Working the Weeds

I got out and hit the weeds yesterday in search of whatever I could find. I had a 9, 8, and 4 weight rigged and ready with me. So many panfish kicking around right now. Constant action with those guys. Some big bass are out and about too. A few of those bass are still guarding babies. Pretty late for sure.

The big action came with bowfin. I love how they just sneak up to the canoe stealthily. But then they hammer the fly and go nuts! Awesome fish! 

The most fun fight of the day was the 14 1/2 inch bullhead that I sight fished with a small carp fly.
That thing hammered the fly then got the reel singing for a few seconds. Pretty nice bend in the rod too. Cats are 
pretty phenomenal. Can't wait to get into a big channel cat this summer! It is on the list... 

Lake Champlain Report Week of 7/7/14

I have been out and about along Lake Champlain this week and here is what I am seeing:

The lake is in good shape  at just under 97 feet and is now hitting 70 on a regular basis. The water clarity is good and the weed growth isn't too heavy yet. Plenty of bait around and the Hex hatch is on. The biggest issue in the past week has been the wind and thunderstorms. They make sight fishing difficult at best and dangerous to be on the water at worse.


The carp are on! The Hexegenia hatch has begun and the carp are in feeding mode. This is a great time to get out there and chase one of the finest gamefish that Champlain has to offer. Sight fishing for these big bruisers is awesome! They will take a wide variety of flies from Clouser Swimming Nymphs, Hex patterns, crawfish patterns, San Juan Worms and many of the carp flies that are out there in sizes 2 through 10.

Panfish are hot hot hot! Big pumpkinseeds and bluegills are on their nests right now. Throw a 2 to 4 weight rod in your boat for some light rod fun! A 10 inch panfish on a light rod is a blast! They take small nymphs (bead heads are best in sizes 10-14), dries and poppers. Hit it up! 

Bowfin and gar are both out there and on the prowl too. Big predators that most folks don't chase but are really amazing gamefish in their own right. Gar flies around 8-9 inches will do the trick for the gar and you can't go wrong with Mr Bow-regard for bowfin. These guys love the heat of the day so don't be afraid to chase them then! Great chance to sight fish in the sun!
 
Smallmouth  finished up the spawn (yes, this late!).Same applies to the bucketmouths. Tons of flies work for these guys but with the heat we are having one of the most fun methods is to use a topwater fly of some kind- popper, slider or diver. That crash is a lot of fun! This works best at dawn and dusk.

Smaller pike and pickerel are in the shallows but the bigger fish have moved out to deeper weedbeds. Try a sink tip line and typical pike flies like bunny bugs, Deceivers, Clouser Half and halfs in sizes 2/0 to 6/0. Flies in the 6 to 8 inch range seem to be getting it done best right now. 

Drum are out there too and can be really tricky to coax onto the fly but when they do it is money! Keep and eye out when you are near rocky structure. They will be starting their spawn shortly so don't be surprised to see them daisy chaining. Buggers, clousers and crawfish patterns (they do like Hex patterns too!) in sizes 2-8.
 
I am running a Learn to Champlain Carp special right now that includes on the water instruction for $175 and includes a selection of proven carp patterns. Email me at muskyflies@gmail.com for more details!

The Bowfun Begins!

Alan contacted me about learning more about how to sight fish. It is summer time in Vermont and what better fish to learn about sight fishing than bowfin? They get big and teach a lot about looking for fish. Of course it helps that they are more than willing to grab onto a fly and give it a good shake too! 

The water wasn't as clear as I was hoping for because of a combination of wind (it was really blowing on Saturday), earlier storms (the July 4th storm was serious business) and feeding carp (a bunch of carp feeding on the bottom gets messy fast). There was enough clear water to find the fish, but some spots were tougher than others. 

There were plenty of shots at bowfin throughout the day. Multiple times there were several fish around the boat at the same time. We only saw one real bruiser but the water is still fairly cool for this time of year. There were other fish around too- he had shots at big bass, gar and carp. Alan learned just how spooky carp can be as well. They are awesome fish but definitely one that takes a lot of patience.

Did he have a great day? Take a look at the smile on his face! 

Champlain Flats Slam!

Some carp yummies for testing- I'm a proud Deer Creek Pro Staffer!

I was expecting to have a client on the water today. Really looking forward to that but the weather guys had forecasted gloom and doom- an 85% chance of thunderstorms with the possibility of crazy hail and even tornadoes. He and I talked and decided to postpone. I felt badly but it was a situation where discretion was the better part of valor (thanks for that phrase Shakespeare). I thought I would try to get a bit of time in before the weather world came to an end (or so it was predicted- but Nostradamus wasn't always right either weather guys...).

Love the colors on these scrappers!

Well, rain came down for less than 5 minutes. It was overcast, light wind and there were fish everywhere. By the end of the day I was seriously annoyed... at the weather people... Lake Champlain was great to me! 

I tried out a few new carp patterns... they seemed to be doing the trick. The gray seems to be the one the fish like the most. After losing both the new gray ones to fish I went back to the old standby. That did the trick as well.... Here are the results:  

The photo doesn't do credit to the colors on these fish!

Smallmouth were all over. I landed about a dozen or so of various sizes. I didn't get the biggest I saw but they were very acrobatic (the one pictured did a 4 foot leap). They are such spunky fish. Any time I saw one and threw something near it I had a fish on. 

Drum- hooked 3 landed two. Nothing huge but even the little 14" drum put a great bend in an 8 weight rod. They were all about eating today and a fly near the bottom got the job done. The bigger one came in around 19". I still haven't seen any of the real big ones in shallow  yet but that is coming soon for sure!

Champlain bonefish!

Carp- went one for two. The first one got me into my backing in no time flat then broke off. Seriously hot carp! Loved it! Most of the fish I was seeing were pretty spooky and on the move. I saw a lot of them so it wasn't the end of the world. The last fish was up close and personal. I dropped the fly in front of its face and watched it hammer on it. It was off to the races then!  That thing plowed through weeds like they weren't even there! Just went all over the place. Tore off. After I got it out of the weeds it still took another 10 minutes or so to land it. It taped out at 31". Very nice fish. A quick aside here: The leader was pretty ripped up after the time in the weeds but that Mirage 3X held up strong. I did change it out as soon as I landed the fish. Just a little friendly advice for anyone that deals with fish that burn through weeds- check your tippet!

Big gar... note the upper jaw

Gar- got one nice big ol' gar on a carp fly! That guy was HUNGRY! I can totally tell why... the top of its mouth was broken off. It still managed to grab the fly after chasing it down though. Big guy, over 48" ( I taped it to 30" and it flipped out and got away before I could finish, but there were at least 18" more fish after that). I am not sure how this fish ended up like this- I have seen boat hits before but the other thing it could be (and I hope not... but if it is true I hope to run into the person who did it in a dark alley...) is someone intentionally breaking the beak off to keep the fish from feeding. Yes, there are anglers out there, notably some bass guys, who think that gar destroy other fish populations. Well, they don't ya jackholes, and let me also point out to you guys that longnose gar are NATIVE to Lake Champlain while largemouth bass are NOT... if you ever see a guy doing that please feel free to rip off his lower jaw and throw him back to live out a long lingering death... It does tell you something about how tough these guys are though... and still trying to make a living eating anything it can!

I consider a Lake Champlain Flats slam to be a drum, carp and a smallmouth and I call a drum, carp, gar and bowfin a Champlain Oddball slam... so I was close to both today! Nick, you are on deck for the next one!

Champlain is hot right now! I can get you on fish if you let me! Hit me up at muskyflies@gmail.com

 

Obligatory dropped drum picture!

Lake Champlain Report Week of 6/30

I have been out and about along Lake Champlain this week and here is what I am seeing:

The lake is in good shape  at just over 97 feet and is now hitting 70 on a regular basis. The water clarity is good and the weed growth isn't too heavy yet. Plenty of bait around and the Hex hatch is in its early stages. 

36" carp taken sight fishing

The carp are on! The Hexegenia hatch has begun and the carp are in feeding mode. This is a great time to get out there and chase one of the finest gamefish that Champlain has to offer. Sight fishing for these big bruisers is awesome! They will take a wide variety of flies from Clouser Swimming Nymphs, Hex patterns, crawfish patterns, San Juan Worms and many of the carp flies that are out there in sizes 2 through 10.

Panfish are hot hot hot! Big pumpkinseeds and bluegills are on their nests right now. Throw a 2 to 4 weight rod in your boat for some light rod fun! A 10 inch panfish on a light rod is a blast! They take small nymphs (bead heads are best in sizes 10-14), dries and poppers. Hit it up! 

Bowfin and gar are both out there and on the prowl too. Big predators that most folks don't chase but are really amazing gamefish in their own right. Gar flies around 8-9 inches will do the trick for the gar and you can't go wrong with Mr Bow-regard for bowfin. 
 

19.5" Master Class Smallmouth caught

Smallmouth are just finishing up the spawn (yes, this late!). It is a really late year on the lake folks and don't be surprised to find the big boys still sitting on beds. Same applies to the bucketmouths. Tons of flies work for these guys but with the heat we are having one of the most fun methods is to use a topwater fly of some kind- popper, slider or diver. That crash is a lot of fun! 

Smaller pike and pickerel are in the shallows but the bigger fish have moved out to deeper weedbeds. Try a sink tip line and typical pike flies like bunny bugs, Deceivers, Clouser Half and halfs in sizes 2/0 to 6/0. Flies in the 6 to 8 inch range seem to be getting it done best right now. 

Drum are out there too and can be really tricky to coax onto the fly but when they do it is money! Keep and eye out when you are near rocky structure. They will be starting their spawn shortly so don't be surprised to see them daisy chaining. Buggers, clousers and crawfish patterns (they do like Hex patterns too!) in sizes 2-8.
 
I am running a Learn to Champlain Carp special right now that includes on the water instruction for $175 and includes a selection of proven carp patterns. Email me at muskyflies@gmail.com for more details! 

Tight lines folks!

First Time on the Water

I was asked by Dale at the Orvis Flagship store if I would be willing to provide a Fly Fishing 301 course for new fly anglers and I jumped at the chance! Nothing better for folks just getting into fly fishing than our fantastic smallmouth bass run! So we set it up and a couple took me up on it this past weekend. Allan and Linda are brand new to fly fishing and this was the first time that they would be on the water as a couple. I didn't know that until they got to our location and I could not have been happier!

I started off by showing them some important knots to know but I could tell that they were excited to head to the water so we got down there quickly. I helped them dial in their casts really well. By the end of the day they were both casting weighted flies really well. 

I showed them how to see bass in the water. Learning how to spot and fish to a visible fish is a great skill to learn. Linda was on it! She hooked the first fish and while she was a bit nervous about it (she told me that she had never caught a fish before ever!) she did great! A nice healthy smallmouth bass. After her second fish Linda was bragging about how big they are. I still get a good laugh when I think about what she said after releasing her second fish "You tell your friends that a woman caught you!"

Allan followed suit shortly afterwards and caught another great bass. By the end of the outing each of them had cast to and landed two smallies! They are great folks that have just started down the fly fishing road! If this experience is any indication they are going to have a whole lot of fun with it!

Pick Pickin' with the Pike Picker

My good buddy Ken Capsey and I both love to fish for chain pickerel. These lil guys have a whole lot of heart, put up a great fight and are a blast on the fly. And they are a pretty good looking fish too. So when Ken suggested that we get out and fish one of his favorite ponds I jumped at the chance to do that! It was early on Satuday morning that we headed out, armed with a bunch of freshly tied flies using Deer Creek Gliss-n-Glint and the heads were coated in Deer Creek Diamond Fine. Ken and I are both Pro Team tyers for Deer Creek and love the stuff that they make. 

The pond was in great shape and quickly started to produce fish. The pickerel were on. I spotted a fish sitting near the surface and made a cast near it. The fly barely had a chance to hit the water when it got smacked hard by a jolt of green lightning! That was how it was most of the day. There were a few slow minutes but for the most part the action was hot and heavy. Not all of the fish were large but the vast majority of pickerel were in the 16-20 inch range. Ken got the corker of the day with a 22" pick. He assures me that there are pickerel up to 30" kicking around in there... 

There were two bonus fish too. Within the first hour we were there I got a 13" crappie- big enough to qualify for the Vermont Master Angler program! I also got a really nice and fat 19" smallmouth, another Master Class fish! 

To round out the Master Class fish for me this weekend, I got out yesterday after having some clients out and got a really nice 10" rock bass. I was working a larger one than that but it wasn't playing... but I know where he lives!

And So It Begins...

The pike bite has been a bit behind this year. With a very late ice off on Lake Champlain and a pretty cold spring so far the pike action has been pretty muted up to this point. That seems to have turned a corner though!  I got out with my good buddy Marty last night and we found a few players. It was not hot and heavy by any means but it is a good sign. The water is still a bit on the chilly side. The bowfin are starting to kick around too but we couldn't get any interest. That will change really soon! 

The next month or so should be pretty hot action. If you want to get out after pike hit me up... I can do evenings as well as weekends. muskyflies@gmail.com to set it up!

Going for Bronze

Smallmouth are in and it is one of the most fun times of the year to catch them! The big boys and girls are in doing their thing and there are lots of fish to be found if you know where to look for them. It is definitely a lot of fun! 
 

18" smallie with cool black spots!

17" bronzeback- nice markings too!

First bass of the year- 19.5"!

A 9" rock bass bycatch

My deadliest smallmouth fly to date- the Zombie and the new Redhead Zombie

If you want to get out and get into some big bass let me know! Trips are available on weeknights and weekends at this point, just email me at muskyflies@gmail.com

Just as a chuckle- this is what happens when the gripping tripod you are using for self timer pics slips as it shoots...

An Unusual Visitor

I got out in the canoe yesterday for the first time this season. It has been a very late spring and not much has been going on yet. With the gorgeous weather we have been having for a few days I thought that it was time to go have a look-see for some pike and bowfin and to take a friend out to enjoy the weather. As I was putting in the canoe it was hard to miss the numbers of dead alewives along the shore. Not only was it apparent visually but it also assaulted your sense of smell quite rapidly. These fish are a recent invasive in Lake Champlain and have been going through their yearly die offs ever since. 

We saw quite a few alewives in the process of dying too. They are very flashy and swimming in erratic patterns in the water. Definitely an attractant for predators and it seemed like all sorts of them were taking advantage of the situation. We were watching ospreys eating them and there were half eaten ones near where we put in that racoons had chowed down on. 


Fish were caught up in the feeding frenzy too, sometimes much to their dismay. There is the old saying- don't bite off more than you can chew... well it seems like fish moms haven't been telling their kids that too often. First I found a rather large perch that had quite a mouthful. It was dead on the bottom. It got a bit greedy and didn't make it. 

Shortly after this I noticed a group of decent sized fish spook from near a bush. At first I thought that they were largemouth but they seems a bit skinny and their tails were really forked. I didn't think about it much. Then we found another fish that was a victim of its own greed. We saw it from a distance and I again assumed it was a largemouth. As we got closer I realized what it was- a landlocked salmon. I wasn't too surprised. Lake Champlain has a great population of salmon and I figured it had washed in with the wind after dying in the lake. 

We kept paddling around. I finally saw one pike but it wasn't interested in eating. We saw a few more that again just weren't interested. The pike spawn was really late this year and these fish were still sulking with the post-spawn blues. The water temps in the lake are just getting to the sweet spot though. I think it will be a week or two before the pike bite really begins in earnest. There was one bowfin that we spotted and I got a fly in front of it and it readily ate it. Unfortunately it got off almost immediately and headed away fast. Still a lot of fun as bowfin always are!

But as we headed into where we found the pike and bowfin I noticed a pod of salmon. A pod of salmon in an area that is normally filled with bowfin and pike... really weird... but being a fly fisherman who adapts to the situation well I got down to business. I figured that they had to be chasing baitfish so I put on a smaller baitfish pattern and some 8 lb tippet and started casting my 9 weight into where the fish were cruising. I got one halfhearted follow and several fly changes didn't help. Then I watched the pod swim by... they were gulping down stuff like trout in a pond... they were eating bugs and the like. I scrounged around and found a #8 wooly bugger hidden in my bowfin box. 


It took a couple of casts and then I had a fish on. A nice fish too- that salmon had the 9wt doubled over. It took a while before it calmed down enough to get into the net. It was the first time that my friend used a net and I was really proud of the way that she got the fish. She also loves to eat foraged food so I asked her if she wanted the fish and rapidly said yes. Being that these salmon are almost all stocked fish I had no issues with taking one.

 The rest of the salmon seemed to have disappeared after that so we headed home. I saw a couple more salmon cruising the shoreline as we went but I wasn't fast enough getting a fly in front of them. Maybe tonight...  Oh yea... the salmon was delicious from all reports!