Sunday, July 22, 2012

Fly Fishing at Niagara Springs State Park

This is by far in my top 3 places for fly fishing in southern Idaho, behind Clear Lake and ahead of Billingsley Creek. The species in the creek include rainbow trout, various species of invasive carp, and I even saw a small white sturgeon that swam upstream from the river. I was using the streamer pattern "Slumpbuster" which is commonly used for bass and panfish, but because there were sculpin and dace in the stream, and there was not apparent hatch, I thought a streamer of some type would be good. Because of the construction on the western bank a float tube or waders is best, but if the water levels are low enough and you're willing to get wet then you can hop from rock to rock to get to the best angle for casting. I often find fish on the western side hiding under the shadow of a large tree. I didn't think I would need a pair of waders, but I recommend you bring them if you can. I caught a small rainbow on the Slumpbuster, and I suspect a Woolly Bugger would work too. 
Like I said, Its a good place to go, even for the spin fisherman, and there is also a lake in the area (remember, it costs to get to the lake).

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Tips, Tricks and secrets: Basic Fly fishing for rainbow trout

First, telling you right now, get personal instructions or watch videos on how to cast. I will be using terms that you won't understand if you haven't watched videos or had instruction. Another thing that I should tell you, I've only been fly fishing for a month but I'm telling you now, fly fishing is no harder that spin fishing or golf. Some fly fisherman try to make it sound and look harder than it really is, but they just want to look like the best.
Starting into the reel topic ( I know my puns are horrible) I'll be helping you select a rod and reel. A combo with backing line and leader/tippet is best for the beginner. You want probably a five of six weight. A 4 weight is a little small for most trout in the streams you'll be fishing at first, and a six weight is a little big for most trout that you'll catch at first. Like I said, you want a combo, just because it will usually be cheaper and when buying the reel alone, it will often not come with backing, line, and leader.
The first 10 flies you'll need are: #8 Woolly Bugger, # 12 Hare's Ear Nymph, #6 Slumpbuster, # 12 Adams, #12 Parachute, #14 Elk Hair Caddis, # 18 Zebra Midge, # 6 Giant Stonefly (this also immitates a large hopper), # 6 Golden Stonefly nymph, And a Golden Stone (dry).
These flies will get you far on your own, but I suggest using a Woolly Bugger at a local trout pond.
This concludes part 1 of fly fishing for rainbows.

Review of Big Boy Baits

I just received my baits a few days ago,  I ordered a pack of money sticks, Junebug, and trick flukes, Cucumber. I was very satisfied with the baits as I caught some nice bass and a huge white crappie. I'm still fishing with them and they have no tears or rips. The only down side is that I should have ordered more, because it take a while to ship, but its definitely worth it. If you want to catch more big fish, Then order these baits. Now ofcourse, if you want to catch small fish, order from those big brands.
Check out all the baits at http://www.bigboybaitco.com/

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Shout Out to all the readers

Thanks guys and gals for reading, Its really grown since April.  Hope my tips help you. Some upcoming posts, discussions and polls are going to be: Tips, Tricks and secrets: Largemouth Bass (cont.), Tips, Tricks and secrets: Basic Fly fishing for rainbow trout, and Tips, Tricks and secrets: Fly fishing for Bass and Panfish. I'll be asking which weight fly rod is best for browns, bass, panfish, cuttthroats, and lots of other Q&A about what strength of rod/reel. Thanks for reading, and check out the Braggin' Board.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Tips tricks and secrets: Smallmouth Bass (cont.)

Other things that work great for small mouth are craw cranks, topwaters in the spring, crawdad cranks, craw scented-colored tubes, and live bait. The live bait that would typically be used during the spawn is probably a bluegill, shad but you could use a big swimbait. With swimbaits you should try to make it look like it's raiding the nest and eating the eggs/fry.Smallmouth Bass will go for any minnow imitation that looks like a danger. Remember though, with minnows in the spring, they shouldn't have extremely erratic action because the water is still a bit cold. In the summer, bass will often hide under docks because the fry can now take care of them selves and its cooler in cover. They usually come out at night or when they see a big meal.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Fly fishing at Clear Lakes County Club, Buhl Idaho

Clear Lake is one of the best fly fishing spots I've been to in southern Idaho. For me it only cost 3.50 to fish ( I think its based on age). Its fly fishing only, so sorry spin fisherman. There is a stream leading out to the river and I've fished there a few times, I see large yellow trout swimming and I can see some rainbows faintly. I was using an EHC (elk hair caddis) and within 7 or 8 casts I had hooked into a large yellow. The current was making him feel like he was 20 inches. I had him right up next to me and then SNAP he broke off. I call him Walter and I can still see him because the fly is still in his mouth. I tried fishing from shore, but in the summer when the reeds are growing there a dock and that was probably the best place to fish from. It's best if you have a float tube or in the winter, waders. Overall this is probably my favorite place to go fly fishing that I've discovered in my month of living in Idaho. Also, Its a great golf course.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Lost River outfitters Ketchum, Idaho (review)

This is by far the best fly shop I've ever been to. There was lots of clothing and other apparel, flies, tying materials, fishing tools and best of all the fishing report was up-to-date and the lady there was very helpful. When I asked her what was hatching down on the Big Wood, she told me the drakes hatching at night and that brown-orange foam hoppers were good if the drakes weren't hatching. I bought some detached bodied mayflies, some brown-orange hoppers, a fly that I forgot the name to ( it had pheasant tail feathers and a shuck for a tail, a coppery type chenille and a copper wire rib for a body, at the front it had peacock herl and a bit of deer hair facing the opposite way it would on an elk hair cassis, and a green hackle at the front) and an iridescent parachute adams.   Like I said before, this is the best fly shop I've been to and if you're going through Ketchum then I suggest stopping there.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Tips, Tricks and Secrets: Largemouth bass

Largemouth Bass


Largemouth bass are probably considered the most sought-after game fish along with crappie. Back 50 or so years spoons were probably used widley because they were heavy enough to cast a long ways and back the when fishing wasn't connected to science they thought it was a good imitation of a minnow. They would also use crank baits (lipped diving plugs) but these have one action usually, wiggle like a swimming minnow. They are very effective when bounced of structure. Then came along the line of plastic worms. These things were killer in every water no matter what. They also created other soft plastics like swimbaits, craws, finesse worms and all kinds of other things. These were pretty cheap and effective. With swimbaits, the size of the bait means the size of the fish. Small swimbaits can catch large and small bass. In clear, colder waters people might use a HUGE rainbow trout imitation. Bluegill and panfish swimbaits are good in clear water when bass are not feeding but are chasing. If you drop it right out there and then make it come right up next to the fish they will get annoyed and chase the panfish away. Lizard and other creatures are good even if the imitate something that doesent swim. Other minnow imitations include flukes. 
There are hard plastic lures called jerk baits. These work for pike and muskie, bass, and even brown and bull trout. They imitate a struggling minnow and the action is often created by the fisherman who is twitching his rod. There are lipless crankbaits, top waters which have a propeller blade that creates bubbles and looks like a dying minnow. Back into the soft plastics there are tubes, which if vertically jigged work for crappie, and with bigger tubes, they imitate crawfish and usually have a raw jig embedded in the tube. There are wiggle snakes which are long worm type bait that are usually retrieved slowly.  
This concludes largemouth bass fishing part 1. Thanks for reading and a part two is on the way!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Tips, Tricks and secrets: Smallmouth Bass





Smallmouth Bass


Considered the best fight for their size, smallmouth fishing is becoming popular in the west. Although, largemouth bass are probably going to remain popular because of the bass masters,  Smallmouth is probably the favored fish of the north-western states with colder waters such as Idaho and Utah, although there are many good smallmouth lakes in southern Utah, New Mexico, And even southern Colorado.  
Although a boat is good for huge reservoirs like Salmon Creek Falls, Flaming Gorge and other big lakes along rivers like the Snake, Green and Colorado rivers, I have caught many smallmouth on shore. 
Smallmouth are known for hiding near rocks and spawning in gravel or under rocks. A rocky shore and a muddy bottom often baffles shore fisherman because they have no way of telling where the structure is. Most Smallmouth will be in lakes with clear water, so this isn't usually a problem, but if it isn't clear enough and you cant see what I call " rock bars" than it may be best to walk along the bottom. Speaking of clear water, smallmouth have good daytime vision and hearing so they are often found in the center of a rocky bay. 
Smallmouth love crayfish because they live in the same area, rocks. Smallmouth will like bait fish imitations such as crank baits, But the best is usually a soft plastic crawfish rigged Texas and dragged across the bottom. Jigs with curly tail grubs are good, live minnows are also good. Bass poppers are popular among fly fisherman. 
This pretty much concludes our smallmouth part 1. and once I learn some more I'll share the secrets.

Tips, Tricks and Secrets: Trout




TROUT


  • Trout are fun to catch on flies, and I believe that fly fishing was created for catching trout and other species that eat bugs, and then later developed into a sport where a wide variety of species could be taken. I will later to a part on just fly fishing/tying but for this post we'll be talking about bait/lure fishing.    
  • Trout in lakes like power-bait but in streams, its a different ball-game. In streams, spinners a popular, but streams are best for fly-fishing. Spinners such as rooster tails, and panther-martins are widley used. Trout eat other trout minnows and other species of minnows so that is a good choice where there will be bait-fish. Simple 2-way eagle claw spinners that have a hook with four colored beads and a small spinner blade work great for clear and semi-clear water. Worms are classical, but catch everything in the lake/stream. I was fishing in a small pond and fished with out a bobber because I didn't know at what depth the fish would be at but I still caught three rainbows.
  • I will have another fly fishing section just for trout.