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.

Carp on the Fly

Earlier this year I had the good sense to buy the book "Carp on the Fly" by Reynolds, Befus and Berryman. The book turned out to be a godsend; a boon that produced results the very next day after reading it. Very readable, practical and full of carpy wisdom the book is destined to become a classic for carp aficionados.

The carp contemplating the vehicle of its capture

I drove to a feature on the Assiniboine River just 5 minutes from home; a drainage ditch that mixed relatively clear water with the murkier waters of the river. I had seen carp there before and I was not disappointed this trip. I tied  a #10 chartreuse wolly bugger to my 6 wt line and over the next euphoric hours managed a total of 7 carp ranging in length from 21" to a strength sapping, chunky 30". I just couldn't land this last fish with the 6 wt. and had to call my wife on my cell phone to bring the net. These fish are tough. After this bone weary angler released the beaten fish it accelerated for safety as if jet assisted.

A Manitoba carp, a net and my 6 wt...the perfect day

The technique that worked this day was a delicate presentation about 12 to 15" in front of a fish with a slight twitch when it appeared to notice it. Without the twitch they often swam away and further away they ignored the fly. Just another great day in paradise...with a fly-rod.

A happy carp fisherman preparing for the release

Real flyfishers don't use bobbers....

I would never admit using a bobber while fly fishing, ESPECIALLY to another fly fisher. However, when the need arises, I will reluctantly and with a slight blush resort to the use of an indicator. Indicators come in all sizes and flavors from little foam tabs and cork balls that look alarmingly like bobbers to yarn concoctions that float. I liked the O-ring method of attachment but didn't like the yarn and also liked the float-ability of cork/foam but didn't like the attachment methods. From my background in RC models I had loads of balsa wood and my robotics hobby ensured a ready supply of O-rings and the Bo-ring was born. Yellow packing tape covering the 1/4" balsa piece and attaching the O-ring is about as simple as it gets. That simplicity along with the ability to fine tune the size to any number of fly sizes and weights makes it a permanent boarder in my fly vest.

Fly fishing indicators made of balsa and O-rings

A new idea...Western Tenkara

I was sitting on my deck this morning, coffee in hand, ice pack on my wasp bite and contemplating the misguided wisdom of yesterday's fishing folly. In my desire to test the waters of Tenkara fishing, I had risked the ultimate limb of a 40 year fishing companion...my 4 wt fly rod. Yes friends, here lies proof stupidity can be overcome by good luck. As happens so often when  letting the mind wander over a fertile landscape, a light bulb flashed and a fully formed solution presented itself. What I saw was a bead over the connection between fly line and Tenkara line/leader, outside of the rod tip.  A moment's reflection assured me it should work.

A 6 mm bead keeps the Tenkara leader from entering the fly rod

Upside: I can now get a taste Tenkara fishing without buying a rod right away. An added huge advantage, in my mind anyway, is that I can now fight a larger fish on the reel instead of just the rod and leader.

Downside: I still have the added weight of a reel and probably am missing many of the characteristics of an authentic Tenkara rod.

More luck than brains...

I woke up this morning in a bit of an adventuresome mood and decided to try my ersatz version of Tenkara fishing. I put together a level leader using about 9' of 20 lb test flourocarbon and a 5 lb tippet of the same material. I tied this leader, which seemed more stiff than yesterday's attempt, to my rod tip using a kiting knot; the larkshead.

Tenkara type attachment method

Everything looked good to go so I headed off to a streambed that was backed up with water from the Assiniboine River to try my luck. The first spot I walked into looked good and I headed down to the pool. Ouch!!! I felt a sharp pain in my arm at the same time I noticed the swarm of wasps around me. I managed to find some speed not normally available to a 67 year old and escaped with only one bite. A more faint-hearted (level-headed?) person might have headed home at that point but I was out to catch fish and would not be deterred by a few angry wasps. A few more spots yielded nothing and eventually I found myself at the junction with the Assiniboine. I had always caught fish here and was optimistic about my chances. Although my casts were getting better my catch results weren't. While twitching back my fly after a number of casts to various points around me I saw a nice 8 or 9 lb carp swim leisurely by. It suddenly dawned on me; had that fish taken my fly, and I have caught a number of carp on a fly that size, it would simply have swum away with my rod tip. Dohhhh!!! Disaster was averted and I was grateful the fishing gods were generous today. Looks like I may have to invest in one of those Tenkara rods after all.

Assiniboine River back-up into streambed

Oh yes, I did promise to share my links to the forum(s) describing how to make Tenkara leaders.

http://www.tenkara-fisher.com/showthread.php?133-Handmade-taper-line&highlight=line+instructions
http://www.tenkaraonthefly.net/2011/07/diy-tenkara-line-furling-update.html

Next steps...

My partner in this, Steven Denault, fishes a Hera style Rod in the Tenkara tradition using Sakasa Kebari flies. I'll let Steven explain what all these Japanese terms mean in a separate post. A number of influences have me housebound, the main being an unseasonal heat wave coupled with flood stages on my home river, the Assiniboine. Anyway, this tenkara has piqued my interest and the result is several days of research. I had read that someone  used a 4wt rod as a sustitute for an actual tenkara rod so on went the lightbulb... I've got a  9' 4wt rod.

Three size 12 Tenkara flies of the sakasa kebari type (Reverse hackle fly)

 I tied a few of those flies in size 12, made up a fly line of 10 lb test line with a 2 lb Tippet,attached it to my 4 wt fly rod tip and walked down to the river to try it out. Something was wrong; the "fly line" blew around in the slight breeze, making it difficult to place the fly where I wished. Back to the drawing board. I was encouraged though; I had seen 1/2 dozen larger minnows in the shallows and a large carp cruised by only a few feet away. A bit of further research revealed the problem. My leader was too thin. More searching revealed a whole new world of Tenkara fly lines, level lines and furled lines. Next step is to build a proper fly line. I found a number of helpful forum and blog posts which I'll share next.

The journey begins...

Today, two of us are committing to spend the next while trying to catch as many species of freshwater fish on a fly in Manitoba as we can. The term "next while" is fluid and will be dictated more by the fun factor than positive or negative results. Let the games begin!