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…
Top Flies for Panfish
Big panfish eat few flies consistently, while smaller fish swallow everything that moves. In order to catch big panfish you’ll need a box that can adapt to water conditions and fish location. Here are the flies that help me catch more big fish in a variety of conditions: Pink Punch The scruffy collar pushes water and the cone head gets it down, making this fly a good option for murky water or aggressive fish. The pink color makes it irresistible to crappies, and the ice dub gives it a translucent minnow effect. Thread: Pink or Black 8/o UNI Hook: # 12-8 Bead: x-sm Silver Conehead Tail: Pink Marabou or pseudo marabou Body: Pink Ice Dub in a dubbing loop Noah’s Minnow The Noah’s Minnow is a great fly for picky panfish. The marabou tail twitches in the water driving the most skittish fish to bite. The…
4 Tips for Catching Crappies on the Fly
(Editor’s note: Here’s a post from Noah, the youngest member of the crew and resident panfish guru, on a few tips to help you catch more crappies on the fly.) Thoughts on flies, location, presentation, and gear that’ll help you start catching more crappies on the fly rod. As lightning flashed in the distance I stood on a dock casting aggressively. “Just one more fish,” I said frantically to myself. Despite Conner’s warning I stayed on the dock and kept fishing. Stripping in my line, I felt a tug and set the hook. After a short but spirited fight I landed the fish – a crappie, my very first on the fly. Crappies, a feisty panfish with a big mouth and a bigger appetite, eat flies voraciously and put a good bend in a light fly rod, making them a blast to target with fly gear. To catch fish consistently you’ll need a stocked…
Crappies On the Fly, Catfish, and Hot Dogs
May 28 There’s an oddly satisfying charm to the simplicity of catfishing. It’s about as far as you can get from the clean elegance and complexity of fly fishing for trout, but for some reason it has captivated me since the moment I first encountered it, probably striking some young boyhood chord rooted deep inside that still likes to play with worms and run around barefoot in the mud. The anticipation of watching a freshly-baited pole is nearly unbearable, and you never quite know what’ll end up eating your bait, which is a large part of the intrigue. Rivers and catfish haunts have a habit of holding all sorts of crazy fish, and, at least when fishing casually, there’s no particular skill or reason involved in hooking big catfish, though landing them can be a different story. It takes a good bit of skill to entice a big brown trout, but it’s just as…
Bass Opener 2014
I don’t think there’s a more highly anticipated day in our fishing season than the bass Opener, though this year it nearly didn’t happen. The plan was to hit the North Shore in hopes of catching the early stages of the steelhead run, but, like any event in nature, it’s a fickle phenomena that depends on a dizzying number of variables that even the best of anglers still don’t quite understand. The fish hadn’t yet entered the rivers, so we ended up calling off the trip with no small amount of anguish. It was a bittersweet decision, but it meant that we got to hit the lake for bass Opener, which isn’t exactly a horrible consequence if you ask me. I learned long ago to not form any serious expectations around fishing trips. Having a well-formed plan and high expectations (not to be confused with optimism, which is an entirely different…