Question:

Greetings all, I am planning on taking my son on some fishing trips here in the next few weeks; he is relatively young and just starting in fishing.  We are planning on going to the South-East corner of Minnesota for the trips but we are somewhat new to the area and not familiar with the rivers and streams.  I would like to find a river or stream that we camp nearby for a night or two and that he can fish in while I can also do some fly fishing (preferable within walking distance of the camp.) Does anyone know of any places like this in the area that they could recommend to us?  We would greatly appreciate any information that we get. Thanks….

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… Does anyone know of any places like this in the area that they could recommend to us? …

Whitewater State Park. — Ken Fortenberry

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Question:

The Sylvania Tract, a little west of Ironwood, has geat smallmouth fishing.  It is all canoe, catch and release, barbless hooks only, and if you stay in overnight, has only primitive camping.  It is possible to rent a canoe and go into Clark Lake in the morning, fish the day, and get out before dark.  It’s not that big a lake.  We fished in June and caught bass to 21 inches.  I expect if you do a search on Sylvania Tract you will quickly find info. good luck

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I’m heading up to Ironwood, Michigan for a wedding in mid August.  Does anyone have any advice on some good fishing spots nearby?  Any type from fly-fishing for trout to trolling for walleye would be appreciated. Thanks, SB

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I was up in that neck of the woods last summer and did some fly fishing in two general locations in that area. The Porcupine mountains are a few miles northeast from Ironwood. I didn’t catch too much there, but it sure is a pretty place with some beautiful vistas and backcountry. If you take Rt. 2 east to Watersmeet, you’ll come to the Ontonogon River. Easy to wade and full of cooperative brookies. I had great luck with small royal wolffs. When you buy your license, get a free copy of Michigan’s Inland Trout and Salmon Guide, which has maps of the whole state and its trout streams. Good luck. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m heading up to Ironwood, Michigan for a wedding in mid August.  Does anyone have any advice on some good fishing spots nearby?  Any type from fly-fishing for trout to trolling for walleye would be appreciated. Thanks, SB

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I’m heading up to Ironwood, Michigan for a wedding in mid August.  Does anyone have any advice on some good fishing spots nearby?  Any type from fly-fishing for trout to trolling for walleye would be appreciated. Thanks, SB

    If you are daring and have a bit of cash book a charter out of the harbor about 45 min north of there (The name escapes me right now Black River Harbor???) .  The Salmon should be just offshore by then.  Otherwise you have world class musky and walleye waters about 30 minutes south in the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Wisconsin.  No Trolling allowed but this is world class water with many opportunties.  Clear and dark waters lie in the flowage and boat rentals as well as local info are available.  Night fishing may be the key for some really big fish by then.    As for trout streams the Montreal can yield some good catches late in the season if the water remains high enough and is only 15-20 minutes to the west.  Then you do have the Brule to the east, but personally I believe it is overrated and overfished. Good luck.  Both to you and the future wedded couple. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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Question:

I head into the hospital for ACL reconstruction of my left knee this morning and am out of business for the next 5 to 6 months.

I had my left knee done last October, the right one done in December and was on the water again in April. Had the lakes been open, I might have been fishing even sooner – the Doc told me a kickboat would be excellent  therapy. In any case,  good luck with the surgery. Regards, Dennis Smith Loveland, CO Dennis Smith Loveland, CO

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Well it is time to hang up my fly rod for the year.  I head into the hospital for ACL reconstruction of my left knee this morning and am out of business for the next 5 to 6 months. Mike

 Mike, Here’s wishing you a successful visit to the hospital, and get over it quickly. Good luck. Regards from Wales. — Bill

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Well it is time to hang up my fly rod for the year.  I head into the hospital for ACL reconstruction of my left knee this morning and am out of business for the next 5 to 6 months. Mike

– Mike, Good luck with your surgery and we’ll be sure to save some fish fer ya… –Walt

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Well it is time to hang up my fly rod for the year.  I head into the hospital for ACL reconstruction of my left knee this morning and am out of business for the next 5 to 6 months.  All of you flyfishing nuts will have to make sure and post your adventures to the newsgroup so that I can at least read about flyfishing. All was not lost for the year, I did get the opportunity to catch a 20 pound Rainbow Trout two weeks ago.  Definetly the highlight of my fishing life. Unfortunately, August was the wrong month to get the Gerrard’s in Kootenay Lake on a fly rod so will have to go back in April or May and attempt to get one. Have fun and enjoy the rest of your Summer! Mike

Mike: Sorry to hear about the knee problems. What kind of reconstruction are you having?  I had patellar graft reconstruction on my left knee 6 years ago and have been *extremely* happy with the result. You might even find that you could still get some fishing in this season.  By three months post-op, I was doing a lot of the things I wanted to, just being careful. Best of luck to you.  It is amazing what they can do to repair things these days. Bob

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Well it is time to hang up my fly rod for the year.  I head into the hospital for ACL reconstruction of my left knee this morning and am out of business for the next 5 to 6 months.  All of you flyfishing nuts will have to make sure and post your adventures to the newsgroup so that I can at least read about flyfishing.   All was not lost for the year, I did get the opportunity to catch a 20 pound Rainbow Trout two weeks ago.  Definetly the highlight of my fishing life. Unfortunately, August was the wrong month to get the Gerrard’s in Kootenay Lake on a fly rod so will have to go back in April or May and attempt to get one. Have fun and enjoy the rest of your Summer! Mike

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Question:

Yesterday my 8 year old daughter(future stasher),lover of XS asked me, while looking at my stash "Mom, When you die, what are you going to leave me?"LOL Laura

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Yesterday my 8 year old daughter(future stasher),lover of XS asked me, while looking at my stash "Mom, When you die, what are you going to leave me?"LOL

My 5-year-old daughter has been using that line, but not so tactfully, lately: "can I have that cup when you’re dead?"  "I can sit in your stitching chair when you’re dead," etc.  I realize this is all an entirely normal developmental stage (separation, beginnings of realization of death, yadda, yadda), but it sure makes a mom’s heart twinge. Joy in PA current projects — "Angel with Lambs" Stoney Creek, "Summer Afternoon" Betsy Stinner, "Flamin’ Chili Peppers Heart" Sweetheart Tree, Bibs for an abuse shelter (e-mail me for more info on how to help)

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I’m LOL too, Laura.  Seriously, I think it is marvelous that she has the potential to be such a world class stashaholic.  One of my daughters loves to stitch, the other just loves to get stitched presents.  I do think we need to infect them at a young age. Congrats, Brynn – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yesterday my 8 year old daughter(future stasher),lover of XS asked me, while looking at my stash "Mom, When you die, what are you going to leave me?"LOL Laura

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I solved my 8 year olds problem, by starting up her own stash. She now has a stamped XS (one of my UFO’s) of a bear and last night I took her to A.C.Moore to buy her her own Counted XS of Elmo. She sat on the couch last night & told DH that "she was not going to bed,she had XS to do!" And then went on explaining that she could do hers faster than he could do his. They are both beginners. I’m going to stitch myself my own little padded room for when I get done teaching these 2 hardheads how to stitch.:) Amanda (8 yr old) has a birthday at the end of August. I would like to get her small xs’s in round frames and can’t find them anywhere unless I purchase Christmas any help would be appreciated with this. Laura

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i sent my girls (7-year-old twins) to stitching class at the lns (the counting bee).  since the class was at the end of june, the design was a 4th of july fire cracker designed and taught by debbie from holly house designs. they used perle cotton on 6-count.  they *loved* it. since that class we have been looking for small kits/designs that don’t have many color changes. my son found some kits at the local drug store — the girls need to go with me to pick.  these kits are designed specifically for children  – they are really cute and small, some are stamped and some are counted, each comes with a little round frame for when the piece is completed.  the counted pieces were a dog, smiley face, yin yang(sp?) and a couple more that i can’t remember.  stamped pieces were a globe (the earth), a whale and some others.  i will be at the store this week and will be picking up a couple — if anyone wants the company name email and i’ll let you know! btw, my son decided the fire cracker was pretty cool and we bought a kit of the project for him.  he finished his is two days, molly finished hers the next day…the third is mia.  then, we bought some xs books for magnets and small stuff, some 11 count aida and they are really enjoying it! this is the first time that my children have been in a traditional school. at our old house the school was year round, having 2 1/2 months off is really, really long.  i’m signing them up for every class i can get them to take — next week my son will be learning how to fly fish and tie the flies.  then comes knitting class. jan

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This weekend my 5-1/2 yr old DSD came in and asked me to help her get started on a needlepoint project, so we picked colors from my stash and I cut some canvas for her and told her to go to it.   She started to do a heart because she says "hearts make me smile on rainy days", and the two of us proceeded to work on our projects and watch My Fair Lady – (it was slightly over her head but not unacceptable for her to watch – no bad language no sex etc.) We talked about how much we enjoy spending time like this together and she told me mommy doesn’t ever spend time alone with her (OK this is tricky)  I tried to explain to her that it must be very hard for her taking care of three children by herself to have time for each one.  She said "no, Mommy just talks on the phone to her friends all the time"  Chris confirmed that when they were married she never had any time for him either that her personality is such that she has to constantly be in a social situation – can’t spend "downtime" (which contributed to why they’re divorced) Anyway, her heart is almost finished then she’s going to do the sky, grass and moon.  She asked me if she could keep the colors she’s using – she’s already working on her stash… Bonnie (Bon-Bon)

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We talked about how much we enjoy spending time like this together

I have always said mother, father, sister, brother, son, and daughter were functions not genetics.  You have given her a lifetime gift not only of needlework.

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4K Download

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This page works great on my UNIX based ASCII news reader, it’s beautiful…

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Netscape has a spell check, – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Huh? Pardon my ignorance, Far, but just who is this guy and what has he supposedly done? I’m a NH resident, and I’ve never heard of this guy or his organization.< Hi Dave, Well, I will join Farandfine’s bandwagon here.  I too am a New Hampshire resident. Bob Mitchel belongs to the New Hampshire Fly Fishers Association.  The are now a Federation of FLy Fishers group, but it wasn’t always that way.  The are based in Laconia, NH. Since you don’t know about them, let me give you  a one sided point of view. About three years ago, Dick Sturtavent, Bob Mitchell and a few of their cronies decided that the fishing in New Hampshire wasn’t good enoough for them.  They wanted to be assured that when they went out they would be able to fish over LARGE trout. Not in streams mind you, but in ponds.   So they formed the New Hampshire Fly Fishers Accociation, Inc.   But the biggest reason  for forming the group was that the local and state chapters of TU  would not go along with them in trying to get the ponds in the north country stoked to their liking. Once they had the NH Fly Fishers formed, they then formed the Cold Water Coalition, Inc. in an effort to bypass all the criticism and to put up a front of bringing all the TU chapters and the NH Fly Fishers together so they could persue their own agenda.  I don’t know about you, but there seenm to be a lot of Inc.’s popping up here in the fishing comunity, and any group that is for the fly fishers in the state that feels that they have to protect themselves legally from the very people they pretend to be working for is bogus in my book Some of the things that they have accomplised, is to have instituted the Slot Limints for 5 ponds.  Namely, Upper Hallls, Sky, Profile Lake, Cole and Shawtown.  All fish between 12 and 16 inches must now be released and only one fish over 16 inches may be kept, with a two fish limit.  There was little debate over this and little public input.  Secret meetings were held with the Cold Water Coalition and members of the Fish and Game last year, in Portsmouth.  A nice out of the way place that assured them that even if these meetings were made public, not many people would make the drive.   After the Cold Water Coalition met, one public hearing was held at the Fish and Game in Concord, where they said they were going to take the matter under advisment.  Lo and behold, this year, guess what?  The regs are changed. Now, I am an advocate of catch and release, (go ahead Tim, I had to say it) but I think that the states (our) money could be better spent trying to manage a few fisheries for wild trout instead of continually stocking every mud puddle from here to Colebrook.  If you check your fish and game digest, you will see that NH does not have one managed Wild Trout fishery, and only one pure catch and release area.  Vermont on the other hand has 7 wild trout fisheries, and Mass has several C&R areas.  That’s beef number one for many of us. Number two, why wasn’t Whittamore, or some other pond or lake in the southern part of the state choosen?  Why not Stonehouse Pond in Barrington?  There is a simple answer to that one.  The NH Fly Fishers are based in Laconia.  Why travel 2 hours south when you have ponds 30 minutes from you that your buddies in the Fish and Game will stock just the way you want then too. Number three, and this one really makes my blood boil.  In NH if you are going to have a fishing derby or a tounament, you have to get a permit from the town, as well as the fish and game, and it is very regulated.  The NH Fly Fishers on the other hand have found a way around this.  They have "outings"  where 30 or 40 of them show up on a piece of Public water and just take the place over. Sewells Falls in Concord is a great example.  Their annual Atlantic Slamon Outing ruins any chance the rest of us have of fishing there that weekend. Rotational fishing?  Not with these guys.  You are either with them or you don’t fish.  Then there is the pilgrmage to Profile Lake.  Another weekend outing where they just take over an area.  And the Fish and Game just looks the other way.  No, that’s not true, last year, they stocked Profile Lake the Friday prior to the NH Fly FIhsers outing there.  It’s funny that these guys never have an outing on a river for trout.  Hence the drag free float line by Far I assume. It has gotten so out of hand, that the fish surveys, which used to be done by TU are now being done by the NH Fly Fishers at the above listed ponds.  Our local TU Chapters weren’t even contacted about then this year.  This is a lot like the fox guarding the hen house.  The people doing the surveys have a personal interest it their outcome, and the findings will  have to be questioned. There are other areas worth dicussing, but that is the NH Fly Fishers in a bit more than a nut shell, from my point of view.   As you saw in the post by Farandfnie, I am not alone in my criticism of this group. At any rate, tight lines and good fishing… Al Manchester, NH

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Looking for some worthwhile Fly Fishing spots in the Keene NH area.   Rivers , Streams , Fly Fishing only Ponds.  Any Suggestions Appreciated.

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Looking for some worthwhile Fly Fishing spots in the Keene NH area.   Rivers,

Streams , Fly Fishing only Ponds.  Any Suggestions Appreciated. My GOD – Is this the same Bob Mitchell  - Sgt At Arm of the New Hampshire Fly Fishers? I thought you people knew EVERYTHING about fly fishing in New Hampshire?  After all, you knew what was good for all of us when it came to Upper Halls, Sky, Profile and a couple of other ponds here in NH.   Since you have the Fish and Game in your back pocket anyway, why not just go ask them?  What’s the matter, out of cash? No way I would ever tell you about any quality water in New Hampshire.  You morons would just have an "outing" where 30 or 40 of you come on a weekend and screw it up for the rest of us. Then next thing you know it’s on your own personal agenda.  You would write it up in Hawkeye (they dont pay for articles so he isnt that good group) and then every Orvis clad yuppie within 100 miles would be on the stream I told you about. Sorry Bob – go get your float tube and load up on those #10 Pheasant Tails a full sinking line and go troll Profile Lake. Leave the fly fishing to those of us who know how to get a drag free float over good fish. Far

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Looking for some worthwhile Fly Fishing spots in the Keene NH area.   Rivers, Streams , Fly Fishing only Ponds.  Any Suggestions Appreciated. My GOD – Is this the same Bob Mitchell  - Sgt At Arm of the New Hampshire Fly Fishers? I thought you people knew EVERYTHING about fly fishing in New Hampshire?  After all, you knew what was good for all of us when it came to Upper Halls, Sky, Profile and a couple of other ponds here in NH.   Since you have the Fish and Game in your back pocket anyway, why not just go ask them?  What’s the matter, out of cash?

Huh? Pardon my ignorance, Far, but just who is this guy and what has he supposedly done? I’m a NH resident, and I’ve never heard of this guy or his organization. No way I would ever tell you about any quality water in New Hampshire.  You morons would just have an "outing" where 30 or 40 of you come on a weekend and screw it up for the rest of us.

I can’t understand why he’s asking in the first place, since it’s hard to swing a dead trout in the Keene area without hitting some decent water. NO! WAIT! I’m mistaken. *Ahem* There are no trout in NH. Yes, that’s it. None. Mass. has ALL the trout. Woe is us. We are poor, pitiful Cow Hampshirites, without any trout. Not a one. Yep, that’s the ticket. Then next thing you know it’s on your own personal agenda.  You would write it up in Hawkeye (they dont pay for articles so he isnt that good group) and then every Orvis clad yuppie within 100 miles would be on the stream I told you about.

Well, could be, but in my experience any organization large enough to require a sgt. at arms is usually too cumbersome to stalk its own bunghole, much less our non-existent NH trout. Granted, though, a Cherokee hatch is an unsightly nuisance, but probably only temporary. Still, I can’t blame you for not giving away your spots in this increasingly crowded state. I’m sure not giving mine away (not that there are any fish there, mind you). Sorry Bob – go get your float tube and load up on those #10 Pheasant Tails a full sinking line and go troll Profile Lake. Leave the fly fishing to those of us who know how to get a drag free float over good fish.

Ooooo. Ouch. That might be even more painful if there were any "good fish" to catch here in NH, but there aren’t. None. Nope. Zilch. Salvelinus Nonexistus. Salmo Nada. This is all true! Really! Dave

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Huh? Pardon my ignorance, Far, but just who is this guy and what has he

supposedly done? I’m a NH resident, and I’ve never heard of this guy or his organization.< Hi Dave, Well, I will join Farandfine’s bandwagon here.  I too am a New Hampshire resident. Bob Mitchel belongs to the New Hampshire Fly Fishers Association.  The are now a Federation of FLy Fishers group, but it wasn’t always that way.  The are based in Laconia, NH. Since you don’t know about them, let me give you  a one sided point of view. About three years ago, Dick Sturtavent, Bob Mitchell and a few of their cronies decided that the fishing in New Hampshire wasn’t good enoough for them.  They wanted to be assured that when they went out they would be able to fish over LARGE trout. Not in streams mind you, but in ponds.   So they formed the New Hampshire Fly Fishers Accociation, Inc.   But the biggest reason  for forming the group was that the local and state chapters of TU  would not go along with them in trying to get the ponds in the north country stoked to their liking. Once they had the NH Fly Fishers formed, they then formed the Cold Water Coalition, Inc. in an effort to bypass all the criticism and to put up a front of bringing all the TU chapters and the NH Fly Fishers together so they could persue their own agenda.  I don’t know about you, but there seenm to be a lot of Inc.’s popping up here in the fishing comunity, and any group that is for the fly fishers in the state that feels that they have to protect themselves legally from the very people they pretend to be working for is bogus in my book Some of the things that they have accomplised, is to have instituted the Slot Limints for 5 ponds.  Namely, Upper Hallls, Sky, Profile Lake, Cole and Shawtown.  All fish between 12 and 16 inches must now be released and only one fish over 16 inches may be kept, with a two fish limit.  There was little debate over this and little public input.  Secret meetings were held with the Cold Water Coalition and members of the Fish and Game last year, in Portsmouth.  A nice out of the way place that assured them that even if these meetings were made public, not many people would make the drive.   After the Cold Water Coalition met, one public hearing was held at the Fish and Game in Concord, where they said they were going to take the matter under advisment.  Lo and behold, this year, guess what?  The regs are changed. Now, I am an advocate of catch and release, (go ahead Tim, I had to say it) but I think that the states (our) money could be better spent trying to manage a few fisheries for wild trout instead of continually stocking every mud puddle from here to Colebrook.  If you check your fish and game digest, you will see that NH does not have one managed Wild Trout fishery, and only one pure catch and release area.  Vermont on the other hand has 7 wild trout fisheries, and Mass has several C&R areas.  That’s beef number one for many of us. Number two, why wasn’t Whittamore, or some other pond or lake in the southern part of the state choosen?  Why not Stonehouse Pond in Barrington?  There is a simple answer to that one.  The NH Fly Fishers are based in Laconia.  Why travel 2 hours south when you have ponds 30 minutes from you that your buddies in the Fish and Game will stock just the way you want then too. Number three, and this one really makes my blood boil.  In NH if you are going to have a fishing derby or a tounament, you have to get a permit from the town, as well as the fish and game, and it is very regulated.  The NH Fly Fishers on the other hand have found a way around this.  They have "outings"  where 30 or 40 of them show up on a piece of Public water and just take the place over. Sewells Falls in Concord is a great example.  Their annual Atlantic Slamon Outing ruins any chance the rest of us have of fishing there that weekend. Rotational fishing?  Not with these guys.  You are either with them or you don’t fish.  Then there is the pilgrmage to Profile Lake.  Another weekend outing where they just take over an area.  And the Fish and Game just looks the other way.  No, that’s not true, last year, they stocked Profile Lake the Friday prior to the NH Fly FIhsers outing there.  It’s funny that these guys never have an outing on a river for trout.  Hence the drag free float line by Far I assume. It has gotten so out of hand, that the fish surveys, which used to be done by TU are now being done by the NH Fly Fishers at the above listed ponds.  Our local TU Chapters weren’t even contacted about then this year.  This is a lot like the fox guarding the hen house.  The people doing the surveys have a personal interest it their outcome, and the findings will  have to be questioned. There are other areas worth dicussing, but that is the NH Fly Fishers in a bit more than a nut shell, from my point of view.   As you saw in the post by Farandfnie, I am not alone in my criticism of this group. At any rate, tight lines and good fishing… Al Manchester, NH

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Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi there, I’ve tried my hand at catching Sockeye but have not had much luck.  I’m not even sure what the best technique is to catch them. Could someone give some tips as to how best to fish for these elusive creatures? What patterns work best? Floating line/Dry line? Down stream drift or greased line technique? Thanks, Dave.

Hi all, A good friend that guides in Alaska says that they really don’t take flies. They can be caught on a fly when they are real concentrated. The fly and leader swing across their open mouth and when it come up tight they are hooked on the opposite side on the outside of the mouth. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY

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A good friend that guides in Alaska says that they really don’t take flies. They can be caught on a fly when they are real concentrated. The fly and leader swing across their open mouth and when it come up tight they are hooked on the opposite side on the outside of the mouth. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY

Here on the Fraser near Vancouver BC this is called the ‘flossing theory" The leader may get caught in the fishes mouth and or teeth and then the current draws the fly into the mouth. Like flossing the fishes teeth. It may happen but a couple of facts argue against it: – if the fish are not mouthing the bait hook-ups in pods of salmon are usually foul hooking ; the body of the fish is a larger ‘target’. I fished in this situation a lot and can’t remember a single snag hook yp near the mouth but pleanty elsewhere. It’s a bad sign as taking fish this way isn’t sport: it’s a form of poaching or harassment. – the Fraser runs are made up of a variety of runs to many different tributaries: the Stuart (upper and lower) the Quesnel and Horsefly, the Chilcotin, the Adams, Birkenhead, Weaver Creek and many others. Some of these runs have reputations as "Biters" (ie the Horsefly) others are not known as biters (the Adams) the Stuart fish ‘bite’ but not to the extent of the Horsefly fish.    if the "flossing theory" holds this shouldn’t be the case. Sockeye are also taken in saltwater. Some anglers using light tackle have fished visible surface schools and actually seen the sockeye chasing lures. On the other hand some anglers have  -  to prove a point – fished with bare hooks and taken their share of sockeye fairly hooked, from the murky  Fraser. What fish bites a bare hook? Ralph H  

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Hi there, I’ve tried my hand at catching Sockeye but have not had much luck.  I’m not even sure what the best technique is to catch them. Could someone give some tips as to how best to fish for these elusive creatures? What patterns work best? Floating line/Dry line? Down stream drift or greased line technique? Thanks, Dave.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi there, I’ve tried my hand at catching Sockeye but have not had much luck.  I’m not even sure what the best technique is to catch them. Could someone give some tips as to how best to fish for these elusive creatures? What patterns work best? Floating line/Dry line? Down stream drift or greased line technique? Thanks, Dave.

I’m scoring 0 for 3. Nobody along my bar even got a hit yesterday.  That like 20+ fishermen.  I’ve heard that the fish are holding in the current  and bar fishermen just aren’t getting any. — The views expressed are my own and does not represent those of my employer.

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Next time I’m taking a shooting head and a spool of mono. – either that or I’m buying a drift rod! Ralph H

Hi Ralph:    Next you’ll be fishing with wigglers?   —

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi there, I’ve tried my hand at catching Sockeye but have not had much luck.  I’m not even sure what the best technique is to catch them. Could someone give some tips as to how best to fish for these elusive creatures? What patterns work best? Floating line/Dry line? Down stream drift or greased line technique? Thanks, Dave. I’m scoring 0 for 3. Nobody along my bar even got a hit yesterday.  That like 20+ fishermen.  I’ve heard that the fish are holding in the current  and bar fishermen just aren’t getting any.

Huge numbers of fish were caught on the bar I was on yesterday. Trouble was the fish were 100 feet out or better and were all but impossible to reach will standard fly tackle. I was the only fly chucker of about 6 who touched a fish. However the drift boys were using standayd pencil lead and reaching the outer current break with 150 foot casts; flourescent chartreuse and emerald wool was the usual lure often boyed with a corky or spin ‘n glo. The fish I hooked was on a marabou pattern size 1 emerald wound over chartreuse. I used half a deep water express 550 looped to a floating line and a 6 foot leader. (all the drift guys used a long leader) I am having sockeye for dinner tonight –  one of the drift fishers took pity on me and gave me a fish. He said he had no luck morning and some other fellow offered him a pair –  so he took them. Then about one o’clock he started hooking fish – he landed 4 and then went home. Everyone I met on the trail in had fish – some to 12 lbs. The drift fisherman were all very free with advice and help and let us few fly boys right in to the line. Another guy even gave me lots of advice and a free corky. don’t stay on one bar if the fishing is slow – move on. Sockeye are school fish and move in huge groups of hundreds or even thousands. Some bars may be hot when others are slow. Ask the drift guys how far out the fish are. Next time I’m taking a shooting head and a spool of mono. – either that or I’m buying a drift rod! Ralph H

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Question:

Hello all, A lucky friend is going to be visiting near Wells, B.C. (near Quesnel) at the end of March. He is really keen to take up fly fishing and wants to start up there…now I know the summer lake fishing in the Cariboos is fantastic, but I have no earthly idea what happens up there in March — isn’t everything still frozen solid, or would some nymphing in the local rivers be possible (and legal)? I kind of hate to tell the guy he’s going to have to wait for mid-April on the Credit since he’s never been to B.C. before in his life (and what better place to get the flyfishing bug!) Many thanks, — K.G. (Kat) Cruickshank, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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I have fished that area as well as many others in B.C..I have ice fished in Feb. but never later.Ice doesn’t leave most lakes until April-some in May.I believe that most trout streams are closed in March.

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I have fished that area as well as many others in B.C..I have ice fished in Feb. but never later.Ice doesn’t leave most lakes until April-some in May.I believe that most trout streams are closed in March.

The lakes with the exception of some very large lakes will likley be iced. The ice will possibly be mushy and unsafe. Rivers are closed. Stay home tie some flys or paint the house. Ralph H

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Rivers are closed. Stay home tie some flys or paint the house. Ralph H

Thanks Ralph and DH, that’s as I suspected. My poor friend won’t be happy to hear it, but maybe I can talk him into going on a road trip there this summer…=) at least he’ll get to do some location scouting. — K.G. (Kat) Cruickshank, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello all, A lucky friend is going to be visiting near Wells, B.C. (near Quesnel) at the end of March. He is really keen to take up fly fishing and wants to start up there…now I know the summer lake fishing in the Cariboos is fantastic, but I have no earthly idea what happens up there in March — isn’t everything still frozen solid, or would some nymphing in the local rivers be possible (and legal)? I kind of hate to tell the guy he’s going to have to wait for mid-April on the Credit since he’s never been to B.C. before in his life (and what better place to get the flyfishing bug!) Many thanks, — K.G. (Kat) Cruickshank, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cariboo in  March In late march there should be some lakes open. Check the weather channel and there are some sites on the web like the City of Kamloops that will give you some adresses to look up.Also take into consideration the higher the altitude the latter the thaw. Steven  

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Question:

Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often? Eric Johnson

Caught a catfish on a deep diving plug while trolling.

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Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often? Eric Johnson Caught a catfish on a deep diving plug while trolling.

 I’ve had a number of customers write me about catching catfish on my M-Baits, seems they aren’t as ‘finicky’ as their feline counterparts!!        **** Mike Muncy’s ****                     "M-Baits" Handcrafted Cedar Crankbaits        http://www.fishingworld.com/M-Baits/    http://www.open.org/gary/fishinhole.htm

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Once anglers understand the concept that catfish are opportunistic predators, they will begin to understand better how to fish for them and the underestimated sport they represent.

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Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often? Eric Johnson Caught a catfish on a deep diving plug while trolling.

Eric…         I have caught a catfish on a rubber worm(14-15" in length),  and have seen them caught on a jig and pig (7lb channel cat) and a tail spinner (12-13" in length) — http://www.iquest.net/~kidd "Trust men, and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great."   Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82)

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Eric Johnson) writes: This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often?

I fish a tailwater on the Ohio River for sauger, smallmouth, etc. using 1/4-1/2 ounce ball head jigs and curly-tail plastic jigs in the 2-3" size. Several times a year I’ll catch catfish on the jigs in this very swift water. The cats are almost always flatheads, which  seem to prefer live bait (or an imitation, like my jigs). I also catch lots of carp, and they are caught in the mouth, not snagged or foul hooked. Years ago, I remember fishing for bluegill with flyrods and poppers when my fishing buddy caught a small channel cat on his popper. Not all that uncommon.

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Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often?

Eric, Last year I caught two catfish in the 3 to 4 lb. range on Kastmasters while fishing for bass.  As you said it sure is a suprise, but a pleasant one, because, they were alfully good eating. Sue

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Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often?

While trolling sparkletails in the Wolf River at Winneconne we often catch catfish (flatheads) from 5 to 18 lbs.  Occasionally, huge fish broke our lines. We assumed these, too, must be catfish. — Bob Mittelstadt Fox Lake, Wisconsin

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A couple of close friends and myself are planning a trip to the area near (50 miles or so) Lake Temagami this fall for some camping and Walleye/pike fishing. I am interested in any information on camping recommendations and locations in the Temagami area.  We are, as always, rather strapped for cash and looking for some fairly remote place where we can drive to and set up our tent for a week of fishing.  We are quiet, conscientious, and pack out everything we brought in.   I would also be interested in a reasonably priced cabin that would hold up to possibly six fishermen and is close to good fishing… Emile "Give a man a fish, and he’ll feed his family for a day. Teach him to fish, and he’s gone the whole damn weekend!"                                 — My Wife!

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -A couple of close friends and myself are planning a trip to the area near (50 miles or so) Lake Temagami this fall for some camping and Walleye/pike fishing. I am interested in any information on camping recommendations and locations in the Temagami area.  We are, as always, rather strapped for cash and looking for some fairly remote place where we can drive to and set up our tent for a week of fishing.  We are quiet, conscientious, and pack out everything we brought in.   I would also be interested in a reasonably priced cabin that would hold up to possibly six fishermen and is close to good fishing… Emile "Give a man a fish, and he’ll feed his family for a day. Teach him to fish, and he’s gone the whole damn weekend!"                                — My Wife!

Try the Montreal River.. anywhere; but why not go a few miles further and fish the Shining Tree Area which is not hit so hard in the summer. Or try Longpoint Lodge on Longoint Lk just outside Elk Lake(reasonable rates and good fishing), Or Bullocks Camp at Gowganda. ( Great Walleye and NP Lk). Any of those is better than anything around Temagami IMHO. Temagami area lakes just get pounded heavier each year.

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 Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was  one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot  long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had  caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on  artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen  very often? If I remember correctly, the Illinois state record channel cat was caught by a bass angler using a plastic worm. I myself have caught a channel cat on a fly rod while using a popper for small bass/bluegill. Jay —      Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that      it is not fish they are after.                                           Henry David Thoreau

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: Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was : one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot : long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had : caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on : artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen : very often? : Eric Johnson A guy I knew once caught a big catfish at night on a Hula Popper.

My boy caught two channel cats from a lake and a flathead from a river using a spinnerbait.  He was fishing for Bass.

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: Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was : one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot : long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had : caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on : artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen : very often? : Eric Johnson

A guy I knew once caught a big catfish at night on a Hula Popper.

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essex.heartland.net writes Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often? Eric Johnson

Having fished for MANY years, I thought I has seen everything… Pike on a crappie jig, Musky on a doughball (see the Md. State record!) and a huge channel cat on bass popper. Until the day my brother took me out to his favorite spot on Lake Arthur in Pa.  "The bass are tearing up Jitter-Bugs on the surface in the evening", He promised. He demonstrated by flipping out a huge jointed ‘Bug and promptly hooking a huge fish that took us 20 minutes to get to the boat!  Suspecting one of the huge Tiger Muskies that Arthur is famous for, I grabbed the net and braced myself.  Well, it wasn’t a Bass after all… It was a 31" CARP!!!   Emile Boulanger Hook, Line, & Sinker! inc.

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Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often? Eric Johnson

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: Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was : one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot : long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had : caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on : artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen : very often? : Eric Johnson

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Last night I caught a catfish on a plastic crawdad!  It was one of those Berkeley micros and the catfish was about a foot long.  It sure caught me by surprise when I saw what I had caught.  This isn’t the first time I caught a catfish on artificial baits, either.  Has anyone else had this happen very often? Eric Johnson

Eric,         Would you believe, just last weekend I caught a 14# channel cat on a spinner bait while fishing for bass in a small county park here in SW Iowa. You talk abbout a surprise when you set the hook thinking  a 2 or 3 lb. bass and all of a sudden you’re being towed all over the lake for 15 mins.         BTW that was the only fish boated all afternoon.                         GITABIGUN, E. Bruce Hullman IRC: BassBug   "There’s only two things that excite a man, expensive toys and real expensive toys."                         Red Green

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Question:

I am wondering if there are any tricks to tying backing onto my reel then to my floating fly line?  It seems pretty straightforward, but I have noticed alot of talk about different fishermen’s reliance upon and use of backing. What’s the process.  Thanks for any troubleshooting tips.

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I am wondering if there are any tricks to tying backing onto my reel then to my floating fly line?  It seems pretty straightforward, but I have noticed alot of talk about different fishermen’s reliance upon and use of backing. What’s the process.  Thanks for any troubleshooting tips.

You should ask this in rec.outdoors.fishing.fly, it will likely touch off a major discussion! First off, you definitely need backing, unless you plan to spend your time catching 4" trout that are 15ft away. What you use as backing is another matter. Some guys like to lay out $$$ for custom designed fly rod backing – I prefer to use an el cheapo alternative, black dacron line. It costs about 1/4 as much as real backing and is pretty much the same thing. The backing knot is another question entirely. The folks in r.o.f.f will talk about everything from nail knots at the high end down to modified versions of a sheet bend / figure eight combination called a backing knot. Best to do some reading at the library to see what’s the best for your purposes (ie what can you be bothered tying, and how important you think it is to your type of fishing). Good luck Rod

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