Booyakka! My First Fly Trout

[PlayDoh]

What a rush! I finally moved from the spot I've been losing my mind at and found a nice seam. Caught a 8" wee bow just after one took my flies. I moved along the seam and drifted toward a nice log near the bank and BAM! One jump and 5 mins almost and I landed him. I'd say around 20"-25", say 3-4 lbs, just awesome. I probably got every animals attention within 3 miles I was hoot'n and holler'n both times. I hooked into one around the same size (or same fish maybe) upstream from the log, 2 casts after, but he got lose. I was too busy fooling around with the camera making room for another pic.

 

What a relief also. I've been going crazy watching fish rise around me and not catching anything for 3 days. I know now that I need to revise my plans of where to fish, the place where I caught them was right after a shallow run which is 3' deep at the most and rough white water (Riffle?). Just at the end of the Riffle it drops down to over waist deep and is only 15-20 wide until the bank which is steep and the river does a turn. I must be a Beaver magnet cause I can't stay away from them at twilight, at least these ones didn't slap their tails.

 

I'm Sofa King choked at my camera, may it rest in peace, in pieces. It was one of those $40 credit card sized cameras, a.k.a - P.O.S so its no big loss. Yet the pictures of my fish, which I felt necessary to prove to the world that I too can catch fish with a fly rod, are history. Oh well, time for a real camera anyways........... Dear Santa.....

 

Thanks again for all your helpful tips and advice. Out of all the advice I've gotten, LadyStranges advice of "Patients" was the most important for me to follow. I've been getting really, really frustrated with losing flies left right and center. Some Yoga breaths and mustering all the patients I could to keep myself from leaving or fishing 'Angry-man' style which both have the same chances of catching fish or enjoying yourself. Life as a hot-head has its challenges believe me.

 

Oh ya, I had a Woolybugger (#8 I think) on the end of my leader, then a Hare's Ear #12 a couple feet after it. I didn't check what fly the big guy took, but I think it was the Woolly. My first small one was on the Hare's ear. I went out last night and got skunked, but I learned what 'load' ment, and now my casts are beautiful and shoot straight out. I can't throw balls or anything pure overhand, (dunno why) but I always sidearm, and I was casting with lots of sidearm before I found that straight back & forth has its advantages, and now I'm focusing on not sidearming too much and casting much better. That and not using too much backcast to avoid snags.

 

I was casting just ahead of the seam, and sometimes throwing a loop of line ahead of the flies to act as a bobber kinda. I want a strike indicator now to do the same thing in a way and help get the flies to the right depth quickly. I basically did what I seen the guys on 'the new fly fisherman' show on WFN while fishing for Steelhead. I stood at the top of the riffle and casted upstream and into the seam and let the flies drift past me, staying near bottom. 2 of my fish striked on the swing, and one right after the fly landed.

 

I'm still smiling ear to ear. How edible are the trout past Calgary? I've eaten them before but I did so at my own risk aware it might not be a great idea. However the Bow's current is so strong I can't see pollutants really becoming highly concentrated. Does anyone eat them, and not glow in the dark? Also, to be honest I don't understand what a 'mend' is, unless its just another cast before your flies sink? Or if its the same as my bobber/line loop trick?

[admin]

Gratz on the first Fly caught Bowbow

[Guest bigbadbrent]

dont eat the fish....just dont...not a good idea..i heard they taste really muddy too

[PlayDoh]

Is it ok to eat them west of Canmore?

[Inconnu]

Well that's it! Another poor soul addicted! I hope you guys are satisfied! Nice fish though!

[j5ep00]

PlayDoh

 

you can eat the fish out of the bow, however you may not keep anything over 35cm.

i have never kept a fish south of calgay nor would i recomend it.

i have picked up many needles etc from the shores. I have kept the odd fish from the nw section to throw in the smoker.

In my honest opionion go buy some salmon! so much better.

 

Sometimes catching risers at this time of year gets tricky unless you know what your doing.

Most of the bugs the fish are rising for are very small which makes it really hard to see your fly.

Not to metion that the hooks size is really small and hooksets and landing fish gets pretty tricky aswell.

a size 18-22 hook will bend rather easy if you mussle the fish to hard.

 

A mend is exactly what you stated, you want your flys drifting naturally threw the water with no drag.

Sometimes you have to get a bit creative depending on the currents your line go threw.

This is only one way of doing it, you were using a streamer so you could have also tried swinging it.

Cast slightly upstream and let the fly swing all the way down bellow you, Let it sit for 10 seconds and start striping until your line is close enough to make a cast. I like to let my fly sit agian after i strip for a few seconds.

 

You metion that you want your flies to get down to the right depth quickly,

well the only way to do this is add weight! I personally hate splitshot and will rarely use them.

try and use bead heads or other weighted flys. The strike indicator will help you learn how to read the currents and it makes it easier to see when your truly dead drifting.

 

You metion that you started casting more straight up and down. Its great that you are catching on so quickly and being critical.

This will make it easier for you to get thing's right! just to add that when i fish streamers i try to have my rod on a bit of an angle say 30 degres, this prevents me from ending my day like Rickr. But i cant say i havent done it!

 

Sounds like your doing great! keep us posted on your advancements.

As well if you are in need of a fishing partner for a day i would be glad to have you tag along.

Good job on the fish!

 

Tight lines.

chris

[Glenbow]

Good job! Welcome to your new addiction - I'm sure you will see a number of us on the water sooner or later! Congrats on your success.

[cdock]

Nice work dude! You're on your way to a life long addiction that has many symptoms some being angry wife/girlfirend, sun stroke, hypothermia, hooks in various parts of the body from strong winds, etc. But they are all worth it.

[wongrs]

congrats playdoh! you're on your way.

 

also, i'm not sure the current speed has much to do with toxin concentrations in fish. the toxins become accumulated in algae, then in the inverts and all the way up the food chain. it's called bioaccumulation and biomagnification. it just magnifies up the food chain into the top feeders. another thing to note is that once heavy metals (like lead, or mercury) don't leave your body or the fish's body as they these tend to accumulate in the bone marrow. but then again, i think every organism on the planet has mercury poisoning now due to human development so it might be a mute point. and i'm not a fish toxicologist; this info is from organizations like the david suzuki foundation and other environmental organizations tell me. perhaps they've twisted around the truth about fish and mercury in order to further a personal political agenda but that's for others to describe to you.

 

just search "fish" and "mercury" in google and you'll find tons. also check with the regs as they have a section in there as well on eating fish.

[wongrs]

here is the alberta fishing regs. click on 'Other Informaiton' and there's a section on dioxans/furans and mercury. it also states that mercury can be eliminated from the body at a slow rate which is something i did not know previously.

 

check it out!

[PlayDoh]

Thanks guys, I honestly couldn't have done it without your help. Or at least it would have taken me much much longer to get enough pieces of the puzzle together to catch fish. I'm still on top of the world and can't stop talking/thinking about it. I was very surprised at how difficult it was to land the large bow, in comparison to bait cast rods/reels. He didn't stop fighting for one second and I was focused on keeping him away from the log that he kept trying to get to.

 

The first bite I had that night took my flies, of the same setup but I had a swivel unit at the end of the leader which acted like a weight and must have snagged on a rock or something after it broke lose, cause I seen the fish jump 30 seconds after it broke off. I went the few feet to where he jumped from and was relieved to see him not there, and I hope the flies and line didn't snag him again.

 

I have a question regarding knots. What knots do some of you use for flies? I've given up on the cinch knot, or improved cinch. I've been using a Trilene knot which is a cinch knot with 2 passes through the hook-eye. I also bought some 'knot-less leaders' that I haven't used yet, nor do I know how to. I use the same trilene knot when tying a leader to the hook part of the lead fly. I've also used a loop knot, but I find it very tough to tie in the middle of the river.

 

I use a nail knot at the butt end of the leader using a drinking straw, yet its too large in diameter and I'm wondering if anyone has found something else to use other then the knot helpers at sporting stores. Yet I should check them out since 10-20 bucks isn't so bad considering how many times I'll need it in the future.

 

Is a "Tippet" just a word to describe a part of line tied to the end of a leader? I bought some 4lbs leader line and its super thin, it looks like brown hair. I've had nothing but troubles with tapered leaders, they just break so easily at the end. I have ended up with a 6' or less leader everytime (twice). I've read they use acid to tapper them and it can make them brittle. I dunno, maybe its just me but they are so thin and weak at the end I find.

 

I can't wait to meet you guys on the river and learn even more, since it seems this is the only place where other people understand how I feel.

 

"My name is Paul.......... and I'm a Fly Fish-a-holic..........Look! A riser! Over there!"

[lonefisher]

Congrats on the first fish! Your gonna love this fly fishing thing.

 

As for eating bow river fish check the regs as they are different on different stretches of the river. The bow around canmore (seebe to BNP) is C&R for the browns and limit 2 brookies..... however the chances of catching a brookie seems to be about 1 in a thousand and the chances of catching one big enough to eat are pretty much astonomical. The regs will change once again when you get inside the national park so you would need a parks license and a set of the park regs.

[ULTRAlite]

I use a nail knot at the butt end of the leader using a drinking straw, yet its too large in diameter and I'm wondering if anyone has found something else to use other then the knot helpers at sporting stores

 

I use the red spray tube thingy that comes with WD40 cans - cut about 1 1/2" off

[ladystrange]

hey paul

glad the advice of patience helped. breathe, take a moment, breathe again, untangle, retie, breathe, cast, repeat...

 

ok, knots, leaders, tippet.

 

for a nail knot, use a turkey skewer or something of simillar size to your fly line as the leader will be of smaller diameter. last time i was out, i ended up using a stiff piece of grass. i perfer this to the tube method - being the straw you described. all you have to do is thread the tag end between your lines and in the hole/tunnel you created with the nail. 2nd practice your knots. get a book of knots, a few feet of 20lb test mono, few feet of 12lb test mono and do it over and over again. preferrably while watching the news or something equally boring.

 

as for tying the fly to your tippet - my friend uses a tripple turl knot - i havent figured it out yet but he loves it. the one i use, and i dont know the name, excuse me. but in steps it goes like this, assuming you are right handed, fly in the right, tippet in the left, tippet goes in and up through the eye of the hook, wrap to the left 5 or 6 times, tag end comes back towards your right hand and down through (towards your thumb) the hole you created by twisting the line upon itself, and then back through the second hole you just made - like a figure 8. spit, slobber or otherwise generously lubricate your new twisted figure 8 and pull tag end with your left hand, a loose knot should form about an inch from the eye of your fly. with your right hand, take the knot between your thumb and forefinger, position hook as not to skewer yourself, and slide the knot down towards the eye while pulling gently on the line (not tag end) with your left hand. once that is done, adjust and fiddle until knot is tight, i usually end up using my teeth with the tag end and pulling gently on the fly and line at the same time. very rarely has this knot failed me, and when it has, it was because i didnt tighten it properly. so my bad

 

again, best to get a fisherman's knot book and practice, over and over... 'cause after awhile, your friends or fellow fishing buddy's won't help anymore.

 

if you are having issues with a separate leader and tippet, try a 9ft tappered leader, 6 or 8lb test. but as you change flies, you will lose length and eventually you have to add on tippet. for this i use a blood knot - did i mention getting a knot tying book? some people use surgeons knots but i havent figured those out either and the blood knot works for me. basically used for line that is simillar in dimention, one or 2 sizes down - i dont recommend going from 8lb mono leader with no tapper to 3lb by using a blood knot.

 

so for the knotless tappered leader, just nail knot it on, as you use up the length - blood knot on a few ft of tippet. just hold up the 2 ends and see if they are close, if there is a huge size difference, use a slightly larger tippet size for a foot and then add on your smaller tippet. all the packages of tippet and leader have the dimentions on the back. try to keep your general overall length between 8 - 12 ft, depending on what you are doing.

 

my set up this year is 12lb leader for 5 ft, 8lb for 3ft, 6lb for 3ft. i think i changed the 6lb last week and added on some more length. but that is more or less how to do your own tappered leader. everyone has their own way of doing things, i have friends who use 1ft of 30lb mono and then add on the leader.

 

uhh, yeah. dont eat the fish at least south of the sewage plant anyway...

 

if you are free wednesday night, i'm heading out, bow south of 22x. send me a pm if you are interested. i'll show you the knots if you want.

 

oh, look - fish.

[EdB]

Congrats pd. nice fish for your first couple. Let me know aslo if you ever want to go down. I'm usually down at the river 2-3 times a week.(don't tell the wife, she thinks i'm workin). Would be happy to show you a couple of nice spots and help with the knots if you still need it by then. If you pm me i can give you my cell or something and we can set something up.

Great job and welcome to the Bow

Ed

[MMAX]

I pull the tube out of a Bic pen and cut off a piece about 2" long that doesn't have any ink in it.

[rhuseby]

Congrats Playdoh. Once you know that you can indeed get the little buggers, life becomes much less stressful. The knot Ladystrange describes is the improved clinch. It has been pretty much the only knot I've used for tying on hooks since I started fishing. I've tied double turles, non-slip mono loops, trilenes, and a few others, and keep coming back to the improved clinch. Make sure you goober it up well with spit, pull everything really tight and test it before you start casting. Usually it will pop on a steady pull if you've screwed it up and and then you just tie it again with more care.

 

Carry3-4 spools of tippet material for rebuilding your leader. I pack 2x down to 5x, usually using 3x or 4x for the end section depending on the size of the flies. 5x is for small stuff, like size 16 and down, and any more I only go that fine if the fish are insisting on it. I use a double surgeon's knot to join sections of tippet. Overlap about 3-4 inches of the two pieces, tie an overhand knot with the doubled section, and then, without pulling it tight, take the doubled section through the loop again. Goober it up, and pull all 4 ends at the same time slowly but firmly. This knot is much easier and faster to tie on the stream once you get it learned. However, I tie up my own leaders, and I use a blood knot on all of those sections. I have time to get them right and tight then, however, sitting at home.

 

There aren't any warnings on eating trout out of the lower Bow, but I have eaten a whitefish (my daughter's first rockie) and it had a distinct phenol taste that was unpleasant. Mercury is not only from human activity. Around Hinton, many fish have mercury warnings and there are no industrial human activities to cause the pollution. Apparently many parts of Alberta have a naturally occurring trace of mercury and it quickly concentrates in the higher food chain.

 

If you want a fish to eat, any brook trout you catch from a stream in Alberta is a prime candidate. Every biologist I've talked to says that you will cause no harm to fish populations and you will benefit the native cutts and bulls by reducing instream competition. Downside is that they rarely get over 10-12 inches in Alberta streams.

[PlayDoh]

Thanks ladystrange & Flyslinger, I think I now have a good understanding of the leader tippet aspect. I actually had to make my own leader & tippet setup before knowing or reading about it,since I butchered my only leader that came with the rod. I thought it was just plain ole fishing line and didn't see any taper, dispite reading about the taper. Do'h. Anyways I have a literal 'boat load' of 5-30 lbs mono line. I just wasn't sure if a 'tippet' was something special I haven't seen yet, or just a generic name for 2'nd or additional leader. I've been using metal clip leaders for so long (bait casting) my knot skills were bad.

 

I actually did just what you mentioned Ladystrange, and I should do it again soon. I took out the encyclopedia and got some links, this one is great and tied knots for days. I started with thin electrical/speaker wire cause its way easier to see and learn the knot, before trying with microscopic leader/tippets. lol For some reason I avoided the double surgeons knot cause I expected it to be hard, yet it looks pretty simple actually. I've even used a Bowline knot since its one of my fav's.

http://www.animatedknots.com/

 

Turl knot is a.k.a a Palomar knot, I've practiced it but havent tried it on the water yet. http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/index...imatedknots.com

The knot you forgot the name of is the 'Improved Clinch',http://www.animatedknots.com/improvedclinch/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

which I find can come undone as you mentioned if not tied correctly, or just cause the line is so thin I've found. Try the Trilene knot http://www.animatedknots.com/trilene/index...imatedknots.com

which is exactly the same as the Improved Clinch, but you go through the 'eye' twice, which helps prevent it from slipping. Also you don't need to go through the last loop, which I find makes it hard to tighten. I use it on bait cast lures and everything. Yet even with it I find the line snaps too easily. Then again I shouldn't expect to be able to pull free of the weeds everytime, I reeled in a small stick the other day.

 

I find 6' of leader to a fly, then 2' of 4lbs 'leader line'/tippet tied to the hook of the lead fly, to another worked for me. When I take a leader out of the pack, the tapered end seems way to thin for anything but small dries, and even then it breaks, or half the time it breaks too easy, then again I'm not breaking the leader on fish, but on snags.

 

So now I believe that if I plan on nymphing, a leader/tippet setup like you mentioned (segmented mono lines or leader/tippet line) is what I should use. As apposed to tying on a tapered leader and lossing 3 flies until the leader is thick enough, but not long enough. I seen Scientific Angler's combo rod/reel/line had a 'quick connect' type leader that didn't need any knots, just connect the plastic connectors. I usually don't like 'dummie gear' like that, but considering if I want to change my leader midstream, I can see how convienient it might be. I seen on TV a guy who used a swivel unit at the end of the leader then the tippet or next leader to the fly. I found it acted like a weight, yet way better then split shot since I think kinking a fly leader is asking for trouble, and I don't have strip weights.......yet. Also if you wanted to change to a dry fly or just diffrent leader setup, you could just clinch knot them to the swivel. I think I might grab a bunch of swivels.

 

I use the red spray tube thingy that comes with WD40 cans - cut about 1 1/2" off

Sounds like the perfect tube. thanks. I'm dissapointed I didn't think of that.

 

& Thanks LoneFisher.

[ladystrange]

if your tippet is breaking that easily, i have to ask, how old is it?

 

it has been awhile since i have used a knotless tappered leader, and when i did, i was somewhat new so i'm not sure how accurate i am in saying that i think it was just me beening a little too harsh with leader that caused the break-off. since i have started tying my own leader/tippet, i haven't had a line break that i didn't mean to - ie - tree too high to get my fly out of. except for the one time, early this year when i was incredibly lazy and hadn't changed last years line off. serves me right, lost a 20" because i was too lazy to tie 3 knots. it could also be quality of the material you purchased. but again, that was when i started out, bought a combo from wallyworld and the only useful thing on it was the reel but anyway, the lince broke if i hooked it in the grass practicing. not something that should happen. figured out, cheap and old - saw too much uv, degraded the mono and snap - bob's ur uncle.

 

as for the improved clinch - again, i haven't lost any flies that were not due to my own miss-tie using that knot. i do suggest going through the last hole because the tension causes it not to slip. that is why i said to bunch the line up at the top, then push it down to the eye - with lots of spit. it makes it easier to get the correct tension, no slippage. i could do the trilene and i have seen it done, but no losses as is. i might give it a tie. but i havent had one come undone because of thin diameter tippet. on my 5wt rod i use 4X and sometimes 5X for small streams and dry flies. i even used a 6X once without incident.

 

i don't have experience with connectors personally, but a few reviews say they suck, others say they work. perhaps it is personal preference. but some of the fly guys at the shops do not recommend the plastic connectors but i never bothered to ask why. try a post topic on plastic connectors and see what info you get back.

 

i'm not sure how much you want to use the swivel set up with dry flies. 1st weight, kind of defeats the purpose of the dry fly when it gets dragged down, 2nd is presentation. picky fish dont like splash and no matter how hard you try to lay down a dry fly gently, you are going to get a splash with the swivel, so back to the knots. but for a nymphing rig or streamers, when using a floating line would probably work fine. you get a little added weight, the splash will irritate the fish into striking - we hope, and you dont have to screw around with shot. if you are going to do that and depending on the wt of your rod, use smaller sized swivels as not to add too much weight for the grain of your rod/line when casting. too much weight and you will lose control of your cast and then you might as well be chucking hardware.

 

happy fishing

[ladystrange]

great links for the knots. instead of the plastic connectors you could try the perfection loop. i know lots of guys who use this to connect lines.

 

basically they have a shooting line, no tapper fly line with a perfection loop so they can connect their multi-tips with different lines - ie: siink tip, floating line, slime line, depending on application, rather than changing spools. just another thought that came to mind when i was looking at the knot links.

[PlayDoh]

basically they have a shooting line, no tapper fly line with a perfection loop so they can connect their multi-tips with different lines - ie: siink tip, floating line, slime line, depending on application, rather than changing spools. just another thought that came to mind when i was looking at the knot links.

 

Thats the ticket, I just realized how to use them. On the 'knotless' leaders I have, theres just a loop at the end. Which didn't make sense, and why I haven't used them yet. However with a 'Lark's head' you could swap leaders quickly, & 'knotless'.

 

The details are endless............ I love it.