Bugchucker, new hybrid and a few nice trout

Six of us, some old friends and a few new ones, rented a house near Roblin, home of the annual trout competition called the Bugchucker. Twenty four entrants fished four lakes over two days and tallied the length of the best three fish caught in each lake. A bit of snow on the first day driven by uncharacteristic cool winds were buffered  by the warmth of friendly faces and a willingness by most to help others catch more fish. Highlights for me were a 24" rainbow and the event first place trophy for a couple of my housemates, Cal and Randy.
I also caught 3 tiger trout, a first for me and although not really a new species but rather a hybrid but it will be added to my list. Tiger trout are infertile hybrids resulting from a brown trout/ brook trout crossing; a striking and hard fighting combination.

24" rainbow

16" tiger trout...my first

On the way home we stopped at a hot Parklands trout lake and managed 4 MA trout in about 2 hours of fishing. Hard to beat a weekend like that!

2015 season start on McHugh Lake

Had what has become a typical day for me on McHugh Lake; two fish hooked and one landed. The LDR was hooked on a micro leech and the netted fish, a lively 17" brown, took a dragonfly nymph. Three of us, one old friend, a new friend and myself, walked in from the highway with our float tubes. A spin fisherman casting from shore likely matched what all three of us managed on the fly that day. Some days trout respond better to the flash and vibration of a spinner than to the inherent bugginess of the fly.

A nice surprise were the two fish caught by Loris, both over 20". Our guess was they were sparr, a hybrid brook trout x char. According to the stocking records this specie was last stocked in McHugh Lake in 2002, making them about 13 or 14 years old.

Winter confessions...

This blog has been inactive for some time and I'll have to evaluate whether I continue on the fly fishing species gig or move onto just plain fishing stuff. As I grow more mature (do they call that aging?) I find self imposed constraints on my fishing style slowly vanishing. I know of people who disdain the use of sub-surface flies, those who scorn the use of indicators and some who even spurn the curve of the hook, saying it hurts the fish and only the strike counts for pride or a sense of accomplishment. My judgement on the latter would suggest that retiring the fly rod to a basement retreat might be even less intrusive for our quarry. And to those that wish to impose their own personal restrictions onto all other fishers...please don't. Aided by whatever wisdom that sometimes accompanies old age I have decided that, ultimately, a bent rod triumphs over all else, at least in the world of piscatorial pleasures. Accompanying the dissolution of many of my previously held fishing truisms is a confession to enjoying the odd bout with a spinning rod and when conditions dictate...(gasp) bait. Although age has been a factor, another is the purchase of a nice fishing boat after a promise by my wife (and best friend) to fish with me more often in the future. But I still hold fly fishing at the pinnacle of fish fooling everywhere and will continue to spend a large part of my pension on fly tying materials and other assorted paraphernalia. To that end I must make another admission, I have succumbed to the lure of just-one-more-rod...again.

 A real sweetheart, it's a 2 wt Redington CT rod paired with a 2/3 Redington Drift reel and a Hook & Hackle weight forward 2 wt fly line. It has already conquered 4 Texas species, including several worthy members of the trout family. I'm looking forward to it helping add to my list of Manitoba fly caught species in 2015. In the meantime, this diminutive warrior will be offered the opportunity of taming as many fish as it wishes in the coming months, especially rainbows disdainful of its stature.

Another one for the 4 wt. "giant killer"...

As a dyed-in-the-wool blue collar fisherman who tries to fish Monday to Friday, I generally leave the weekend waters to those who help to keep the economy running. Today I got that unbearable itch again and just had to throw the 4 wt in the trunk and head off to fish my home waters. This generally means fishing one of a half dozen drainages that flow into the Assiniboine between Headingley and St. Eustache, at least until dropping water levels allow me to fly fish the main channel.

16.25" goldeye

Today I was after goldeye and the fish did not disappoint me. I only fished a few hours but managed a number of them; biggest was a really nice goldeye just over 16 inches.

Of course with a 4 wt. larger carp were out of the question and although I saw the odd one I deliberately avoided them. That is until I saw THE GIANT. A carp I estimated to be around 34 to 36 inches long cruised to within reach of my fly and before I could mentally process this picture instinct prevailed and a short cast plopped the spider down a few inches from it's nose. The take was instantaneous, but a wild head shake coupled with a wilder hook set left the carp to swim away and ponder what was hanging from his nose. If only I had been fishing my 8 wt.

27 inch carp on a 4 wt. fly rod

The next carp that swam by got the same treatment except this time I was prepared. A lighter hook set and a patient fight that lasted the better part of 15 minutes resulted in a nice 27 inch carp coming to net. So now this diminutive but powerful 4 wt. has not only a 32" channel cat to it's credit but also a 27" carp. Not bad for a pipsqueak! Not what I would necessarily recommend as the proper rod to land carp but hey, might as well go with what works. I also landed a few small pike and a nicely coloured shorthead red horse sucker.

No new species but a few big fish...

A 24" drum caught two weeks ago

If I keep to my title and intro I suspect that future posts will diminish and slowly dwindle to nothing. I enjoy writing about my fishing so in future I think I'll be more expansive and perhaps include my more note worthy fly fishing adventures. Perhaps I'll even mention (gulp) fish not caught on a fly but I'll leave that decision to a later date.

Last year I was really bitten by the Master Angler bug and have now seriously started to try to advance up the MA list. For those not familiar with the program, The Manitoba Master Angler Program, apparently the oldest of its kind in existence, documents relevant information on all fish over a certain length for various designated species that are caught and registered in Manitoba. This makes it an ideal tool to compare how you're doing compared to other anglers who register fish. I know many people have no interest in registering fish but this is a great tool for those of us who want to engage in more "competitive" fishing. In my mind at least, this is a far better method of retaining those great memories than hanging a dead fish on a rec room wall. The vast majority of fish caught in the spirit of the MA hunt are returned unharmed to the water. If you want to explore the site a bit further you can head over to:

https://anglers.travelmanitoba.com/

So what is the purpose of all this "no new species to report" discussion? Well, I fished three days out of the last week and feel like I've been kissed by the fish fairy each and every one of those days.

Last Wednesday found me on the Whitemud River in my fishing Kayak looking for some freshwater drum to work towards my specialist award for that species. First fish landed that day was a 30" walleye and as it turned out it was my fifth MA in that specie so I now had my walleye specialist.

 Next fish was a drum just over 31" which made it the 17th biggest ever caught in the province. Another three drum the same day rounded out my requirements for specialist award for freshwater drum.

Thursday saw me standing on the banks of Willow Creek wondering why I kept coming here. Several folks fishing there had caught nothing and other options were being discussed when a couple of conservation officers came along to check licenses.  These folks are usually quite friendly and understandably know where the fish are. So off we went to Boundary Creek where I managed to catch six MA white bass; the biggest of which was a chunky 16 1/2" long. Another species specialist award.

Friday (yesterday) wasn't quite as spectacular but I still managed a MA carp; a muscular 30 3/4" long.

These last 7 MA fish were all caught on a fly rod...I can't remember how the first five were caught. Oh yeah, I caught them all right in the corner of the  mouth. :)

First fish on a tenkara rod

My first pike on a tenkara rod

Opening day of the 2014 fishing season found me trying to unravel the intricasies of tenkara fishing on one of my local, temporary flows into the Assiniboine River. I had opted to carry only two types of flies, as recommended by TenkaraBum; killer bugs in various sizes and an elk hair caddis. After about 2 hours of flogging the water using various techniques I came up empty. Despite seeing many pike and a few perch in the water not one could be coaxed into sampling my offerings. I had hoped to perhaps add to my fly caught life list but it was not to be. An unhappy walk back to the car, I returned with my 5 wt and a healthy supply of streamers and commenced to catch 42 pike (yeah, I actually did count them) up to about 14". Some folks would call fish this size "bait" but opening day and this close to home allows me to use the appelation "pike".

A facsimile of the fly used...the actual fly fell victim to a tree

Next day, suitably armed with properly sized streamers for the tenkara rod found me back at the same spot. The first cast brought only a swirl, and the second allowed me to land my first tenkara caught fish... a 14" pike. I fished for an hour or so longer and managed 9 more; the biggest an 18" fish that lent credence to the term "snake". A pencil has a more robust figure than this fish but it was an honest 18" and was caught on my tenkara rod and it did manage to put quite a bend into the rod. I must say that this fish increased my confidence in the rod by a significant amount. It settled into a nice bow as the base of the rod provided the beef to stop the fishes several runs.

All in all, the jury is still out on this tenkara rod. On suitable water it would be a great tool but unfortunately those types of flow are generally to the east or west of this province. On the other hand, it's a lot of fun and doesn't take up much room so can easily come along on any trip where it might just be the key.

Float tube fish finder

Still too much snow and shadow

Dozens of juncos are visible from my windows as they search the snow-pack for edible morsels. What they find is beyond me but they keep pecking away at the white stuff and seem energetic so their efforts are bearing fruit...or perhaps seeds. Ice fishing season is losing ground as snow cover on the lakes softens or melts into puddles; at least in the southern regions of Manitoba.

So what is the antsy fly-fisher, float-tuber and kayak fisher to do? I could cry about the coming cold front and its effect on spring but what would that get me? Tie some flies to augment the thousands I already have? I've already tied a few dozen in the last few days and the thought of more flies right now seems a bit like ordering fries after polishing off a 16 oz steak.

Ice fishing setup

Ahhh, I have it. I'd purchased a conversion kit last fall that would allow me to mount my Humminbird 385ci onto my float tube. I'd also bought an extra transducer and power cable and all the disparate parts rested in a couple of basement boxes. As it turns out, there was really very little to do to assemble the rig...just drill a few holes, thread the mounting box and transducer on a buckled strap and charge the battery. The included battery is only a 2.9 Amp/hr so it may not last a full day since my 7.2 Amp/hr battery won't work for two full days on the ice but I'll see about that later this spring. A couple of rants. Humminbird doesn't make cables for these applications ( at least I haven't seen any) and the standard transducer cables have to be coiled into many loops and hung onto the box...a messy solution. Secondly, when purchasing the attachment kit, the postage charged was significantly higher than the postage paid to ship it to me. Come on guys, why be so sneaky in trying to pick up some extra bucks for an already expensive proposition? End of rant.

My 385ci on the end of my Fish Cat 4

So now I can interchange my fish finder between fishing kayak, ice fishing bag and float tube. How well it works, how it may affect portability and whether the whole exercise was worth it will have to wait for another day. At least I'll be able to spot some huge fish under my float tube, if only in my day-dreams for now.