggies and one that was decent enough. Would have loved to get some more video, however I arrived at the lake and discovered my battery wasn't charged. Me being me, was sure the battery was charged, and decided I didn't need a spare as I was walking out the door. Somehow, I managed to coax it into taking a couple of stills. Oh yeah, I'll post the lengthy vid I did get it to capture.

I found the fish in a bout 10' of water, about 20' of shore. One fish was caught on an Olive Wooly Bugger, the other two on a Beadhead rabbabou.

Here is the entirety of video I managed. All 3 secs. ;)

Getting started.

So, things are starting to get rolling for me now. Still haven't connected with the perch, who are taking there sweet time coming in, but the bass are certainly around. Last year I was cursing this situation. This year, not so much. I fished for an hour, landed two fish, lost a couple of others. All nice fish.

Makes the rod look like a kids toy. Could fit the reel in
that 'small' mouth.

All of the action came for me on the fly rod, fishing that Rabbabou streamer of mine. Both  fish were landed in the first 20 minutes I arrived. After that, I didn't hook up on anything.

Rabbabou Streamer.

Not sure if I mentioned it last year or not, but I have noticed something with smallies and the fly rod. Despite their determination, fish 3lbs and under are not likely to present much problems on a 5 or 6 wt. As soon as the fish gets over 4lbs, things are not so cut and dry. Not the difference in two fish in the video. The first one is a decent enough fist, but could be bullied pretty easily. The second fish was much larger, and could not be pushed around at my whim. Given the wood in the water surrounding me, the fishes fight, suddenly things are not so cut and dried. Also worth noting is the effort the first fish put into getting hooked up. Its not until the third or so time it picks it up that I get the hookset.

Lure testing.

About the only thing fishing related I did today revolved around lures. Painting, assembling, testing, etc. While productive, I would have rather been fishing. The weather was once again less than thrilling, so I decided against venturing outside for long. I did go out to test out a Zara Spook I had fashioned. Never fished one before, let alone made one. Was pleasantly surprised that both my construction and technique were spot on. I'll certainly be turning a few of those out of the shop. The weather isn't looking good for the next bit. Lets hope it doesn't follow the forecast.

First fish!

So, yeah.

t

No justice done to the fish by the photo. It weighed in at 3.25lbs

Things are certainly behind last year. A week is about right on. I did not see a fish on the 6th. I have heard of fish getting caught, but not what I was looking for. That being perch.

I am pretty sure that last year started of the same as this year did. With bass. Difference being, last year they were not in season right now. That being the case, there could be no real discussion of the fish, and definitely no pictures. Catching bass early season has historically always been an inconvenience for me while panfishing. That they are now far game for me all year will take some getting used to.

This year is obviously difference. Smallmouth are open all season. The reasoning apparently is the bass are having a negative impact on other fisheries. Something I surmised when I originally heard or the plan. That more smallmouth would be culled is a no brainer. My thinking was that since that was the case, than culling would have to be part of the revised plan.

This year the first fish came on a diving plug of my own design and manufacturing. Its pretty much a defective prototype. It does work ( obviously ), just not as intended, and its a finicky plug. Gotta rework the design to iron out the kinks. Maybe. Maybe I just need a better source of diving lips. Dunno. The lure does extremely well if worked very slow. It has a great wobble, and runs true. If worked to fast? It will veer off to the left and/or corkscrew. Its boons outweigh its banes by far. It's action and quirks may just be inherent to the design. More testing will tell I'm sure.

Calendar Day.

So, last year, as previously noted, May 6th was the first day I caught a fish for the season.

Today, I did not fish. I had other things to attend to. Besides, it was another shitty and cold day. Had enough of those this............ummm.............'spring'. The calendar date marking its arrival has come and gone but there has been little of it to enjoy.

Ice is melting away at an incredible pace. Once it starts to go, it goes fast. Elliot Lake in particular lost a lot of its ice over night. Lots of lakes ice free.

So, tomorrow is the 6th. Do I expect to catch a fish? I am a little leery at my prospects. I suspect I may be a couple of days off before the perch show up in droves. Not going to stop me from trying. I have a philosophy of 'you don't know till you go' that has served me well over the years. I'll put it to the test again tomorrow. And if things don't pan out, I can think of much worse things to do than walk the lake shore for an hour or so.

Another day.

2 Lakes. One covered in ice, one open.

So, I suppose I can't complain to much. When I look back at my blog at this time last year, I was pretty

much in the same boat. Looking for fish. I know it won't be long, but I'm still anxious. Today was the first day I didn't see any Pike cruising in the hour or so I put in. I put in a little more effort than usual, actually changing lures. To no avail.

I chose the open lake.

Liking this GoPro 3+ Silver. I had an original go pro and hated it. Maybe it was a lemon. Dunno. All I know is that one was in my hands for less than a day before it went back. This one, is marvelous so far. Another little toy I am testing out is a Magic Flight Launch Box.

Something else I am very impressed with. I am not going to go into specifics about it due to the nature of the product. Suffice it to say, I would recommend it to any who would ask me about it.

A day off probably would not hurt to take a day or two off.............................but I'll probably still have a look see tomorrow.

Melt

Enough ice is off a couple of lakes enough to find some space to throw some line at. It was cold, it was raining, but it was good to get out. No hits, but I did spy a pike cruising the shallows a few feet of shore just as I was packing it in. So, that was something positive at least.

MNR Zone 10 Smallmouth Bass season change.

As the title says. The season has now changed for smallmouth bass in my area. Zone 10.

It is now open  ALL YEAR. The vast majority of Zone 10 is affected, north of HWY 17, check regs for specifics. Here is a LINK. There seems to be some discrepancy between the provided map, and the wording provided under the heading "ADDITIONAL ZONE 10 FISHING OPPORTUNITIES " There it says "All waters north of Highway 17 and all waters west of where the east bank of the Serpent River crosses Highway 17. (See map)" When one references the map it shows the area to be bordered by the Sturgeon River, not the Serpent. Pretty safe to assume they meant the Sturgeon.

Not sure how I feel about this. I have been fishing under the previous restrictions as long as I can remember. Can't recall another place in Canada that has such a liberal season. I believe some places in the states may have a similarly open season, but I am very unsure of that, and can't find any quick verification.

Its no secret I am always pretty eager to get out and get my kicks with early season panfish. Hooking bass at those times is at times a pretty prevalent affair. Certainly I felt a sense of guilt when this happened, due to my previous programming under the old regs. Many, many times I have had to pack and move, or quit for the day, when OOS hook ups were too likely. Now at least I while feel a little less guilty when I do hook them while fishing pannies than I have in the past, if nothing else.

The regs up here are pretty liberal in general. Walleye are only closed for a couple of months in the spring. Brookies open Jan 1st. Close end of sept as in S.O. Pike all year. Rainbows all year.....etc. Lots of fishing opportunities in general.

I have no idea what the reasoning is behind this decision. I only learned about it when I was in the local gear shop. I would be curious to hear what prompted these changes if anyone happens to know.

Chamois Flys

I have noticed a very notable increase in traffic via searches for chamois patterns. Very cool. When I first started fishing chamois it was a difficult task to find any reference on the net. My introduction to the material came through a buddy who tied it in worm patterns. Big, dew worm like constructions tied and coloured as such. A great pattern, especially in targeting big trout in off coloured water. These days I am seeing a lot more patterns appearing on the web. Not sure how many folks are fishing them though.

Shortly after I started to tie it in minnow patterns. It really shines in this capacity. Such life like movement. I have said right from the start, the only material that is really needed in a chamois streamer is the chamois. Just tying a strip to  a hook will catch you fish. I had a reminder of this last season, and I may have remarked about it on this blog. A day where a pattern I was fishing fell apart. The only thing left on the hook was the chamois. It caught fish. Good fish.


An obvious property of Chamois is it is very water absorbent. As far as us fly fishers are concerned, this property not only helps impart a very lifelike action, it also gives it a life like feel. Fish do not seem to be in any hurry to expel the fly when they chomp down on it. Instead they tend to bite down hard. As far as the action is concerned, it is phenomenal. If a chamois streamer is held in a current, it undulates just as a minnow would. If dead drifted, it tumbles like a dead minnow. A stripping retrieve will see it swim with a dying flutter at the end of the strip. All of this makes for a great fish catching tying material.

It's not to say that chamois is new to the fly tying world. I have seen some rather old nymph patterns that incorporate it. While it is gaining in popularity, it is hardly something you'll see in most anglers fly boxes. It is something you might want to try if your looking to expand your repertoire. One thing I will caution, is if you decide to pick some up, make sure it is the real deal. The faux stuff is not a substitute. I bought a real chamois at Canadian Tire years ago I still have not gone through. Goes a long way.

Below is a video shot last season using a very simple chamois minnow pattern I had thought up the day before.