Till Spring 2013...

With the looming eventuality that my 2012 Manitoba fishing season will shortly end I thought it best not to end my reports with a float tube picture. My most recent outings offered little success worth reporting but did offer up a picture of a small brown trout and involved a new fly design.

The various pits at Reynold’s Ponds still produced a few chironomids and small schools of minnows but the most insect activity was provided by a few species of water boatmen and backswimmers. The water boatmen were smaller, likely in the order of #14 or even #16 while the backswimmers were closer to #10 or #12. I had tied a few in size 12 using rubber legs, white micro crystal cactus for the body and Lustre Plus Nylon for the backing. These materials are all available from the good folks at Canadian Llama. Anyway, only one small brown was caught but it did seem to like my new creation.

This may be the last post of 2012 and if so, see you next spring. In about 6 weeks I should be beating the waters of the Texas Gulf Coast and Laguna Madre to a froth and I’ll report on anything interesting in my South Padre Island blog.

Wishing you sharp augers, hungry fish and a mild winter!

Float Tube Accessories

Float tubes are really an extension of the minimalist’s philosophy...KISS. And in that vein nothing can beat a warm evening on calm waters, casting a dry fly to hungry sunfish.  But those conditions are rare and will only commonly be found in our dreams. The real world of fishing includes wind, waves and a disconcerting lack of fish activity. These challenges require us to think about adding equipment to our float tubes; perhaps an anchor, a rod holder for a second rod or even a fish finder. 

A search through the online catalogue of a major sporting goods franchise provided some options: a “float tube anchoring system” at $36.99 and an “Outcast Float Tube Rod Rack” at $89.99. Give me a break, that’s close to 2/3 of what I paid for the float tube for a couple of chunks of plastic, lead, foam and rope. Let’s get back to that KISS philosophy to see where it takes us.

I’ve got a Fish Cat 4 and for the anchor I was able to buy the perfect thing at a local Hardware chain for $9.95. Add to that a retractable dog leash for $9.95 at a local surplus store and I had a serviceable “anchor system”. The leash can be tied to a strap or D-ring; I used a carabineer I had laying around. Although I haven’t tried it out in high winds it has provided yeoman’s service in moderate conditions.

For the spare rod, and I want to keep my rod numbers at 2 just on principle, I used 2 6” pieces of double sided Velcro that I had laying around. No cost for me but others might have to purchase some. These pieces attached to the D rings opposite to my casting arm and held the rod securely in place. A slight negative to this setup is the rod tip will sit in the water if I lean back while propelling my flippers. This could easily be corrected by adding a stick-on piece of Velcro along the side of the zippered compartment and attaching the forward portion of the rod to it.

I have a nice fish finder on my kayak and I’m going to work out a way of attaching that next spring. Since this is an expensive piece of equipment I may go with a commercial solution like: http://www.floattubefanatics.com/ Or I’ll try work out a way that works as well but that would be the subject of another blog post.

A Fishing Tale...

We fisher folk plan, scheme and build tantalizing visions of hard takes, slashing runs, monster fish. But the fishing muses often have different plans for us. This was one of those days. We arrived at Anton Lake near Minnedosa around 10:30 and meandered down to the water for a tactical inspection. Swirls on the calm waters betrayed vigorous takes just beneath the surface and waterboatmen were in evidence everywhere. No insect shucks were visible on the water; just a profusion of goose feathers littered the surface. My wife set up her spinning rod with a slip bobber while I tied a small waterboatman to my 5 wt floating line. And just in case, I set up my 6 wt with a brown leech, you know...the kind that brown trout can’t resist once the fall colours appear. I slipped into my float tube while Bobbie slipped into her lawn chair and the serious job of tracking down some nice trout began.

Fast forward to 5:00. Despite trying every fly and retrieve my weary mind came up with I could only account for ½ dozen strikes with no hook-ups. Bobbie’s slip bobber had remained motionless, a perfect subject for a still life painting. She had also tried several things; several baits and different depths and locations. The perfect day had somehow become less perfect but after a brief discussion we decided to stay for one hour longer. Bobbie took a break to refresh herself at the rest stop and I clambered out of my float tube and waders to stretch my legs. Thirty seconds after she disappeared down the trail, her bobber vanished and by the time she returned I had netted a nice hen rainbow. After releasing the fish, I returned to the water in my float tube, amid a fall of flying ants but none were being taken by the trout. They were still interested in something just beneath the surface which I still assumed to be waterboatmen. In the next hour Bobbie saw her bobber go down once but missed the fish and I had a solid take that I missed.
  

Despite all our planning, scheming and positive affirmations the fish had just not co-operated as we had hoped. Then again, a day on the water, with perfect conditions in the company of your best friend is a combination pretty hard to beat. And in the end, Bobbie had posed with the rainbow before it was released, despite her assertions the fish was mine. But it couldn’t have been mine...I don’t fish with bait anymore.

Two NEW Manitoba Species

I finally made it out to Lake Minnewasta and as they say "better late than never". The word was out that pumpkinseeds could be found in the lake and I hoped they weren't of the vegetable type.  There was also a hint that creek chubs were being caught by some of the guys that targeted pumpkinseeds. My first few fish were nice crappies but I wasn't targeting  them and they were quickly released. After the obligatory photo.

Next up was the 4 wt. with a #14 weighted pheasant tail nymph on a fairly long leader and a sink tip line. It wasn't long before I had my first pumpkinseed and during the day I managed about 20 of them. The first was the smallest at about 3" and they went up to about 6 1/2". I missed a lot and there were more than the usual LDRs.

They were all caught in the same area and right on the bottom. They would hit just as the different coloured sink tip entered the rod tip; about 20 feet out including the leader. I would watch for the that part of the line and sure enough, on every second or third cast a fish would take.

An added bonus was the creek chub. I only caught one and it hammered my fly in the same area I was catching the pumpkinseeds.

The creek chub can be easily identified by the dark spot on the leading edge of the dorsal fin.

As fall closes in these days on the water are getting more special. I know a lot of Manitobans love that cold, hard water but I'm not one of them so I cherish these nice, warm fall days. After the serious work was over I let my greedy nature take over. I put a leech pattern on my 5 wt and took a couple home for the candy jar. Yummy!

A New Float Tube and a Barren Lake Largie

FISH CAT 4 float tube on the Barren Lake boat launch ramp

As fishing reclaims large portions of my life and thoughts I'm slowly accumulating various water craft; last year a fishing kayak and a few weeks ago a float tube. I'd owned one before but passed it on to my nephew when I stopped using it. Yesterday was the official baptism despite a low front and temperatures in the mid-teens.

14" Large-mouth Bass

Fishing was slow, as expected but I did manage a surprise catch. On my third cast, a fish took my rabbit streamer near the surface and after a brief tussle I had it on the apron of the float tube. A nice, healthy looking large-mouth bass posed for a picture before being released. Back in the 80s when I often fished this lake, all it held were walleyes, pike and perch although I do remember losing a fish right at the boat that I swore was a musky. Now the majority of fish caught seem to be small-mouth bass and crappies along with the the occasional large-mouth bass, it seems. I also managed a few small small-mouths and perch on this trip. Oh yeah, loved the float tube! They've sure come a long way since my old, round Buck's Bag. I'd like it even more if I could turn with any kind of authority but hopefully that will come with time.

A Couple of Crappies

I ended up keeping a buddy company on a trip to Rushing River, Ontario to pick up his new 17’ Prospector Kevlar canoe and we hoped to baptise it on the way back to Winnipeg. The fishing muses seemed to discourage us; he forgot the fish finder, rain splattered the windshield of the Jeep and dark clouds hovered on the horizon. Real fishermen are seldom deterred by the warnings of the muses though and after some careful weighing of choices we settled on Barren Lake.  We hit the water in the early afternoon, me with a 6 wt fly rod and my friend Bill, with his spinning rod. I feel lost this time of year without a fish finder so we trolled half heartedly to a shoreline with some rock rubble and blown down trees and started working the shoreline. I caught an 8” smallmouth and lost 2 larger fish on the strike and then nothing for a few hours. After trying an assortment of flies I went back to my original fly, a yellow rabbit body with deer hair head and shoulders that I had originally tied to catch smallmouth bass. 

Big Buck Bunny

We ended locating a school of crappies and I caught two but missed over a dozen others. I attribute that to the length of the rabbit strip beyond the hook but I was reluctant to shorten the bunny strip...it was the only version of that fly I had. I tried several smaller flies that seemed close in color but with negative results. On that afternoon they wanted only one pattern, the Big Buck Bunny.  The two crappies we caught were nice fish; 1 at 11” and the other a meaty 12 1/2 “.

An 11" and 12 1/2" crappie

I normally release all my fish and despair at taking “stringer” pictures but Bill had never eaten crappie before. And crappies have the misfortune of tasting like candy.

A big surprise...

The La Salle River downstream of the dam is warm, speckled with duckweed, and the rocks are covered with algae. To boot, continued hot weather with little rain has water levels very low. Most decent sized fish have left or have been caught but for the diehard fisherman there is still action to be had. Small fish are abundant and today I was targeting small rock bass and crappies.

I was high sticking a current break between a riffle and a back eddie where I had caught my biggest crappie of the day yesterday.  On my second drift a big maw suddenly appeared and engulfed my #14 hair's ear nymph. the hookup was solid and 15 minutes later I landed a 32 inch channel cat. After posing for his mug shot he seemed pretty weary but after some ichthyological CPR gave a solid flip of the tail and disappeared back into the pool. Who would have guessed...a pretty big channel cat nymphing for size 14 bugs on a current break. Certainly a first for me and my biggest cat on my 4 wt rod.

A new Manitoba species on the fly

Fishing was slow today on the La Salle, at least for me and at the spots I usually fish. So I tied on a small hare's ear nymph and went prospecting for smaller fish. The first spot I tried was near the tail of a riffle and BINGO...a new species on the fly. Problem is I'm not 100% certain of the species but what the heck, this blog is informal and just for fun so I'll add the fish to my list. I will try to get confirmation but for now I'm adding a River Shiner (Notropis blennius).I have since been told this is a Common Shiner and I think that fits the description better...so we have a Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus).

I managed quite a few of these and many just couldn't get the fly in their mouth.

Also managed quite a few small crappies and goldeye in the fast water.

Just another great day on the fly rod!

Stonecats...continued

I gave it a yeoman's try this morning but the stonecats refused my feathery imitations. The current, split shot and bushes behind me made the effort a challenge and one I'm unlikely to repeat, at least in this exact location. Since I fly fish this river a lot I may just get one  without necessarily targeting the species. When I switched to salted minnows, the action was slow but steady. Half a dozen stonecats in about an hour.

I've had much better luck with channel cats which will take a fly readily. I've also managed the odd bullhead but I've only been able to target them in specific circumstances. Sometimes they seem to gather in large groups and mill around at the bottom (or sometimes at the head) of a pool. At this time they will take a weighted nymph put right into their midst. I suspect it to be be more of a competitive strike than an effort to feed.

Will Stonecats take a fly?

Stonecats are easy to catch out of the river at my place. Unfortunately so far, this has required bait. The type doesn’t seem important and minnows seem to work as well as worms.  Quite close to shore throughout the day seems be the ticket although fish experts tell us the fish are nocturnal feeders and will hide under cover during the day. I suspect the extremely turbid water provides the safety that the night time normally delivers. The literature also states the young are primarily invertivores although when larger they will feed on smaller minnows and crayfish. That suggests I might be able to catch them on a fly.

Until the last few days the river has been very high, actually approaching the same levels encountered during high spring flows. The resulting waters were very dark and muddy and currents ran strong. Just today I noticed the water appearing a bit less turbid and the currents aren’t quite as strong. Still not the best conditions for exercising the long rod but a definite improvement over what we had last week.During the next few days I’ll try to work out a technique for catching at least one of these miniature kitties on a fly.  Wish me luck!

A New Fishing Paradigm for the Retired

After retiring 13 years ago, I muddled my way through several hobbies from flying RC models to robotics and even ended up writing about them in several mainstream magazines. Prodded by my grandchildren, I’ve now fallen into a new avocation; I fly fish Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00...weather permitting. Wet and sometimes slimy work but oddly satisfying and as the cliché states, “someone’s got to do it”.

Fishing this much would be impractical given the way I used to fish; long trips to trout or smallmouth lakes or overnight excursions to far away waters in search of trophy fish.  My new rule has become “within ½ hour of home” and although I do break it on occasion it has generally become my mantra. I live on the Assiniboine River west of Winnipeg so most of my fishing these days is in this river, the Red and major tributaries of these two rivers. Naturally my focus has gone from the fish of cooler waters to warm water inhabitants; a surprisingly large number of species here in Manitoba. Another shift is the movement from trying for large fish to numbers of species caught on a given day. I understand this wouldn’t be for everybody but I get a thrill every time my change in presentation or location on a stream successfully targets a different species. I now keep track and have had 9 specie days on one river but am sure I topped that on a couple of days earlier in the year. 

I’m living proof there are as many aspects to fishing as there are fisher people.