Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Something Different on a fly rod

Mentioned this the other day and have ben fighting computers since...


About 30 pounds on a 12 weight Penn International two-handed fly rod. The line is an Orvis super-fst sinking type 5. The dumbell head bunny fly is heavy and the Maxima leader, long... About 10'.

Fishing a rockpile at about 6 fathoms (36') it takes quite a while to get down there. Was actually looking for a big lingcod. Have found there is a balance between leader length and sinking speed. If the fly sinks faster then the line it swings down directly under the line and strikes go unnoticed.

With a Hardy Husky I have lots more backing than I can possibly use and plenty o' drag.
art

That looks like a blast!

What retrieve do you use that will not pull the fly up out of the zone?

Alrightttt! I can't imagine dragging one of those up on a spey rod, but obviously it can be done. As to the fly, did you just tie the whole bunny on? 1Minute

Actually the retrieve is the one where you just keep feeding line and try to let it fall as unimpeded as possible... I suspect I was closer to 60' by the time I had a take, but that is a guess. Once you start feeling distractions you start tightening up and the action begins... Not much doubt when you hookup.

Whole bunnies interfer with the barb, so just a little piece of hide works...

The rod is actually a 2-piece 9 footer... hardly a spey, but has serious backbone.
art

That's great!! I can't even imagine the fight. I caught a huge doormat fluke on a boat rod once and he didn't want to come up; so I can just imagine that baby on a fly rod; what a hoot! Nice catch! I bet he taste good too.

Qtip
Soli Deo Gloria!

Sitka: Sorry for the shortened name, but I have issues typing "Sitka Dear" to a mug like that.

Not that I will be out doing that in the near future, but a couple more questions. Are you bank fishing or boating most of the time? I asked because the British have a technique where they boat into the wind, kill the motor, then simply let the boat drift and cast to the down wind side with sinking lines in large lakes. It's supposed to be effective at getting flies down as they sink at about the same rate that ones boat is carried over top of the fly. With no retrieve one can end up with an almost vertical drift for a short period. In essence, the angler is giving line to the sink, without feeding more length, and he/she maintains ?better? contact. There is a formal name for the method, but it escapes me at the moment.

The downside I see in your realm though is that one might be dealing with some serious tides that don't line up with wind. That would obviously complicate boat drift and fly action. Just a few more details on your methods would be appreciated. I try to learn something daily, and this might as well be it.

Tight lines and stay dry, 1Minute

1minute
If you just spell Deer as "deer" we can get through this without a hug or anything!

Every drift is different... we do this from the boat mostly... as the tides are changing and wind blowing. Both change constantly. Usually I have a pinnacle or rock pile targeted. teh big fish hang around them looking for unsuspecting bait carried past by tides. (Best when tide is running just a little because they often go hunting on the slack tides and are not at home) Most I fish run 6 fathoms or so (6x6'=36')on top of the pile but many run much deeper and require leadhead jigs and such on boat rods.

After the first drift I make a guess about winds and tides and set up the next drift to start a little before the highest spot. Cannot do it very far as the moving water will push you away from the rockpile as it gets disturbed. As we drift line is fed out at what we hope is a speed a bit faster than the drift to allow for sinking.

As I said above I think one of the bigger problems is the fly falling under the line and leaving a big slack spot that allows bites to be missed.

Among the bigger attractors are the others fishing with standard jigs and such. When they hook up it is common for halibut and lingcod to follow. A fly down deep will often pick one up well off the bottom when that happens. Sometimes a school of halibut or lingcod will come all the way to surface where they can be selectively hammered with a fly.

Last time I checked the combined IGFA fly rod lingcod and halibut records did not equal any of many of our better fly rod lingcod. We have many over 50#.
art

Sitka deer: Two more questions and I leave you alone. I assume we're not doing a 2x tippet here. What pound leader, and do you lose much gear? 1Minute

I use loop to loop Maxima leaders, usually 3' of 40#, 3' of 30#, 3' of 20# and a short foot of 15#. Not worrying about casting ease or turning over and it works well. Breaking 15# Maxima is a chore...

We lose a ton of jigs and such but flies almost never go to bottom. Keep a close eye on your leader and losing flies is rare.
art

Art-
Have you tried doing that with a deep water express shooting head or lead core backed by mono running line? (I assume your #5 is a full fly line.)

There is a lake nearby with Mackinaw that run about the same depth you are working and I want to give that a shot next spring.

Have not tried those yet, but I have several more options I intend to try.
art

Art,

Was the "bunny" white in color? Just a guess...

best,
bhtr

C&B,

Many years ago I worked with a Cortland product they dubbed "Kerboom!" They named it that cuz of the sound it made when it hit you on the back of the head on the forward cast! It sank fast though...

best,
bhtr

Laffin'! A guy could take his head off with that stuff!

C&B,

Pards gave me the nickname (for a couple weeks) of "Lumpy." I had the last laugh one day as I managed to dredge a nice 32" bow out of the deep edge of a run. Of course, the extra twenty pounds of "Kerboom" made the bow feel like a marlin!

In keeping with Art's post topic, Kerboom was definately "something different on a fly rod!" he he he

bhtr

ps
btw...Art, nice unorthodox catch!

Bunny was actually tan (fawn, flesh, whatever some gay dude would call it!) but close enough to white I doubt the fish could tell the difference at 40'+!
art

I have a bunch of different fly lines including some deep water express and so on, but not for my big 12 wts. I have some DT11F lines I use for skating silvers... A delicate presentation, ya know! And a number of variations on sinkers and F/S... but the need for casting a halibut fly well just isn't there!

NICE!!! Not bad....for a little ole rod;grin;!!!

HoundGirl

Art,

Very Cooool! I will be REALLY impressed when you start taking deer on a fly-rod!

BTW, this past summer my Dad took some large mouth bass on Riley's flys.

Chris

Chris
Where is that Joe Cool cartoon "Fishing ain't so bad?" Maybe I will try to dig that up... Was a hoot...

Will pass that on to the big guy. He just got out of school for the Christmas break and needs a little cheering up...
art

Art,

I think I have a pic or 2 that I can post. The Boy deserves his "props".

Chris

Pics are always good!

Art way too cool!

Any idea of what kind of a count it takes to get your fly down the 30'?

Also any chance you have a pic of the bug?

Thx

Dober

Mark
The boat and tide are always moving at least a little bit so each drag is different. Lots of times you fail to get to where the fish are before getting blown off. That's why we use lead head jigs most times. On the flattest days, or in the shallowest water we try the fly rods for fun. Counting would be lost pretty quick because there is really nothing to repeat.

But it does take a while...

Will be taking some pictures later and I will throw a couple out for youo.
art

thx-duh I never thought about bumping a jig

Dober

As to something different on a fly rod, I've scored several coot, 3 grebe, and 1 duck. I've hooked 2 beaver. Never had a chance of the first as it was trout gear. On the second, I was contemplating a landing procedure with steelhead gear (9 weight) when he came off. That one was about 12 minute fight. I had him on the topmost fly on a 3 fly daisey chain, so he was hooked up on a 15 lb leader.

Just where does one grab one of those beasts if you're mid-stream without a net? 1Minute

AKGrayling hooked a muskrat that went out of his way to take a dry fly last summer. The float tube was looking like a bad idea until the 'rat broke off!



This is the basic bunny fly tied with a bit of weight and the eyes for sinking speed. You can make them sink too fast for your line and that causes lost bites and snags due to loss of a straight line...
art

Art,

As promised, a bit late though.

Riley's wares. Nice stuff. As I learn more about fly fishing, I will be ordering more.



Some Bass my Dad caught on some of Riley's flies. I skunked.



One, Sheila, my wife caught (not on flies)



Stephen, my youngest with some pike. He needs a haircut!



Chris

Great pics, they make me suddenly wish spring was here!

Amen to that!

Chris
Very cool pictures... Funny how dead fish can make kids smile! No need to Sampson Stephen; he could never hold up that heavy stringer if you whack his hair off!

For a year we lived on Lake Champlain. A parade ground, RR tracks and a fringe of trees between the house and the lake. That looks like what I remember of the area. The pike spawned in the flooded brush on a small penninsula and stalking them was pretty cool.

But I do not remember the bass except as rarities.

Annual trip to same place IIRC? Looks like the thing of great memories...
art

Art,

Good memory.... its our annual trip to Champlain, Vermont side in Swanton, just across from Rouse's Point in NY. In this part of Champlain, there are plenty of Smallies as well as largemouth. Enough to support a fairly large bass tournament.

Its only January, and the kids have already asked about "fish camp", Stephen every day for the past 3!

Stephen is a "Sampson"! 4 years old and 53 pounds of muscle and laughter. A good combo.

Chris

You likely cannot imagine the damage you are doing Stephen and the others by NOT setting them up on a pool filled with humpies! Might ruin fishing for him permanently.
art

Oh, and he does look mighty happy!

In order avoid any further trauma, I will strive to improve my parenting skills. Can't permit their fishiness to wain

DFYS reportable in this state...