Scientific Anglers Trout
Anglers finding fish in protected water
The cold weather doesnt seem to bother the fish, as unconfirmed reports indicate anglers finding protected water are catching fish.
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Fly Fishing need good tippet line in 6x or 7x?
I was fishing this weekend in a extremely clear stream. You could count the rocks on the bottom and see the Trout from 40 ft away. I was using dry fly's and had a ton of looky loos that turned away at the last second. I was using Scientific Angler 4x trout tippets. The guy a the local Trout shop said I need to move down to a 6x,7x, or even 8x because of the clear water. What tippet line do you trust in this weight? The Trout are pretty good size as I caught one brown that weighed 4 lbs and one rainbow that weighed 2 lb.
Tippet choice is always a trade off. You sacrifice strength for stealth and vice versa. Heavier tippet also tangles less but can cause line shadows and scare away the fish. Moving to 6x or 7x is a good move to try in clear water with line-shy trout, although 8x is way too delicate to consistently catch 4-pound browns. The smallest I generally go is 6x. I use #22 flies with 6x and I don't have much problem. Haven't snapped my tippet in I can't remember how long. What brands do I trust? Pretty much all of them -- lately I've been using Frog Hair, Orvis, and Climax, mostly because I like the design of the spools and the way they handle.
I want to take issue with your local fly shop guy, though. If you were getting looks at your fly, the fish weren't exhibiting line-shy behavior. When your line is scaring the fish, they panic and scatter. They see the line, its shadow, or the dimple in the water, and they'll take it for a threat above them. When that happens they go DOWN, or they swim off fast.
What you were seeing is clear-water refusals. On clear and/or slow water, where the trout can carefully examine the fly, you have to up your game on fly choice, not tippet choice. You have to switch flies often and you have to be VERY aware of the forage you're trying to imitate.
Think about it -- the water's clear and slow. A potential meal floats by. The trout rises and slowly drifts along with the fly, making sure it's something he wants to chow down on. If it looks wrong in any way, the trout has the luxury of waiting for the next offering. This is not necessarily because the fly is suspicious that it's an artificial (though some trout seem very suspicious) or sees your tippet. It's often because the trout simply doesn't want to eat anything that's not food, and there's generally a lot of stuff on the water that may look like food but that is not food -- cottonwood seeds, duck feathers, bits of leaves, etc.
So, I'd make sure you've got the right fly. Match the hatch and match it GOOD. Use spent, cripple, and emerger patterns as part of your attack, and change flies often. A fish that refuses one artificial will probably refuse the next one.
If you can't do that, I'd try fishing riffles and faster water. In these areas the fish have more trouble seeing the fly and less time to make the choice to rise. Bigger fish have learned that foraging in clear, slow water pays off, so you might get smaller fish in faster water, but if you can't dial in your imitation, you'll have to move to water where the fish are less selective.
Growing up in the inner city Salmon were the end all and be all of big fighting fish for us. Humber river was the first place we discovered them. We used to take the subway there everyday after school when the salmon were running. We used to use marshmellows thinking that they loved to eat them, soon I realized that the marshmellow just floated off bottom enough that the fish would breathe the bait in rather than eat most of the time. Once I realized this sad fact salmon fishing became a little boring to me. Until one day in high school I started chucking around an old Mepps in the lower part of the Humber River hoping to connect with a Pike. On this day I got giant hit and thought I had the pike of a lifetime on until a saw 20 plus pound salmon with the spinner hanging out the side of its mouth. I was so excited that the fish actually hit the bait. It was this fish that sparked that old flame for "The King Of The City". Since then I have discovered that they will hit all kinds of baits if you time it right.
Every year there is a time he when the Salmon come from all over Lake Ontario and bunch up in river mouths in cities across Southern Ontario. I never miss this magical time when the giants of lake Ontario are willing to whack baits with some weird type of instinctual rage, lol! You know what I'm talking about if you have ever felt a salmon destroy your bait on a retreive, if you've never experienced this you are truly missing out. And yes these fish can and do destroy your baits often enough. I have had fish bend my split rings straight, bend my hooks straight and pull the wiring right out of balsa would crankbaits, its unbelievable and I love it, lol!!!
The key to catching these bullies is the water temperature. If the water is in the mid 60's and lower you have an excellent chance at connecting with a real "Sow Cow". When the water is in the high 60's and higher you may see fish every where but getting one to bite is another story.
Another factor to consider is the water clarity. If the water is like chocolate milk you can forget about hooking one legally with a lure. The clearer the water the better it is for the most part but there have been times in stained water where we have pounded them.
As for equipment, I like heavy gear. I like using 7′6″ St. Croix Tournament Legend MH flippin' sticks for chucking giant spoons, swimbaits and cranks. These rods are awesome because the tip is softer than most fippin' sticks on the market. This softness lets crankbaits wobble nicely and also allows you to muscle fish in without breaking off. Despite its soft tip the rod has a ton of backbone that lets you power them in and tire them out before they spool you. The reels I'm using are Cacutta's, Chronarch's and Curado's. I've been spooling the reels with 17-20lb Berkley XT for Crankbaits and Swimbaits. When spoon fishing 20lb Power has been the number one performer.
When the water has been on the warmer end of the preferred temperature spectrum spoons have out produced Cranks for the most part. The most successful retrieve that has been working with spoons has been the slow and steady retrieve. However the jig and flutter retrieve has had its days so don't be affraid to experiment. Every spoon on the market can work but the ones that have worked best for me are Williams Trophy Takers, Glow Cleos, big "no name" five of diamonds glow spoons and Northern Kings (great for the jig and flutter technique).
Crankbaits have worked best also on a slow and steady retreive. But there have been time with Husky Jerks and Rogues where the jerk, jerk, pause has killed them! We have caught them on almost every type of Crank you can think of. Here is a list of some of the baits that I have caught them on: Rapala Taildancers, Rapala J13's, Rapala Risto Raps, Rapala Shad Raps (one of my best days ever was on this bait in a firetiger pattern), Rattlin' Raps, Bill Norman bass crankbaits, Rattlin' Spots, Bomber long A's in deep diving and shallow diving, Husky Jerks, Rattlin' Rogues, Wally Diver's, Wally Minnow's, Fat Free Shad's, Reef Runner's, Fast Trac Minnow's and the list goes on, lol!, oh yeah I've even caught one on a spinnerbait near the Toronto Islands! Some days I just keep changing lures, sometimes you'll catch one and then nothing until you switch lures. Switching baits often can really pay off at times but make sure you have a quality snap that won't bend on you. Overall I like Crankbait fishing for salmon better than spoon fishing because they tend to smash Cranks harder! When night time sets in I use glow tape on my Cranks so the fish can see my bait better. I recharge the tape with my camera flash every now and then. I do the same with the glow spoon's.
I'll be out there tonight because the water is cooling off at the moment and I gotta' hunch that the Cranks will have the block on fire! Hope to see you out there.
Peace T
Posted by Taro in Fishing. No Comments
Passion best describes Taro Murata. Introduced to fishing at the age of 3 by his grandmother, Taro's love of fishing remains unchallenged!
Growing up in downtown Toronto, Taro had limited access to rural fishing experiences. Taro then began exploring and fishing every body of water that was accessible in downtown Toronto. He challenged the myth that good fishing was only found in northern locations. Taro's experiment of fishing urban waters quickly proved to be an overwhelming success! This philosophy of fishing urban waters even influenced where he went to university! Talk about passion!! He researched various universities that didn't meet his criteria of being next to a body of water until Taro chose Carlton University in Ottawa. His decision for going there?, "because it's located along the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal!" He quickly proved his theory correct once again. His enthusiasm and passion for fishing quickly spread across campus introducing the sport to a new generation.
After completing university, Taro found himself teaching English in Hong Kong. Surrounded by water, fishing was never far from his mind. It was during this time that Taro began to combine his love of fishing with his natural ability to teach. Taro's passion and energy transformed fishing into an art form! He wanted to spread the word that you could catch fish in urban waters! Taro has taken this philosophy all over the world; from monster Sea Bass in Hong Kong to Stripers in the Bronx!
Taro created Fish City TV to introduce urban fishing to the masses. He wants to share his wealth of knowledge with the hope that they too will be inspired! Like Taro always says, "get fish or die trying!" Taro is also a top ten tournament angler, a full time sport fishing guide, http://www.fishcitytours.com
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