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!
i would love to know where on the lake you found 20 pumpkin seeds! i have tried for a few years and never found one!
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