Winter Fun- Near Shore Lakers

So envision this: it is 7am, gloomy, just above freezing, and Christmas morning. Where would you be? Chances are if you have young'ns you may already be cleaning up the wrapping paper, if not, your enjoying your cozy bed. But, if your obsessed like I am, your standing in chest deep water that is covered in a thin film of ice.

In the winter (November and December) lake trout concentrate in shallow areas at the mouths of tributaries where they can gorge themselves on warm water species. I have seen pictures from a local guide in which the gut contents of a laker was dominated by species such as largemouth bass and an assortment of sunfishes. From the trout's perspective-a cold water species-this time of year represents an awesome feeding opportunity; however, if you are a shore bound angler such as myself, this represents a shot at world class fish.

Slowly, I would cast pumpkin and white tube jigs and flukes into the stream's flow where in enters the lake working the tube across the bottom while swinging the jig. I wait for the violent tap of lake trout, set the hook, and then hear the line scream off my real. These fish fight very well despite the low water temps; they make a run straight to the bottom, and then head away from the shore. Eventually they tire, and you can land these fish. Lake trout do not receive the attention they deserve-their coloration is incredibly adapted to the lake bottoms they inhabit. Look at those golden swirls...man! I cannot wait to throw some flies at these fish this coming winter and I am already trying to develop a bluegill or smelt streamer.

We have also been rewarded by bonus browns and even a rainbow. We hooked into one rainbow that whacked an orange twist tail grub, which we battled for 15minutes. "Oh she's done fighting", my buddy Wormo Says, "I got it". As he begins to put tension on the line to grab the fish, the big female makes another run and SNAP.....

Schoolie Saves the Day!

April 2008

On a gloomy friday afternoon I decided to walk through the city of Richmond seeking new water's to fish. I headed towards the popular 14th Street area knowing that stripers and shad had finally made there way up the James River. Turns out days prior to this trip the river's flow had gone way up and shad fishing turned off.

On the way I found access to a new spot of the river: lots of boulders, nice runs, big rapids, sandy points and carp splashing around. Looked awesome, and I was kicking myself for not finding this area a year sooner. I saw several anglers casting what appeared to be broom handles cut in half and painted red and white. They were not really casting, but rather launching these top water lures entirely across the river. After chatting with these fellas I learned that the stripers/rock fish held in the area before moving upstream feeding on herring. Needless to say, I was convinced this would be the area to which I returned to the next day.

4:30am greeted me with the ever-so delightful sound we are all familar with (grrr) and rather cool temps (60 or so). I made my way to this new location, but fished z popular pool for a couple hours while I waited for the sun to fully rise. I eventually made my way the new stretch of river, waded in past some anglers and started drifting a swift run composed of boulders and gravel. After fishing this spot for two hours, I moved upstream to the next sandy point. I opted for a size 6 seducer tied with polar fibers and white hackle and weighted red eyes.

As the fly swung downstream, I felt this quick tug and my line took off. After hand-lining the fish I saw this blueish glow coming out of the water, and, sure enough, I landed my first striped bass. Now, this fish was only about 8-10inches in length, and after hearing reports of 40+ inch fish I realized this was just a dink. But, you must keep several notions in mind: there are no striped bass in the Finger Lakes, this was one of my first fish on the fly, and in 8hrs of fishing I saw no other fish caught.


As sad as it is, an 8 inch fish made my weekend and has me itching for next spring with a shot at one of the big cows!

First Blog - Summer Report 1

JULY 28, 2008

Ah so here it is. This Monday was my 25th Birthday, and I spent it with my favorite person-OLD MAN RIVER! He may be a cranky, tempermental fella, but he only has objective things to say to me which manifest themselves through the roar of a rapid or the trickle of riffle.
I love smallies as they are incredibly aggressive, spunky yet, at times, difficult to trick. This day though I struck out and only managed a whopping skunk fish in terms of smallies; however, I nailed two new species for me. (1) A white bass and (2) and a channel cat. The white bass took a barred olive zonker and the kitty nabbed a similar white zonker. I was amazed at how quick that cat turned around as my streamer nailed the water's surface...all it took was three short strips and a strike ensued. My seven wt. did a nice job handling this 2-3 pound fish, but for the first time I felt line being ripped of my reel....MAN THAT WAS NICE!

I learned two major items on this trip. First, smallies LOVE hanging out on the upstream side of rocks and boulders, especially among rocks located just below fast deep water before the next set of rapids. I suppose the rock slows flow by causing water molecules to stop and pile up, just like a dam but on a smaller scale. I wonder if the smallies just hang in that slack water waiting for food morcels to wash out of the main rapid?

Secondly, rabit fur (zonker strips) is an alive fabric: it undulates, pulsates, breathes, wiggles etc. I will definately be tying some more streamers with this stuff. Up till now I have been relying on hackle, marabou and bucktail. Needless to say, not any more.
The camera was without batteries, so this blog is without pictures. I have located some awesome largemouth, and my next trip will be devoted towards paying them a visit.

Conditions: Mostly sunny, temps started out near 70 and reached 90 by 2pm. Night before experience heavy thunderstorm down pour; flow looked up a tad, but river is at summer low flow. Very clear.