Don’t they look tasty? 

Click the link to find out.

photo from: chicagobreakingnews.com

I received the email below from Tom Buhr today. Tom is the president of a grass roots organization that focuses on the Au Sable river in MI. He is the man we all wish we could be when it comes to having the balls and energy to fight the good fights and get motivated on the conservation front. I’m sure he made Rusty Gates proud on many an occasion. His group, which we are big fans and supporters of, can be found here.

Here is the email:

Subject: Newsletter: Attorney General Mike Cox’s StopAsianCarp.com

Please let me know.
…
Department of Attorney General

Yes. Its a big deal. Check out the site. Sign the petition. Send a letter. Whatever it takes.

You shouldn’t have…

Don’t get me wrong here, I can appreciate the fight of a catfish. They are strong fish and from what I’m told, they are pretty damn smart or at least high ranking on the sensory perception scale. (If you look at them on a purely scientific basis they’re actually pretty cool.) Listen to the podcast in that link. He talks about the mighty cat about half way through and speaks highly of the fish as a predator and a game fish. Yeah, they’re great fighters if you like to slog it out with a fat, lazy old bulldog, a log, or a size 17 sea boot full of mud.  Personally, I say you can keep the slimy creeps.

It seems like every year, once a year, I manage to find myself hooked up to at least one catfish. I think the first time it happened, and most every time after that, I was fishing the Maumee River for small mouth. The Maumee is a big river that averages about 2000 cfs. Its a major tributary to Lake Erie and just about every warm water fish under the sun will call it home for at least a portion of the year and a lot of those will be resident fish throughout the year. You never know what you’re going to hook when you fish this river. To date I have caught small mouth, large mouth, and white bass on the Maumee. Freshwater drum (sheephead), bluegill, crappie, and walleye have all eaten my flies there. One day I saw a huge carp run a buddy in to his backing and put him in water up to his shoulders as he chased it downstream and stepped off an underwater ledge. It was quite a sight and to my buddies credit, he still landed the fish despite the soaker he received. I also witnessed another pal slug it out with a buffalo on a Winston 4 weight (while fishing for whities) that would’ve made any dry fly purist cry like a girl while watching that poor little Winston flex to the power of what was to this day one of the biggest and ugliest fish I have ever seen landed on a 4 weight. I have a pic of that fish and once I get around to scanning it I plan to send it to the Winston rod company and chuckle while I imagine the horror in the eyes of the makers of such a fine rod. Lets face it, 4 weight Winstons should probably never be subjected to such a travesty.

Anyway, if I remember correctly, the first time I caught a cat I was fishing a clouser in a spot where I normally do pretty well with the smallies when I hooked something that was surely not what I had in mind. After a few minutes and a nice little fight I found myself faced with whiskers, lips, and spines. Shit. Now what? There I was without a net (nets are bad luck in my eyes) remembering the warnings from my dad from so many years ago when my brother and I used to fish with worms and bobbers for what ever would eat from the docks around my dad’s boat. My dad was pretty good with his fish ID’s and taught us what was “good eatin’” and what wasn’t. He also taught us about the spines of those fish with whiskers and how he would rather not have to deal with one or both of us getting stuck and being miserable for the rest of the weekend. Once the old man was comfortable with the fact that my bro and I had a pretty good idea what was what in the fish world he would turn us loose and we would catch all sorts of crap. We did catch some catfish and never got stuck thanks to those lessons. So there I was, a grown man, looking at that fish, cringing at the fact that I might get poked by one of those spines. I cut my leader and said sainara to my clouser and didn’t tie on another one for fear that I might hook another cat.

I made the mistake of telling the stories of the other cats I have caught on flies at campfires to my fly fishing buds while on trips to northern Michigan chasing trout on the Au Sable. I have caught cats up to 30″ and these guys had even found a spot where they could target them and catch them on a regular basis. I thought maybe we were on to something good. I even tried to convince myself and the others after listening to the above mentioned podcast about the merits of catching this “prized” fish. But still I am left with nothing more than the memories of a slimy leader and fears of being stuck by those 3 awful, infection carrying spines that taunt me every time I bring one to hand. I should have known that it was the years of pissing and moaning about those slimy critters and how much I hate them that likely spawned the idea that I needed a hat that advertised that I am somehow a fan of the species. Now, thanks to Mike (aka “Phyllus”), I now own a fucking catfish hat that I will surely have to wear every time I fish a warm water stream where they may be present. Thanks for that “pal”. Fly fishing buddies are the greatest. Really.

I just can’t get in to them. I’m sorry. I’d sooner have to give the tongue to a dozen carp caught from a Wal Mart retention pond than have to handle another catfish. That said, I will wear my new lid with pride every time I get on the local warm water streams in hopes that it will protect me from the horrors of leader snot and a trip to the ER for a tetanus shot. You guys can catch them all you want. I’ll pass if I can. Not like I actually have a choice in the matter. Unfortunately for me I live in a warm water region and the little pricks are gonna be there whether I like it or not. I’m sure I’ll catch dozens of them now.

Yeah, I know. Is this really necessary?

There is a SHITLOAD of info available in all sorts of media to get yourself educated on this sport/pastime/gay ass artsy activity. What ever you want to call it, it isn’t like its brand spankin’ new and if you’re at a loss to figure it out, there are ways to get a leg up on the clueless, get smart, and get the most from your next trip. Whatever the situation, a local stream or lake or a weekend excursion, there are no excuses for not knowing what to be prepared for. If you’re gonna do it, make the most of it for yourself and rely on your learned knowledge versus that of the person that took you to where you’re fishing for the day or weekend, or, if your lucky, the week. Chances are, that person that took you there wants to just go fishing just as bad as you and wants to do it without having to keep tabs on you. Sure, there are exceptions, first timers, etc… still… even the “noobs” should do thier homework. What are you going to do to prepare for that next outing?

Let’s start with the basics:

BOOKS and MAGAZINES.

What are you looking for? Its easy… Search for it. Find it. Buy it. Borrow it. Steal it. Just get it. Its that simple.

All it takes is a little forethought and a few pages before bedtime for a few weeks before you go that will help you get educated before that next trip. Are you gonna be an expert after a few books? Of course not. Don’t be an asshole and think that either. Trust me on that.

It should be no surprise that there are books that will cover just about every facet of this sport. Rivers, lakes, ponds, fresh water, salt water… Even if you have nothing planned, it never hurts to fill in the gaps between what you already know and what you would love to do in the future. Yeah reading about the basics, gear, rigging, etc… is pretty dry but at the very least you can go knowing what “tippet” is and how it is important that your leader has the balls to “turn over” your fly. Plus, the next time you are hanging around with your fishing pals that already know this shit you won’t be the guy or girl asking the dumb questions about what size tippet you should use with “X” fly in”Z” situation and/or if you should be fishing a floating, sinking, or intermediate line. Even if you already know the basics about rigging etc…  pick up a book about baitfish or entemology or one on what your target species is. Learning a bit about your quarry will pay off on the water as will knowledge on how to read the water your on. It will tell you a lot. You just have to know what you are looking for.

DVD/Video.

This option is better than it has ever been.  Even our library in Toledo, OH has videos and DVD’s on fly fishing (along with books). Sure, they’re not holding Hustle and Fish or any of the AEG films but they have DVD’s and videos you could learn from and they span a variety of water types (fresh or salt). If your library sucks and you need this form of media to learn then I would suggest you hit your local fly shop or Google.

The Interwebs…

Ahhh the Interwebs… Probably the best source of info you’ll ever find. Sorry print media but its true. I love print and I would never carry a laptop to the shitter. But you should know that while your reading this there are others watching You Tube vids on fly tying or fly casting and those folks will use what they learned to out fish you.

Probably the best gig on the interwebs is the USGS Real Time Water Data. Hands down the greatest cheat sheet for what your river is doing at the moment and the recent past. USGS gauges are the next best things to being there. The trick is to learn the patterns and log what you see at any given flow for clarity and fish-ability. For example, you were on such and such river and the visability was at just over a foot at 340cfs. You can usually find some info on fishing forums to help out with this too. Once you get this part down, you’ll be hard pressed to ever waste a drive to find that the river is blown or just still muddy from the last blown out. Super important tool for steelheading the Great Lakes. Its easy to figure out. Go to your state, click on the river you want to see and presto. You get the flow in cubic feet per second, the height (at the gauge), and sometimes temp and other neat stuff like amount of dissolved oxygen. Hardest part is finding the river you want because they aren’t labeled at first glance but if you put your mouse on one of the dots it should pop up the name of the river.

YOUTUBE:

Great source for casting tips, fly tying, fish porn… Obviously lots of stuff there.

Blogs:

Just like the one you are reading right now. There is a wide variety of them out there and most are not aimed at how too’s but if you took the time to comment and maybe ask a question you might actually learn something from these people. Just remember that the blogger’s home base is internationally anywhere so the knowledge base is huge. We like to get hits on our blogs so asking us a quick question is perfectly acceptable. We reserve the right to publicly “flame” you though if you ask something stupid.

Suppose they allow spikes?

Not enough spare time to get all your hobbies in? How about mixing fly fishing with a little golf at Alaska’s Rainbow River Lodge’s excellent floating ball driving range, where the prevailing winds blow the balls back to shore! Don’t forget the awesome trout and sockeye fishing in the Copper River, which is just minutes away…

Original post from ‘Fishing with JD’  http://fishwithjd.com/2008/07/24/the-worlds-coolest-driving-range/

Jesus. When someone catches a smalll mouth on the fly this big, what do you say? “Holy mother of Christ that thing is just fucking sloppy!” comes to mind. I won’t say who sent me this (read on) or where it came from. I’m not even tagging this post too much because I can’t even find the words that would do it justice and it just wouldn’t be fair. (Truth is, we’re going there in a few weeks and we just don’t want to be bothered!)

What I will say is that a guide in Michigan sent me this picture and you can find him in our links. Browse his site and marvel.

As for the fishing… eh… not so great but with a few high moments. Like I said we only managed to catch a few fish at night and missed a few more but there is always the one that makes standing in a river at midnight worth the trip. I went out alone one night for about an hour and a half and got myself in position to cast to what sounded like a few good fish. After several drifts with a hex and no takers I switched to an iso and started throwing parachute casts downstream to a fish I heard slurping. Less than a half dozen casts and my line went tight. It was of one of those moments that I have heard about so many times in the past. You hear the slurp and then in less than a second you’re on to a fish that in my case I wasn’t expecting. Unfortunately for me, as fast as it happened was about as fast as it ended. It was a good fish and I know this because it bent my 5wt. to the butt without much effort from me, i.e… my dumb ass didn’t set the hook, and it sounded like a toilet flushing when it rolled and then, BINK, it was gone. Maybe the hook set itself because the fish broke me off which made me feel a little less like a dipshit. In hindsight getting broke off is probably better than getting a fly thrown at me in the dark. Did I mention how dark? I’m pretty sure it was a new moon and where we were there isn’t exactly a lot of city lights to brighten the sky.

As far as this hatch, the hex, goes. I have made several attempts to connect with it and have basically decided that if you’re not there for a week you are wasting your time. This is not to say that a trip up North is not worth it, it always is. Its just that in my experience with this hatch, limited as it may be, its tough to be in the right place at the right time if you don’t “know” the water. Probably well worth shelling out the coin to hire a guide for the night and take notes for next year. Or, the next several days. Whichever the case. Hopefully next year it’ll be the latter. Hard part about the whole thing is anteing up when you own your own drift boat. Even harder is when your “crew” owns two and a jon boat that would do the job just, well… nearly as well. What the hell. Its just fishing after all. Nobody died and everyone has a good time regardless.

The rest of the trip also brought a few surprise fish though I’m not entirely sure why I found these guys surprising.

That’s a happy Thomas J with a couple of good Au Sable smallies.

As I said, I’m not sure why I was surprised because I have caught warmwater fish on this stretch before even further up stream. It souldn’t have been a surprise but for whatever reason it was. Tom was hitting the “scum lines” hard in search of who knows what and these guys were the result. Not worth complaining about in the least.

I’ll finish with a few more pics from the trip.

This is Kwakerz learning why “trolling” with a sink tip and drinking whiskey might be a bad idea. He wanted to save that fly.

Side channels are a great place to escape the canoe traffic in the main flow.

Hands down. One of my favorite runs in the Trophy Water.

A fishing trip should probably never end in you being passed out in the ER or result in having weapons of limited destruction end up your boat in place of where a fish should have been. Not saying that weapons and passing out shouldn’t be a part of any fishing trip, just that they shouldn’t be an end to one.

Thanks to Maine Fly Castings  and Singlebarbed for helping with today’s story problem.

  Does this look like a tool designed for catch and release?