Reports

Guided Zach for a 1/2 day trip getting underway around 10:15 am.  We were after pike on the fly.  He did not want me to bring any back-up gear (i.e., spinning/baitcasting tackle) onboard.  It’s what I call “fly or die” fishing.  Your success is based strictly on flyfishing.  He brought some nice outfits and plenty of awesome flies that he’d tied.  We worked one of my favorite and generally most productive areas for a good 90 minutes without any sign of fish.  We made a run and eventually I had him switch to one of my tried-and-true outfits, just to give him a different feel. He immediately noticed that his fly was getting deeper.  We also downsized the fly.  Within a few casts he was tight on to a fish.  (I think a lot of it was just switching up areas, and also our atmospheric conditions changed, which may have helped.  We’ll never know for sure.)  It almost looked like he was snagged, but then I saw the deep bend in the 8-weight fly-rod buck a few times and we both knew he was into a good fish!  Unfortunately, it got off before we could get a look at it, but it was clearly a big fish!

We had a nice flurry of follows, hits and hook-ups over the next 45 minutes to hour.  He landed a nice clean 24″ pike and shortly afterwards set into a better fish, which I was able to net – a 30.5″ northern.  A very nice fish on the fly!  After that, our bite-window seemed to shut right down again.  We kept working the general area for another hour or so but couldn’t get anything going.  We tried a few more areas and wrapped up.  Fun day!

I had been “in-between” winter-wear for a while – my old stuff was shot and I wasn’t sure what I was going to buy, so I finally broke down and bought some Simms insulated bibs along with a nice insulated jacket.  Highs reached around 35 degrees today out on the lake and I was very comfortable.  Their stuff is top-notch – it’s not cheap, but as the saying goes, “buy the best and cry once!”  Water temperature was 45 degrees today.  The water level is low but launchable at Emerson Park.  I guide throughout the winter, weather permitting.  It’s nice to get out now, before winter really sets in!