Fly fishing for Micros: the rods

 For anyone starting out the answer is simple; use what you’ve got. If it’s an ultralight fly rod, say 3 wt or less, you’ve got a pretty good start. Heavier weight fly rods can work but bites will be less obvious and of course the fight will be greatly diminished. An option here is to go fixed line and use only a section of the rod without the handle, with a short section of leader and tippet tied to the tip eye. This setup would allow you to jig, dapp or do a lob cast.

The first fish caught on my Kiyotaki II 

Two upgrades or additions to the above would be a lighter fly rod or a tenkara rod.

My lightest western fly rods are a couple of 1 wts, a 7 1/2’ Orvis and a 6’ Maxcatch. I find them both adequate but wonder about something a bit lighter, down in the 0 to 000 range. Most of the rods in this range are quite expensive and I doubt the price would be worth any advantages you might gain. I haven’t fished any of these rods and may be wrong in my assessment. For reels, a click pawl fly reel is probably the best option although any cheap reel without a drag system would also work. I find the cheaper small reels with friction drags are too inaccurate and best avoided. Here are the three I use the most. The bottom rod is an Orvis 1 wt. and the second is a Maxcatch 1wt. The top rod is a Remington 2 wt for those windy days.

Tenkara rods are fixed line rods, generally used with a level, hi-viz fluorocarbon line and a piece of tippet. Their stated purpose is to facilitate a short drift with only the fly and tippet in the water followed by another quick cast. This is then repeated and in the proper conditions is an effective and rewarding way of fishing, generally in higher gradient streams for trout. In fishing for micros I have seldom used the rods in this fashion. I’ve mainly used them to jig along shorelines or perhaps lob or cast a small streamer for a short distance. Advantages are increased sensitivity and much more enjoyment out of the fight with smaller minnows. The top rod and third are better rods from Japan while the second and last are cheaper Chinese rods. They all work but my favorite is the third rod, a Kiyotaki II that weighs in at a crushing .6 oz.

Right now I find myself reaching for a 1 wt more often but I’m determined to integrate a few of my tenkara rods into my micro fishing pursuits. This is what works for me on the water types I fish but should evolve as I gain experience. Others in different situations might decide to use similar equipment differently or use entirely different tools. In many situations a slender, 5 foot willow branch with 2 lb test fishing line would work just as well.

Fly fishing for Micros: Ancillary Catch

Further to my fly fishing for micros efforts I decided to try the Red River, a large, imposing, turbid, prairie river with little evident structure. So why try it? It’s home to a large variety of minnows and only a short drive away.

The challenge was to present my small flies effectively in the murky water and I assembled a rig to hopefully address that issue. I tied on a visible attractor fly followed by a tiny streamer, size #24 on a tag end.

The setup worked, I hooked several minnows but what has become the norm, they got off before I could land them. Not yet sure if this is poor technique, bad luck or the result of using barbless hooks; the sample size is just too small. The minnows I have landed usually had the hooks deep in their mouth.

A bonus to this method of fishing is that some fish are caught on the attractor fly. In yesterday’s session the ancillary catch was a small pike, rock bass and smallmouth bass. 

The smallmouth bass holds a special interest for me, it’s the first of its kind caught by me in this watershed although I have heard of others. Could these fish becoming more common because of global warming? If so, what other centrarchids; bass, crappies and sunfish, might be moving up the Red River from their American home?

Stewart in “The Freshwater Fishes of Manitoba” points out possible catches of white crappie, green sunfish, pumpkinseeds, orangespotted sunfish, green sunfish and longear sunfish. 

Fly fishing for Micros: The Flies

 

After being stuck in the low thirties in my Manitoba species on the fly list for a couple of years I decided to shift gears this year and start thinking about catching micros. Fast forward to now, I’ve added 2 species, increased the number to 35 and am firmly hooked on the concept. I hadn’t expected the level of excitement nor the interesting challenges this niche of fishing can bring.

My initial searches found little that was helpful, most fishers who concentrated on micros used either worm bits or a flour based paste. I discovered one source, Tenkarabum.com to be extremely useful. Chris Stewart, the site owner, has written extensively about catching micros on flies although the information is somewhat scattered around his site. Trust me though, if you enjoy the idea of fishing for smaller fish you’ll enjoy your time on his site.

Chris writes about a number of different flies essential for the tenkara fisherman but for micros on a tenkara rod he uses a black killer bugger almost exclusively, mainly in a size #26. I haven’t been able to source a #26 but have found some #24s, so I’ll be tying up these.

For other flies I might use on my micro quest I went to my own well of experience. My several winters of fishing a tail water trout fishery in Texas where tiny midges prevailed resulted in a number of minnow catches. It’s those flies I’ll try up here in Manitoba, albeit a bit smaller. While the Texas midges were all tied on #20 and larger hooks, my fishing here will use midge pupa patterns tied on #20 down to #30 hooks. I wonder if pattern or colour is important. I’ll tie up a number of different patterns to experiment. The zebra midge pattern was one of my more effective patterns down south. Should the need arise I’ll tie up some midge larva patterns.

Although I haven’t had the opportunity to use dry flies on micros this year, I plan to have a few of those in my arsenal as well. Griffiths Gnat and a #22 ant pattern come to mind. 

For a wet fly pattern very little can beat a North Woods Spider, hopefully I’ll be able to find feathers small enough on my starling cape.

Tying small flies can be challenging for beginning fly tiers but shouldn’t pose any problems for experienced tiers. I highly recommend anyone interested to give them a try.

The only tippet sizes I’ve used so far are 6X and 7X and I see little need to deviate from this.

While some experts promote the use of loop knots with these tiny flies, I’ve gone exclusively with a double Davy’s. A single Davy’s might be adequate for micros and I may experiment with that at some point. I have lost several very nice, larger fish on a single Davy’s knot.

I’ve tied most of my micro flies using 50D (8/0) G.S.P. thread. I’ve got some 30D (12/0) thread but find going that fine unnecessary. 

It’s fall here in Manitoba and minnow numbers are close to their lowest numbers for the year so I’m not sure what the next few fishing excursions will bring. Only a few weeks ago I was catching common shiners regularly near home but a few cormorants on that body of water has changed that. The cormorants and minnows are now both gone.

Following are some pictures of smaller flies taken under a stereoscope.

Hornyhead chub on the fly

I had been fishing the head of a large pool on the Brokenhead River with #24 streamer/nymph patterns and #30 nymphs and catching nothing but common shiners. One small area of the pool held visible, fairly large minnows with a distinctive stripe that I was unable to entice with the flies I was using. My fishing partner was angling nearby with a yellow plastic nymph on a tiny tungsten jig and managed one of them, so I tied on a Wee Willy Wiggler and that proved to be the ticket. Although tied on a #14 hook, the fish attacked the fly with gusto and while most were too small for the hook size, I eventually hooked and landed what was to be a new fly caught species for me; the hornyhead chub.

#14 Wee Willy Wigglers, #24 streamer/nymphs and #30 nymphs

Another shiner species hits a fly…

 I’ve been nymphing for suckers in the pool below the La Barriere Park bridge recently, and along with the suckers have managed the odd pike, walleye, drum and rock bass. Today I tied on a #24 nymph and caught a number of common shiners and a, new for me, (insert drum roll) River Shiner. At least that’s my interpretation but I’m certainly no expert. If anyone has an opinion, please leave it in the comment section.

I’ve received an expert opinion and my fish has been identified as a spotfin shiner. The giveaway is the dark pigmentation on the last two dorsal fin rays.

No news can be bad news

 

It happened again on my home river. That dreaded event...a winter-kill. After a year in which a back injury limited my fishing to spring/early summer, I’m again faced with an uncertain fishing future. The jury is still out on the extent or the reason for the kill-off but chances are the quality of any local fishing will be severely affected.

There is little to do now other than wait for the May 15th opening of the general fishing season to see what spring delivers. Given my present interest in ultralight fly fishing ( I own 6 rods in the 1wt to 3wt range), it wouldn’t take much to keep me happy. If that doesn’t pan out, a full dive into microfishing with a fly rod may be another way to stay local. The days where I’ll consistently drive 3 or 4 hours for a days fishing are far behind me.

Stay tuned, I did see a small fish jump out of the water right at my back yard. It might have been a little goldeye. 

The river is back...walleye on a 1 wt.

Two years ago I went through the disappointment of losing my favorite river. A combination of irrigation withdrawals, government stone walling on fixing pumping stations and deep snow levels resulted in what looked like a total winter kill. We lost a river full of big bluegills, crappie and channel cats. Not to mention the pike, drum, mooneye, goldeye, sauger, walleye and many other species the river supported.

This year we had long term high flows and the river seems to have repopulated, at least with some of the early season migrants that traveled up from the Red River during the spring thaw.

Best of all was that caught most of these fish using a new 1 wt fly rod and the rest with my trusty 2 wt.