6 Bass Streamers to Help You Catch More Big Bass
Summer may be coming to a close here in Minnesota, however, that doesn’t mean that the bass fishing is wrapping up. With the cooling weather, bass go into a frantic frenzy to eat tons of food before winter sets in and their metabolism slows, making fall a great time to target bass on the fly rod. Bass, both smallmouth and largemouth, are one of the hardest fighting fish that I have caught. Due to their hard fighting nature, it is a lot of fun to chase them on a fly. While bass aren’t always super picky they can get in moods so there are some flies that outfish others. None of these flies are super original or revolutionary, however, we have found them to produce well when chasing bass. In general, like all bass fishing resources would say, I have found natural colors to work better in clearer water or…
New Ice Fly Patterns for Winter Panfish and Trout
“Good” ice is just about widespread in Minnesota now, which just gets me excited to get out after some early-ice fish. With the new season, I have a few new patterns that are fast becoming staples in my box. These couple patterns give me more options and fill some of the gaps. So here they are! #1. The Tungsten Hybrid What happens when you cross a heavy tungsten jig and an ice fly? Can the best parts of each be combined to complement the other’s fish catching ability? These were the questions that led to the creation of this pattern. And before I knew it, this fly-jig hybrid was born. This pattern utilizes both the fast-sinking, heavy nature of tungsten and the subtle, trigger-rich nature of ice flies. The ultra-heavy tungsten allows it to sink fast and “bounce bottom” to stir up the mud, while the subtlety entices even the wariest…
The Basics of Using Ice Flies for Panfish
Ever come across a tricky panfish bite under the ice? When fish get picky, ice flies are often the best solution for those nasty bites below the ice. This article gives a basic introduction to picking ice flies. When picking an ice fly, there are three things that I consider. First, I think about what the fish is primarily feeding on, and how big that food source is. Panfish are opportunistic feeders, especially in the winter. They will feed on many things during the cold season. However, many of those food sources can be generalized into three categories: Nymphs and Larvae, Freshwater Shrimp, and Worms. As long as I have a couple from each category, I can match almost every bite. Size is another key factor. Colder weather makes the fish have much smaller appetites. On those nasty days when your holes freeze over before you finish drilling them, a smaller fly is often the only…
8 Tips for Summer Trout
The warmest day of trout fishing I’ve ever experienced also happened to be one of my best. It was one of those stifling hot, sticky July afternoons where you lament the fact that you have to wear long sleeves to avoid the nettles, but the Driftless, like many good trout destinations, guards it’s most precious creeks with a fierce wall of bluffs and thorns and more than one type of irritating weed, making long sleeves a necessity if you want to avoid plowing to the creek like a madman. The welts and rashes that these weeds leave are nearly as memorable as the spectacular valleys they grow in. By late morning we’d hiked nearly a mile through narrow draws and thick brush and awful weeds, and the heat was beginning to get to us. The dense canopy of old-growth hardwoods that towered over the valley floor provided some relief and added a…
3 Tips for Fly Fishing the Trico Spinner Fall
3 tips on how to fly fish the Trico spinner fall with less frustration, more trout, and more triumph There are hardly any hatches that bring as much frustration and triumph as the Trico hatch of summer and early fall. Massive spinner falls of these minuscule mayflies, sometimes stretching down to a #26, bring trout to the surface like lumberjacks eating pancakes. It can be an agonizing hatch, filled with long leaders, uncivilly early mornings, tiny bugs, perversely difficult trout, fine tippet, and often a good dose of tears. But there’s not much in fly fishing that’s as rewarding as fooling a good trout on a Trico dry fly. Tricos start to hit streams in mid July and provide consistent and reliable match-the-hatch dry fly fishing until late September. Male duns (hatched mayfly adults) emerge in the evening, followed by female duns in the early morning, but it’s the spinner…
5 Tips for Summer Trout Fishing in the Midwest from Black Earth Angling Co
Local Wisconsin guides share strategies for beating the heat and catching more Driftless trout during high summer. It’s been a peculiarly mild summer here in the Driftless. The oppressively humid days that usually plague August have been mostly absent, the past few nights have had a cool bite reminiscent of early duck season, and the trout have been mostly happy. But there are still plenty of challenges facing Midwestern spring creek trout anglers in the height of summer. The guys at Black Earth Angling Co. have a ridiculous amount of experience chasing trout in the spring creeks of southwestern Wisconsin and the Driftless, and I was very, very excited when they kindly agreed to share some of their strategies for summer trout. I’ve been drawn to their operation ever since I stumbled upon it on Facebook a while back, and for good reason. There’s an authenticity in their fly fishing that acutely…