Mike Anderson
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Here’s one I use more for Striper then Trout but it’s a Rainbow pattern and Trout will take it.
I use 3/0 Gamakatsu hook, Metz hair in white green and pink with angel hair mixed in. Also Green and pearl flashabou.I also tie up some Clousers with a White Deer hair bottom, pink Krystal flash and pink Deer hair middle, Green Deer hair on top. That one has been an awesome fly for me.
Costa gets my vote. Yea the good ones are heavy but hey, there GLASS and nearly indestructible. Paying over $150 for glasses with plastic lens.. I just can’t do it.
Zach, Glass Costa’s are pretty hard to scratch. What did you do to scratch them?
I have never used a shooting head, and really have no need for one where I fish, but I do have a question. What type of flies are you casting with a shooting head?
Any fly that needs to be deeper then a foot or two when stripped very fast in fast current. Or when I want to cover alot of deeper water fast and make minimal false casts, or when I just want to get it down 10 to 20. Once you start using one you’ll find it in your hands more and more every time you go out.
The integrated heads work just fine for me. I’ve yet to lose one (never use heavier leader then the break strength of the fly line) but I only fish it from a boat. I also haven’t ever paid over $30 for one either. The Orvis Depth charged line will show up often on ebay because it just doesn’t sell well. My Orvis DC 350 grain is now three years old and still works as good as it did when it was new. Trust me, its good enough line.
I have a problem with loops going thru my guides. I don’t like it and I feel like it takes my attention away from fishing and puts it on my equipment. I like equipment that I don’t have to think about while I’m using it. The integrated heads explode out of the rod tip smoothly and accurately.
In a casting situation say 50 to 70 feet where you need to shoot under tree limbs and stuff, how well does the loop to loop perform? This is where I really like the integrated line. Will the loop to loop skip under low hanging branches? Just asking because I’ve never used one and tried it.
portable propane bottles and non-stick pots and pans are the best things that have ever happened to overnight fishing trips.
And battery powered tent fans.
It’s very tempting but my Smallmouth stream should be clear by this weekend and that flood we had and this full moon should get them Brown fish moving. My plan is to go after them.
Great job Zach, I really enjoyed it! What do you do with your camera while your on a trip like this?
Ha ha Ron. At first I wasn’t so sure whether the Mink was killing the Rabbit or just practicing a little Karma Sutra Mink Style.
I’m still not sure the Rabbit didn’t just die from shock. I mean it is Mink mating season after all.
I got these pics the other day of a Caney Fork Black Cougar. ;D The pics kinda suck because it was so far away but they’re still good enough to see what’s going on.
http://www.trophyfishingtn.com/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=34&pid=749&slideshow=5000
Daylight till dark is when I have my most success. ;D
The best time changes dramatically depending on the time of year and the place you’re fishing. So many factors influence the fish’s behavior like bait, current, light, water temps, flows, angler pressure, clarity, etc, etc.
On one of the tailwaters I fish here I prefer a rainy day. If it’s raining and not blowing 30 mph I usually get excited about fishing this place. Not that I haven’t caught them on a sunny day but my success rates are much higher on low light cloudy days.
A lake I fish in May, June, July, doesn’t seem to get started till 11 am? That’s when the bait start to show up on the surface and the schools of Hybrids on the graph. The high blue sky days don’t matter at all. A lot of the reading I’ve done would have suggested I go home at this time but it is the best time I’ve found to be at this particular place….
Another lake I fish, the action is slow until just before dark, then all hell breaks lose in a surface feeding frenzy. This is where my rod got broken.
Each place I fish seems to
Here’s a site I use for some patterns. http://www.saltwaterflies.com/theflies.html
Forget about the surface blitz cause it rarely happens in freshwater. Do as Carter suggest and get good with a shooting head. I basically beat the banks in the spring on Rivers and troll weighted flies under a floating or intermediate line in slow moving rivers and lakes. I’ve had a 9wt St Croix Legend get snapped into 12” from the grip while trolling flies so be sure to hang on to your rod when doing this. I mostly use live boat and target Trophy fish so I’m no expert on Striper on the fly, but I have done it with some success. It is not an easy thing to do especially if you’re not real familiar with the habits of the Striper in the first place. Spring runs are a good time to start trying since the fish will be schooled up.
At other times of the year learning the Bait and what they are doing is perhaps as important as anything. When I go out on a lake or slow river I use my eyes as much as my graph. The bait will lead you to the fish. A nervous school of Shad almost always means there’s Striper or Hybrid nearby. In a tailwater concentrate around the islands if there are any. Fish hard in front of and behind the islands, these are prime hangouts for Stripers in ambush mode. I also look for any kind of cut in a bank that creates a current break. These tailwater Striper seek out the current breaks when there is flow and at times you can almost call out where a hit will come from. Also, deep pools with shallow sand or gravel bars in front of or behind them or both. These are underwater current breaks that aren’t as easy to read but they still exist and they hold massive numbers of fish sometimes.
The boils directly below the Dam are another great place to cast a fly blind during the Spring, Summer, and Fall. Lots of baitfish stack up there and the Stripers aren’t usually far away. Here in TN you’ll catch Skipjack Herring till you get sick of it while fly fishing in the boils and there’s still that chance at getting a Striper to eat it too.
Cold water is another thing that attracts large numbers of fish. We have one warm water tailrace known as a trophy Striper fishery. Just a few miles down from that Dam a cold water river enters the main river. That cold water river gets stacked with Striper in the heat of summer with fish trying to find the cooler temps.
Once surface temps get over 80 it is best to leave the Stripers alone. They just don’t do well after being released at these temps. The Hybrids are a little tougher.
Hope that helped. My only reason for success is the many hours I spend on the river. I’ve learned that just when you think you know what those fish will do,,, they won’t!
I used to catch some really big ones below Lake Sinclair in GA on spinning gear. They were great fighters. The ones I’ve caught below Centerhill and in Priest here in TN were like reeling in a stick.
How do you remove the rope fly
I used to think it was all hype until I built my first Xi2 in a 7wt. That blank has some kind of voodoo or something in it. I would love to say that it aint all that and sell it for a nice profit but that isn’t the case. I’m already building another one for a guy who cast mine and fell in love with it.
On the opposite end I bought a factory St Croix Premier 8’ 5wt (china stick) on sale at Cabelas for $50 and it casts and fishes very well.
My rod preference changes almost daily. Sometimes I want a fast rod and sometimes I want a more relaxed rod. I’ve got a 9’ 3wt Cabelas PT I built that’s limp as a wet noodle but man that’s a fun rod to fish soft hackles on. I never break off fish on the take like I do on my faster rods. If you just cast it and never fished the swing with it you wouldn’t understand what makes the rod so much fun.
Bottom line I have an addiction to gear, I love em all.
