Steel

Gorgeous shot from Kurt Budliger

I got pretty excited on Saturday about heading over to the Salmon River in Pulaski, NY to do some steelhead fishing. A good friend had been over there earlier in the week and he and his buddies had hooked a lot of fish and landed quite a few too. Then the rain hit on Wednesday and blew the river out which was going to bring in a whole lot of new fish. That got me thinking.... 

The Rusty Spinner and my old friend Ben have been trying to get me to go steelheading with them for a while now. I met Ben back in college when we were both sculpture students. I was in my fly fishing infancy then but already horribly addicted. Ben was using spinning gear and had no desire to try the long rod. Somehow it worked. I think the beer might have helped. Ben and Mr Spinner have known each other a long time and somehow Ben had a fly rod epiphany a few years ago thanks to Rusty's encouragement.  


Well the long and the short of it was that Ben got a call last minute that he had to work on Sunday and could not go fishing. Rusty and I had an interesting chat about Ben on Facebook, realizing that we could not break his thumbs because the opposable thumbs that Ben has are the only thing that keeps him from being an ape. And we might try again this coming weekend (if it isn't bone chilling cold).  


I was all ready to steelhead and fired up for it. I started making some calls to friends. I suspected that the rain we got might have brought a few fish into a local river. Fortunately my buddy and photographer extrordinaire Kurt Budliger was able to get out with me. We were on the river the next morning. I am not going to mention the name of the river. There are already plenty of people who are touting how great this fishery is when the reality is that it is doing alright but would do a whole lot better if it weren't getting a ton of pressure. Sometimes the most important thing you can do for a resource is to not say a lot about it instead of promote it to death. But some people will never understand that...

Perfect conditions!

We got there and looked at the river. It was steelhead green with about 18-24 inches of visibility. Perfect! Just the right flow, great color, great visibility, so I thought we might be in for a good time. I was right. I had a fish on within the first 45 minutes or so. Not a bad fish, definitely under 20 inches, but respectable for a Vermont steelhead. We walked, talked and fished. The river was nice. 


We decided to head in the opposite direction after a while and later in the afternoon fishing a similar spot to where I got into my first fish, I found another player. Similar size too. The fish had my 6 weight doubled nicely. My guides were iced up pretty well though. I was a bit concerned with that. Kurt and I took turns breaking ice from my tip top and first few guides. I had on 3X Orvis Mirage tippet so I wasn't freaking out, but a good quick surge from the fish could have lost it. It tuckered out and I got it with my net. Beautiful 19" steelie. We got a few pics and sent him back on his way.

Just starting to get colored up

We didn't get any more bumps or see anything else for the rest of the day. It didn't matter though. It was a great day to be out on the water with a friend.

Drew’s Top 10 Dream Fly Fishing Freshwater Destinations Part 2

And now, what you have all been waiting for, my top 5 dream destinations for freshwater fly fishing…. (and there was much rejoicing)… 

Yikes!

#5 Zambezi River, Central Africa. Big fish with gigantic teeth. Hard to hook. Acrobatic fighters. The African Tigerfish. Those teeth can take down small Nile crocodiles (and do). Oh yea, big Nile crocs make this a no wade fishery for sure. Well, not unless you coat yourself in ketchup and mustard before you head in (crocs appreciate condiments). Boga Grips are a must for these fish and it probably goes without saying that wire leaders are in use. 8-9wt rods with shooting heads for 20+ lb fish. The Congo River sports a Goliath Tigerfish that tops out around 100 lbs…. hmmmm… maybe the Congo instead of the Zambezi…. Let’s not forget all the other fish there too- Clarias catfish, barbell, tilapia, Haplochromine cichlids, Cornish Jack, mormyrid fish (literally shocking fish!)… This is an oddball specialist’s African dream indeed!

Now that is a trout!

 #4 Mongolia- Alright salmonid fans, here you go: Taimen!!! A trout (well technically char) that you use can use musky flies and gear for. Just what I am looking for. This fish is the largest salmonid in the world- the biggest on record was about 230 lbs, but on hook and line it is closer to 100 lbs. Get your Mongol herdsman guide to climb a tree and spot one in the river for you to cast at. As long as he doesn’t throw out a prairie dog on a treble hook with a rope for a line to catch it for dinner…. Of course this is not the only fish in town. 

A pike I would love to catch....

 The spotted pike (Esox reichertii- the only member of the Esox family not found in North America) can be found in slower waters in the same river systems. Throw in lenok and Amur trout (both trout in the genus Brachymystax), grayling and the asp (a large cyprinid- minnow for you less Latin minded folks), you have a pretty interesting fishery to play around in. Couple that all with a largely roadless area, dangerous terrain, migratory habits of the taimen and the chance encounter with the Almas (the Mongolian sasquatch) and you have one hell of an adventurous trip ahead of you. 

Tarpon? Carp? nope... mahseer!

 #3 Indian Himalayas. The majesty of the highest mountain chain in the world holds a fish that has fascinated me for years- the mahseer. The steep, fast moving mountain rivers here hold this carp-like cyprinid which can reach up to 100lbs. With scales like a tarpon, Fu Manchu mustache, a trapdoor mouth, a brilliant gold coloration and a super cool streamer coming off their dorsal fin these are wicked looking fish! Totally tattoo worthy! (if I catch one I will get ink to celebrate it). This is a fish that definitely has the potential to get you down to the last bit of your backing and chasing one down a steep, boulder strewn river is just asking for a broken neck. Sounds like fun to me! Of course, this is not the only fish I want to target here either.

That's a nice cat!

How about that for a set of choppers?

How about a fish that gets over 6 feet long, 150 pounds, has recurved teeth like a shark, and has possibly consumed people? To make it even more cool, it is a catfish! The Goonch Cat. After seeing this fish on River Monsters and seeing how it hangs at the tail out of pools (clear water for sight fishing!) I want to get one- really badly. The shot of those fish right at the tail out had me thinking about a 9 wt spey rod with a fast sink tip and a big bunny fly…. Think how awesome that is, a big cat on the fly and one you have to use a wire leader for! BRILLIANT! There are also snow trout (really a cyprinid) and some brown trout left over from the British Empire days to toy around with. Anyone else for some homemade curry and some bloody big fish?

Such a classic picture..

#2 East Texas- As a kid I spent a lot of time looking at this great book my dad had called Fish and Fishing. There was a picture in there of this guy wearing a pith helmet with a steel rod doubled over with a cable for a line dragging this humungous fish up onto the bank and his buddy has it gaffed. My brother and I always wondered just what it was- it looked like it could be an alligator not a fish. Now I know that fish is the alligator gar. This is the fish that I have to say claims my most desired fish to catch spot right now. 

Now that is a lot of fish! Thanks Mustad for the pic!

 This is one of the largest fish in freshwater in North America. They can get up to about 9 feet long, over 200 lbs. They are brutes! Huge scales, huge teeth, tremendously ugly and fight like hell. Custom made for the ol’ DP indeed! East Texas is the place to find this beast. There are still good numbers of ‘gator gar in the Trinity River and other river complexes in the forested eastern part of the Lone Star State. Using some huge streamers on 10 to 12 wt rods with heavy tippet and a wire leader might bring one of these behemoths to the boat. Get it in the boat and watch out- its thrashing could break your leg like a toothpick. Like the other locations this is not the only fish to be caught- longnose gar, bass, drum and others are also available and it is all in the heart of Texas sasquatch territory (seriously). I certainly would not hesitate to cast at one of the big longnose gar- the current world record of 50lb 5 oz came from the Trinity in the 50’s. Things ARE bigger in Texas….

And now, for the final, most thrilling dream location for me:

Major league watershed!

Gorgeous male peacock with a small nuchal hump

#1 The Amazon. The center of freshwater fish diversity in the world. 3000 fish species described so far and it is estimated that there could be another 3000 left to discover. One of the biggest draws for anglers here is the peacock bass. This is a diverse group of fish in the genus Cichla- some of the largest cichlids in the world. Beautiful colors, crazy rod breaking fights, and the males sport a weird nuchal hump on their heads during the spawn. These things are so gorgeous that I might even mimic Jimmy Houston and give one a kiss. Then there is the arowana- the monkey fish- a popular aquarium fish that readily jumps out of the water for insects or other meals. And its larger cousin the arapaima- one of the largest primary division freshwater fish in the world (that means it lives exclusively in freshwater). This is a true giant capable of reaching lengths of over 10 feet and 400 lbs. Also called the pirarucu, it surfaces to breathe air from time to time. They will take flies.

Arapaima- an average fish!

So will some of the large catfish there. When I say large, I mean 4-8 foot fish. Yea, f-ing big. Don’t know if the electric eel will take a fly, but I am willing to give it a try as long as I have a native guide to gaff it just like Larry Dahlberg did. So many other fish to catch too: multiple species of piranha, cichlids of all shapes and sizes, lots of different cyprinids, smaller catfishes, and on and on. A few other fish that are possible are freshwater drum (different than the North American version), pacu, freshwater stingrays, pike characins, and the toothy traíra. I almost forgot the payara- the vampire fish. This thing sports huge lower canines that fit into sheaths in their upper mouth. Getting up to 30 lbs, in fast water and fighting hard, they are a fish made for me! With all these fish to fish for it seems like I might have to spend at least a month there… two would be better.

There is one fish I don’t want to encounter though…. The candiru. This tiny little catfish will follow a urine stream put to its source- definitely not a good thing for a wading angler! Perhaps the sheath that I got from the New Guinea natives would help out……

Guess where this came from?

So that is my list of my top 10 destinations worldwide for freshwater fly fishing. If I ever hit the lottery I will be visiting them all. There are a few that are easily within reach- Minnesota and Texas-and I hope it won’t be too long before I get to them. This is by no means a comprehensive list either… there are plenty of other places I would love to fish- Central America for a variety of cichlids found there, the Orinoco Basin in South America (very similar to the Amazon but with a large endemic crocodile!), the Nile River for Nile Perch, Austria for Hucho hucho and wild browns, Wels catfish somewhere in Europe, Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika in East Africa for the diversity of cichlids there, on and on and on. Basically anywhere there are fish I will fish for them.

Drew’s Top 10 Dream Fly Fishing Freshwater Destinations

I am sure that I am not the only fly fisherman out there who has a dream list of places they would like to fish. I have been a fish geek for a really long time and have done a lot of thinking about this and had many conversations with friends. Those conversations usually start with “If I ever hit the lottery I would go fishing in…..”

Well I am putting those down in writing and I hope to be able to cross a few of them off my list before I die in some “weird fish accident” (thank you Todd G. for that epitaph from many years ago).

But first, let me get into my reasoning for these choices. To be a dream destination for me the location must provide species not available to me locally and species that I have not caught before. This eliminates a lot of places right off the bat. Yea I would love to fish giant pike in Manitoba or muskies in Wisconsin or even head way down to Patagonia for sea run browns, but none of those fits my criteria for a “dream” trip. I want to catch something I cannot get nearby.

The second criterion is that the species I am targeting is a native to the area.  If I am going to travel to fish for something I want to catch a fish that was meant to be there. Big browns in Patagonia- love to do it, but they aren’t a native South American fish. I know at some point I will fish down in South Florida for peacock bass, but I want to get them where they live naturally.
One thing that you might notice is that salmonids are not high priority for me with this list. Trout and salmon are definitely cool but I like weird fish that get to gigantic proportions. I also like to do things that most other folks don’t. So while I definitely would love to get a bull trout sometime and cutthroat trout are awesome, they just won’t cut it for my top 10.

I am only going to consider freshwater locations too.
 
So, without further ado….

A lovely Roughfished buffalo

#10 Minnesota- Buffalo. WHAT???? DP has lost his mind and wants to chase a mammal with a fly?  Nope. I want a damned big sucker instead. I read about these fish in “Fishing for Buffalo: A Guide to the Pursuit and Cuisine of Carp, Suckers, Eelpout, Gar, and Other Rough Fish” by Rob Buffler and Tom Dickson. (a book to own if you like oddball fish)A sucker that can get up to 70 pounds, will eat a size 12 hare’s ear and fights like the dickens? Hell yea! I am on that for sure. These fish are found all over the Mississippi drainage, so why Minnesota? To visit the Michael Corleone of brownlining himself- the one, the only, the Roughfisher, Jean Paul Lipton. This legendary (in his own mind) fly angler would be able to put me on the buffalo species in his area and could identify what kind it was at a glance (I would do my homework ahead of time, but it always helps to have someone that knows the business to help). I am sure Major Brownstain would be willing to help me find a few other fish to expand my life list of fish too. Mooneye, quillback and other sucker species would be cool.  Yes folks, I am putting a bunch of suckers down as target species for my dream destinations. Deal with it suckas!

That's not a fish, THIS is a fish!

#9 Northern Australia. Remember the movie Crocodile Dundee and the scene where he is explaining why there are shells in the bottom of his boat and he says “Well, barramundi is a bloody big fish”? That says it all. Barramundi are a close relative of the snook and get to gigantic sizes. World record is 83 pounds. They better be big since they have to deal with saltwater crocodiles (an added bonus to fishing the freshwater rivers in Queensland- crocs are animals that both terrify and amaze me). Alongside these tacklebusters are other fish like tarpon, Australian arrowana, jungle perch, and others that would be fun to catch. How could you go wrong fish fishing for a variety of large gamefish, dodge man-eating crocs, and wind down at the end of the day with a barby and a couple of Fosters in their native land?  Crikey, you would be madder than a two bob watch to not give that a fair crack of the whip mate! I'll be there faster than a lizard drinkin'!

Massive fish, huge teeth, great colors- what more could you ask for?

#8 The Pantanal. – Just like Pizarro and Oranella seeking out the lost city of El Dorado, I want to travel to this vast wetland complex to find gold. In this case it is the dorado. These golden fish are just amazing! The colors, the teeth, the fight!!! A 10 weight is a necessity. Combine that with a wide variety of other fish species like piranha, pacu, arowana, cichlids, cyprinids… lots and lots of fish to catch. The dorado is the big prize here though. Need to have a wire leader. Love that. Up to 30 lbs. Love that too. Let’s not forget all the cool wildlife like caimen (another crocodilian showing up? Do you sense a trend?), taipir, anaconda, capyabara, birds galore…. Yea, this is up to my standards for the trip for sure!

Look at the colors! Look at the teeth! I want one!

#7 Thailand. Lots of folks know Thailand as a great vacation spot. Beautiful beaches, great food, friendly people…. How about a huge, toothy, freshwater fish that has been known to bite people when guarding its nest? A fish species I used to keep in an aquarium at one point- the giant snakehead! These things are just plain nasty! Like a bowfin on steroids, crack and angel dust! And there are a few other snakehead species there as well. The clown knifefish would be fun to catch too. And let us not forget all the other native cyprinids- some damned big carp there. Catfish as well. Soak up the sun, eat some great food, catch some huge fish that I need the Boga-grips for? Hell yea….. and maybe I would get a shot at seeing a wild Siamese crocodile at the same time- highly unlikely but hey, who knows, right?

Nice fish mate!

#6 Papua New Guinea- How about a species that Lefty Kreh says is one of the hardest fish to land on any tackle?  The New Guinea black bass is it! Up to 20 kg, in the depths of fast moving jungle rivers hiding in dense logjams and crocodile infested water, this is one bad ass fish.  It is not unusual for a smaller fish to break 20 or 30 pound line. Similar in shape to a smallmouth, but a lot bigger and with some serious canine teeth in its mouth, the two black bass species are tough customers indeed. Smash and grab is their tactic and that sounds fun to me! Maybe I can even get a custom fitted gourd from the indigenous people…..

That is number 6-10 folks. Stay tuned for the top 5 coming soon!

Vermont Master Angler Program

I have mentioned the Vermont Master Angler Program in a few previous posts and I thought I might explain it a little bit. If an angler in Vermont catches any of 33 different species and meet the minimum length requirement of that species they can submit a photo to the program. Once a biologist has looked over the photo and has accepted it the angler gets a certificate stating that they have caught a Master Class fish.  If an angler catches 5 different species in the program in the same year they are awarded a pin and the title of Master Angler for that year. Pretty cool stuff.

Master Class white sucker- a blast on the fly!

The program was begun earlier this year with several goals in mind. Primarily it is a way to showcase anglers that have caught exceptional fish in Vermont. The program also takes over from the old trophy fish records program which had become obsolete. It helps biologists understand where larger specimens of many of these species are located and also gives them a better idea of the sizes of larger individuals in the population.  The diversity of fishes and fishing in Vermont are better showcased in this program. Hopefully more anglers will see the value in less frequently targeted species thanks to this program.

Shawn Good with a nice fly rod caught MC bowfin

 I do have to give a big thanks to Shawn Good the fisheries biologist who really got this program jump started. Shawn saw the need in Vermont for this kind of program and did a lot of the footwork to get it going. Not only has he done a great job with this program he is also the biologist who is in charge of the state's Esocid program. Pike and musky have a great champion in this biologist. Shawn is also a great angler in his own right. I have been pretty fortunate to have spent a couple of days on the water with him and look forward to many more in the future.

46" Longnose Gar- crushed the 36" minimum for Master Class

 Where do I fit into the program? Well, as soon as I heard about it I became a bit obcessed. Honestly, completely obcessed. I started going through photos from earlier in the year to see if I already had some Master Class fish. Then I started targeting fish that I knew I could meet the minimum length of. It didn't take long before I had the 5 I needed for the Master Angler pin. After submitting my longnose gar I had it all wrapped up and qualified for the first pin ever awarded. To say that I was pleased about that is an understatement!

Master Class brown trout: check out this pic in the Fish and Wildlife reg book

At this point I have now submitted 32 entries in 11 different species- all on a fly. I have already set up a tentative game plan to get the remainder. I would like to get all 33 if I can and I intend on doing as many as I can on the fly. And check out the Vermont Hunting and Fishing Regs book this year- I am in there with a real nice brown for the Master Angler Program.  Shawn Good got the second pin awarded. So far this year there are only a total of 4 people who have earned the pin. 

Kevin with his Master Class lake trout

I can't wait to get my 2010 pin! They won't be made until the end of the program year (Jan 10) and only enough will be made for the folks who have earned them. Good stuff!

Epoxy Madness

I have been tying a bunch of flies for catching some nice big schooling white perch on Lake Champlain this coming weekend. I started out with the usual fare- woolly buggers, Clouser Minnows, bunny strip flies- and as usual on many of them a put on a nice epoxy head. A quick Google search entitled "flies for white perch" got me thinking about epoxy minnows.  A couple of hours later I had a bunch of flies that looked like this:

How the epoxy madness started.....

That was the beginning... I started thinking about what else I could do with it... Thinking about how cool it would have been to have a floating fly with a wiggling marabou tail to fish on a full sink line for those lakers I have been chasing.....

Not perfected yet- I played with it a bit during dry time...

Then I thought about what else I could do with this new madness that had struck me... how about a fly with a rattle, ala crankbait style....

Makes a lot of noise

And what about a floating frog style fly to entice post spawn pike?  

A weedguard and some rubber legs will improve this puppy, but not bad for a first draft

The natural progression led me to think about muskies... big brutes that like to eat frogs.... big jointed frogs....

Both sections float, wiggle wiggle little froggy....

My newfound dementia had taken over and I liked it! Look at the size of this last one!

Musky meal? You bet your ass...

I am looking forward to further exploring this new phase of fly tying insanity! Me thinks it will bring about many good things.... and some bloody big fish!