Specks in the mac.

[kbrest 151]

Im still using my 8w steelhead rod lol. Like you said, another thing I "need" to buy. I want to get a 6w for Bass and such. But having the 8w is still just nice in case a bigger one hits, got the backbone.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

Haha. Yeah even some of the big suckers and steelhead this spring pushed my rod to its limit. Would ideally like a 4, a 6, and a 8.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

Hey wopfisher, there is nothing wrong with a hook and worm. Sure does work.

[Wopfisher 58]

Yah no doubt I've been catching so I'm happy:D

[kbrest 151]

Yah IDEALLY I would like an assortment of different sized rods. But I have also realized the difference in quality brand rods....so having a collection will take some time lol. I will be buying another one and reel probably next month when I drop down to Cabelas. Also, tied up a bunch of black and olive cone head woolly buggers, and one or two with some yellow and red. Will be taking them to the higher ends of current next week. The first 4 or 5 looked ugly but I really got the hang of it and have about 12 of each colour. mix between silver and gold cone heads so thanks for the advice Brodie, I will let you know how they work.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

What kind of rod are you using. I originally bought a combo but I have replaced the original line and reel with higher end stuff. So now I need a new rod. I like the 6 wt for versatility so would most likely want another one of them. I don't wanna spend 600 but a nice 2-300 dollar rod would work for me at the moment. Any recommendations?

[kbrest 151]

I had originally bought the Redington Combo as well, but then bought a higher end Orvis Reel and line and what not that suited better for what I was doing. I have the Orvis reel for steelheading, and then throw the Redington Reel on for the specks and bass and what not. As far as another Rod, this is what I have been looking at right now http://www.redington.com/fly-fishing-rods/torrent/ I mean, I would love a nice Sage someday but just can't really justify paying the $600-800. Im looking at the 6w as well. I am also looking for a nice large arbour reel to continue using for Brookies in the Nipigon, that can wait until next spring though.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I ended up grabbing a nice Ross reel. I actually dropped my Redington reel and it broke. So I don't use that because now if a fish runs you basically have a saw blade spinning cause of the rough edges. That's a nice rod there, the torrent. Within price range as well. I've only ever fished with one fly rod so I'm excited to see the differences. Are you still using your Redington rod?

[kbrest 151]

Yup, I really do like it, considering when I first started learning to fly fish, cast, roll cast etc. I was using a $30.00 R2F Rod from Walmart lol. When I realized I loved it, spent better money on the combo pack, then an Orvis reel and etc. Now that I have been fishing it it for a bit I am starting to learn what I need or could do better and what equipment would help me in the kind of fishing I will do. I want the Torrent, but I might play around with some other models at Cabelas and see how they feel.

[kbrest 151]

Also, had a good chat with Bill Boote at DnR's last night who gave me some good tips and tricks in regards to river fly fishing, he is a pro in my eyes and a good guide so when you have some time Brodie stop by there when hes working and he would be happy to give you some pointers as well. Amazing amount of knowledge and expertise and really opened up with exactly what I would need and how to use it (cast, retrieve, etc).

[AmateurHourAngling 49]

What are the water levels like

[kbrest 151]

Drove past Mac on my way to work and looks fine, only way to find out for sure is to go for an adventure that's usually how I find out.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I'm there now. Parked at Lu and walked down. Water is a little high but still fishable. If no luck here I may try tamblyn after.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I went to Mackenzie for the day yesterday. Water was pretty high. At the mouth you can see tons of small 6-12 inch specks and rainbows jumping and breaking the surface. Got a couple little ones 5 inches on a mosquito dry fly but couldn't get any bigger than that. Upper parts of the river were more difficult to fish.

[kbrest 151]

No no Eyes on the flies at Frazer this weekend. We still got our limits but 4 people in the boat, kinda windy and wet so tossing a fly around would have been miserable. Also didnt make it to Jesse/The nipigon for brookies Sunday either due to weather. Seemed worse down there then up here, got back and went to the mac and hit a couple specks again though when the weather turned around. Also Brodie, Ive got a fly pattern for you to try, was watching what they were eating on the surface last night and I only had one fly that kinda sorta matched it that did fool them enough but I think I could have had a lot more if I had a match. Im working on tying one up.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

That's good to hear. Fly fishing in the wind is never fun haha. Especially if there are other people close by. The specks do seen to be quite picky sometimes and only favour one fly or even one fly size. I've still got to stock up more. My fly boxes still resemble steelhead and bass. Lots of big nymphs, bright colours, big streamers, deer hair bass poppers. Guess I have to get busy haha. Throw up a pic of your fly when your done. If you want. I can use all the help I can get. One less thing to figure out is great since there are a million other things things to worry about when fly fishing. Lol.

[kbrest 151]

For sure, I started last night but will be finishing up later on. Its really not too far off from the Prince nymph style, but its without the bead head. Do you have a photo of the prince nymph pattern you had been using?

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

Not at the moment all my gear is in the truck and my girlfriend is at work with it. The one I was using did not have a bead. It was a size 10 with silver tinsel ribbing on peacock herl body. Just some soft orange hackle fibres for a collar under the white biot wings. Used orange biots for tails that matched the hackle. No lead added. Pretty standard. I'm going tomorrow to get more supplies I think. I wanna tie up a bunch of gold ribbed hares ears.

[kbrest 151]

Yup I have only a couple of those, and they worked nicely. Make sure to add some small white wings on those, seemed to be a deciding factor between the little bumps, and the actual takes like we talked about already lol.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I will. I always try to make a few variations of each fly I tie. I seen there were some very large green mayflies on the surface of the mckenzie. I caught a few and am gonna try to tie up some similar.

[kbrest 151]

Hit a 13 inch spec last night in the mac. Same pattern I was telling you about, sorry haven't posted the pic of it but they gobbled it up last night. Lots of smaller 6-8 inch steelhead yearlings, and then BAM the nice speck wanted in on the action lol.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

Right on. Well done for sure. I also had a half decent evening on the cr. well up past trowbridge. Got 4 specks 8-12 inches on small size 16 dry flies. Had lots of smaller ones swat at it but only the bigger ones took. Also caught a young beaver...what a nightmare. It was small enough to not snap my line, so I had to get it close enough where I could cut my leader. I also had tried a hopper dropper with a real hopper and a tiny bead head pheasants tail hanging underneath. Had some curious small ones also swat at it but the hopper I used was pretty damn big and they ignored the pheasants tail. So no fish on that rig.

[kbrest 151]

I was hoping to hit the big pool up at the cascades tomorrow morning if your interested.

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I'm actually headed out fishing with my dad for the day. I've done nearly no walleye fishing. So im gonna try and squeeze some in. I didn't even realize until now that almost every trip out this season has been trout on the fly rod. It's just so much more fun and I can once again get excited about even the small fish. I was fishing about 10 feet above the water yesterday off some bridge pilings. I got a birds eye view of the takes on the dry fly. I was able to see them come half way up from bottom, stall, and than either hammer it with reckless abandon, or turn and take back off to bottom. It was cool to see from that perspective.

[kbrest 151]

lol, I think its safe to say it......your a trout bum now. I didn;t care how small the fish just catching them on a homemade fly you through together to try your best to match what they are eating, Its the best part of fly fishing.