Thinking about going on a flyin to Canada this yr. I would like to know if anyone still uses flatfish to troll with? I know the problems with them but I have a feeling the fish don't see that many of them anymore.

They still sell a bunch of them up here in AK for guys back trolling for salmon. I don't know anyone that uses them but they're on every fishing store shelf up here.

If I am not flyfishing I'll use them for trout, either trolled when lake fishing or cast into fast water and swung through the edges on decent sized streams. About F4 size, frog and perch are two of my favourites but a gold F5 trolled over shallows just at dark has hooked some nice fish for me! I tend to change out the small trebles for a single hook and usually pinch the barb down.

Still one of my all time favorites and hard to beat for bass in our sandpit lakes.Only have one left with the small trebles as they're overkill IMO and a PITA.The rest have all been changed out to single hooks.

Does the single hook lure seem to have the same action as the original? They're an effective lure but I've about quit using them because the original hook setup is a hassle to unhook the fish.

Mine are mostly all U-20's which are larger in size but I haven't noticed any difference in action however on the smaller sizes it may.

When are you going and what species are you fishing?

I use them a lot at certain times for certain fish.

In June. I used to fish them a lot for Salmon and Steelhead and if you got to close to the weeds you got some BIG northerns. I still got some and wondered if I should bring them. I have a lot of swim baits but I thought this might be a change for the fish to see.

The Flatfish will work for pike and I use em for lake trout but you'll be too early for the bigger lake trout.

Mainly bass early which is about end of March or first of April here before the weeds get to thick.Usually stop using crank baits and switch to plastic as the water temp warms up then back to cranks in the fall.

The U20 in the UV colors are my go to for lake trout. Especially when they are in a neutral mood.

Bring them with you. For pike, get them as big as you can. The U-20 is easy to find; the M2 is bigger but harder to find. There is a yellow with red and black polka dots that is awesome for pike and walleye (pickerel, eh!) Orange is good for lakers.

Good luck!

Thanks guys

I like the frog color for casting in the early spring over pike and walleye. A slow retrieve works well. If you are trolling them you need to troll pretty slow or else they tend to either track way off to the side or waterski on the surface.

A Canadian Wiggler will give you a similar action, but they can be trolled a bit faster since they are made of brass. Just switch out the front treble for a smaller hook as the one that comes with it can hook the nose of the lure and foul up the action.

SS

ETA: Kwikfish are also very similar to flatfish and do well also. I find that they tend to troll a bit better.

The Lazy Ike is also similar. I have two or three of this type lure...somewhere. I promise to try one this year on one of those "nothing else works" days.

Let's be honest here. If you are fishing a lake in northern Canada for pike or walleye it almost doesn't matter what your lure is (within reason). I once use a two lures I made from a soup spoon for a whole day and still caught good fish. The bowl of the spoon was very similar to a Williams Trophy II, and the other was just the handle with some flash tape on it. Sometimes it's fun to use something you never thought would work and find out that it does!

Point of the post is that you can pack a simple tackle box and still have good fishing action. Classic Len Thompson spoons and Mister Twister jigs are pretty much all you need for most northern lakes.

SS

I've used the small F2(?) fly fishing. They work.

Back when I was a kid, and did my trolling on Lake Michigan's Little Bay De Noc, a silver F5 with a crawler on it was bad medecine on walleyes. When I fished the bass tounaments, we had a guy in our club who fished a couple old Pfleuger Supreme levelwinds. His go to lure was a frog colored flatfish. Nothing wrong with kickin' it old school.

Thats exactly my opinion also. Take enough of 3 lures and have them rigged on 3 rods. A rapala type for trolling, a daredevil
type for casting/trolling for pike, and most importantly jigs. And if forced to go with just one, ill take the jigs. Im talking Canadien lake fishing for mainly pike and walleyes, not deep trolling for lakers.

Don't know where you're going but here in BC's interior lakes, if you're not fly fishing (which is close to sacrilege), they are a mainstay for rainbows. My sons use them almost exclusively when they're using their spinning gear - black with silver, froggy patterns, and red with black, all trolled with a bit of weight about 4 feet in front of the lure. They catch tons of fish with this set-up. The flatfish would be the first lure I would suggest for anyone fishing for rainbows in the interior.
They're not as good for lake trout, dolly v's, or kokanee, though.

I caught a lot of big steelheads on flatfish 40 yrs ago but like I mentioned if you got a little to close to the weeds in the fall you got some "fence post" northerns.

Anyone ever try the "lucky bug" lures? They look like they would have a similar action, but add some feathers. It supposed to be a "hybrid" that could be used as a fly or a lure.

http://www.luckybuglures.com/product-category/multi-packs-extras/gift-sets-and-fly-box/

I picked some up to try when the ice comes off in May...sigh.


SS