Pics

Hex Time. Again.

That time of year again, when the Hexes are popping and the fish are noticing. Now, these are a

mayfly that comes off the water in the dark. So the numbers I actually see on the water are minimal. Also, we don't see any of the massive blanket hatches that hexes are famous for on other waters. More likely I'll be clued into them by the fish. First off, the bass become reluctant to take other offerings. I will also see increased surface activity as the fish starting hitting duns and emergers.

Towards dusk, I can often count on some good topwater action on flies designed for this time of year. Usually Hex duns and emergers. This year I introduced an new pattern to this mix. It's a variant of my GFC in yellow, and appropriately sized. So far it has done very well.


Vid clip of some of last season Hexing included.

Pic.

Tie it, Try it: The Clouser.

A little bit of a spot light on the Clouser Minnow. If you fish for smallmouth, this fly should be in your arsenal.

What I did was tie one up, take it from the vise and tied it on the line, then took it out and fished it.

I've talked about the clouser on this blog before I am sure. It would have been hard not to have. Every year this pattern gets me a lot of fish, and a lot of really good fish. It's one of those patterns that just seems to be able to produce more exceptional fish than others.

The colours I use on my flies are Red ( or orange ) over yellow, with a few strands of red crystal flash. Most of my ties are sizes 2 - 4.

From Dunlop 7-10-17

Some video footage from the other night. Exemplifies the lakes issue with juvenile bass. I do not see this type of ratio on other lakes. Far. far less juveniles on those. A bigger fish closes out the clip. A Clouser minnow did all the damage on this night. The large fish took me way longer to land than usual. Not sure what was up with that. You can see in the video that I'm not being easy on him. You can also see he's not being easy on me, fighting hard right till the end.

On Dunlop tonight.

I've talked about why the bass season up here was extended all year. Non native fish with a disproportionate population of juvenile fish depriving native species of forage. This doesn't apply to all lakes in the region. Some I fish I rarely see juvenile fish. On others you see them mixed into the catch like one would expect. Then there's the lake I live on. Dunlop. The number of juvenile bass in this lake is extraordinary. Just silly. There are some nights were I am literally catching them one after the other on seemingly every cast. As a result of this overpopulation of juveniles, the lake gives up it's bigger fish far more rarely than most other lakes I fish. It should say something in the that if I want good bass, I will travel from this lake to other locales.

Tonight was a good night by Dunlop standards. Not only did I catch a lot of bass, but the there were some better fish in the mix, with one decent fish. The vast majority were caught on a floating line setup with a clouser. After a couple of hours though, it stopped producing, and I went to the full sink. This did get into fish, but notalotta.

The release.

Now, the one good thing about the juvenile population on Dunlop.................is that I have no more qualms about culling those fish than I do panfish. They should be culled. It's a good thing for the lake in general.

Everything happens for a reason.

Apparently I have become a fair weather fisherman.

This spring was lousy for weather. It's only over the last little while that things have improved. The biggest issue for me has been the instability. I just haven't been able to get up the energy to fight the weather, so I am just picking my spots. Besides, its just so easy to avoid working for fish when I can just walk out to my backyard to play with whatever happens to be around.

I did get out to fish some water other than my backyard this last week. The first outing had me come off the water fuming. So pissed off with myself. I hooked and lost a great bass. Losing fish happens. I'm generally okay with it. The exception being when I screw it up. As was the case with this fish. I looked like a rookie with his first big fish. I know, because I have the episode on video. As I watched, re-watched, and then watched some more, this epic little horror story, I got more and more i

rritated. I know better. I know that 2 or three times during the fight, a big bass will make a desperate dive. I know when they do this to give them line. I knew to do this on the first attempt. So why on earth during its second run didn't I let go of the handle???????? Fuuuuuuuuuck.

A couple of days later I was back to the site of the debacle with revenge on my mind. I was still smarting from losing that fish. A storm had just pushed over, but the temps stayed relatively stable, so I figured it was worth a shot. As it turns out, the revenge would not be mine.

Ostensibly, I was out for perch. However, Smallmouths are almost always caught during the pursuit of those. This day was no different. I did really well on perch, going home with the a nice stringer for my effort. The #4 Wooly Bugger I was throwing for them was big enough to keep the smaller specimens off, and I had some decent fish. Picked up some bass too. But that's not the real story of the night. That story was about "Everything happening for a reason."

Mom with Bass.

You see, on this outing I had my ( 73yr old ) mother with me. She had gotten to hear my rantings and ravings about the lost fish. She also was forced to sit and watch the video as I gave a complete breakdown on what I did right, what I did wrong, and all things to do with battling big bass. This paid off. You see, when she hooked into the biggest bass of her life on this night, she knew exactly what to do. She knew to fight it hard. She knew watch for the runs/dives, and bow to the fish when it happened. She knew those dives would likely happen when the fish first saw her/the boat, and when it saw the net. She was prepared, and handled it like a pro. I was so proud of her. The fish I had lost that had been haunting me was forgotten.

Mom's fish.

Fishing my Backyard.

Video shot in my backyard. Not the best fishing, but there are fish.

Bugs.

Casting into Mosquito Bay.

This has been the worst year for bugs since I moved here. A long, cold, wet spring has seen the biting little buggers, both black flies and mosquitoes, around for longer, and in greater numbers. Almost all my fishing has been done from the cove in my backyard. I just wade out, and cast. I can get chased out of the water pretty fast, so I am reticent to take the time to get the pontoon rigged, if I'll be heading back moments later.

A backyard Bass from today.

Our cove is off of a larger bay. The bottom of both are covered in dead wood. Thus, I have named the bay. Deadwood Bay. Our little inlet is known as Mosquito Cove.

It is not my number one destination. The fishing is not great. But, there are fish. I can usually count on a couple of bass, and always some Rockies. The best thing about it is obviously the proximity and ease of access. I can decide to do some casting and be on the water in a minute.

I have never fished it in the morning. I'm going to have to give that a try as I figure there maybe a good shot at something decent.

The Bass, both smallies and Rock. have yet to spawn.

Pics

Small Smallie.

So...........the bugs are fun.

BWB

B.W. Bugger and friend.

First outing and fish of the year.

Not big. but welcomed.

Its been a relatively cold start to the spring. I gave it a try tonight to check things out on my home lake.
The water.................is not warm.
The surface temp varied between 48-51. Warm enough for me to at least get an hour of fishing in before I headed back.

I tried a floating line at various points, hoping for maybe a lake trout, but in the end, the only fish I took was on a full sink, moved very slowly. I'm one of those dull day, dull fly. Bright Day, bright fly people. The fish was caught on a smaller sized Mickey Finn. Mickey Finn's always seem to be good to me in the early season.

Of Sinking Lines and Smallies.

If you are familiar with this blog, you will have noticed I fish a full sink line often in my smallie hunting. There are many days this is the only way I will get into fish. This is especially true since I moved up north from Southern Ontario. A cold front moves in, and I am either going deep or I may as well stay home. And who wants to stay home.

Until recently, I've kind of felt like a lone voice in the wilderness. The usual advice on lines is that you only need a floater and intermediate sink. I have a few books which echo each other on the subject. However, over the winter the New Fly Fisher posted a few video's that were shot in my neck of the woods. On at least two of those vid's, they talked about using full sinking lines.

I know at least one of the hosts lives in this relative area, and they certainly film a lot of shows up here. So, it's not really that surprising. Still, it's nice to hear someone else saying it for once. Much better than the usual naysaying that happens when I mention it's a good idea to have a full sink on hand.

Worth mentioning, my fishing for Smallmouth mostly happens on lakes. Not sure whether its needed at all for river fishing. At least, I can't recall being on a river, fishing smallies, and wishing I had a FS instead of what I was chucking.

It was mentioned in one of the vids that they found that 70% of the time a floater or a intermediate would do. I would think I fish a sinking line at least 30% of the time. Probably more. If you were to look through my pics and vids, you'd notice a lot of fish caught on the full sink. A lot of big fish.

It's not just cold that can push fish down, but there are other factors to. Bright sun can have them hugging cover as well. I don't fish the prime times for smallies often anymore. I've never fished them in the mornings since I've moved up here. Lyme symptoms pretty much make that impossible. I'm not a big fan of being in small watercraft after dark. Much of my fishing takes place during the day. Not the most optimal time. However, I do well enough. If I can't get fish to respond to offerings fished in the upper portion of the water column, I can usually find success in the lower portions.

These videos should be cued to the parts mentioning full sink

Here's a nice smallie I took in 2015 on a full sink.

Grand River/Credit River Hatch charts.

Noting a lot of incoming searches for theses two charts. Here they are together.

Enjoy your opener!

Hex'd

Had some stuff from the summer I finally ended up editing. I've come to realize, that if Hexes are around, you may want to fish them or you may have some tough fishing. Nothing of size caught on tape. But the numbers........................ Insane.