Leave the Bait at Home

[Mark Vickers]

AndyK has this mantra that he espouses regularly...


Remember to just leave the other hardware at home and just pack your fly gear. Patience and persistence will always pay off!



I normally fish about 50% of the time with spinning/baitcasting gear, and only pull out the flies for certain rivers and species. He makes the strong case that you'll be a better fly fisherman if you only fish with flies. I decided to take his challenge...

I've noticed a marked decrease in the number of fish I've landed, but that's mostly a product of having to use flies in instances I'm unfamiliar with such as smallmouth bass and walleye. That said, I've been forced to learn new techniques, and I could quickly tell that my casting and line control started improving as I started using my rods in different ways. Just to clear this up, I've seen these improvements in just the last two weeks that I've given this a try.

While I'll probably never be able to fully go "fly only" (halibut, Columbia springers, sturgeon, etc), I've certainly learned a lot and will definitely continue down this path. I encourage others to set aside the hardware and try to do it with a fly.

Thanks AndyK for the great paradigm shift. Next time I see you, I'll buy your first beer. :cheers:

[AndyK]

Mark thanks for the kudos!

If ever you doubt what you can catch on a fly, visit with Jeff Stewart at Stewart’s Fly shop in Wood Village. He catches almost everything on a fly. He fishes for Shad in the Columbia and rockfish off the jetties on the coast. In most cases, it is just a matter of using the right line and technique. Fly fishermen do have advantages over the hardware fishermen.

[Siwash]

This is very true. Similar experience for me w/ both jigs and flies. I'd only used 'em a little here and there, mostly as a "Plan B" or to change the pace a bit from tossing spinners. I never got any steelhead on either flies or jigs until I left the spinner box behind and forced myself to go 100% with the new stuff.

It definitely conditions you to approach the water differently--there were places I knew that usually offered fish, but weren't necessarily good fly water. It took awhile to start seeing the water in "fly vision"; if you're constatntly switching tactics, that transition only takes longer.

[Blue Tip Spinner]

i wish i could, but i love to fish springers and sturgeon in the big C and willamette. all other places i fly fish only (usually).

[AndyK]

I hooked six Springers this year and landed two, all on flies. I’ve landed four Chinook in August (also on flies). It can be done!

[lilnorthfork]

Good topic. I have found this to be very true... in the reverse. I wanted to improve my chances of catching sh and salmon in the Coastal rivers so committed to learning to use gear. Not sure I have learned much in the past year (1 sh and one nook) but I know for sure my flyfishing skills have taken a hit. Aside from the thrill of the catch, I have really wanted to put some fish on the table (family loves it). Funny thing, a friend just sent down a hundred pounds of ocean caught salmon and steelhead fillets and now all I can think about is chasing 12" trout with my 3wt. Guess you could say my gear pursuit has been a FADD... flyfishing attention deficit disorder. lnf

[Blue Tip Spinner]

AndyK- don't get me wrong, i LOVE to ff, but there is something about making a spinner with your own hands and hooking a 20lb springer on it! (kind of like tying your own flies and hooking steelhead on them, huh?) i guess i love them equally well, each in their own way, but i have always preferred ff over tackle if i can. :flowered:

MODS- just making a statement about the use of hard tackle, not taking it any further, i promise!!!! :flowered:

[SilverFly]

Andy, - very true that flyfishermen often have an advantage over hardware (I do both), especially when going after fish that have seen a lot of tackle or are just not in a "biting mood".

BTS, - springers eat flies like candy! I have caught them on the Clack and Sandy. But I bet Andy could flyfish in the middle of the Willamette and still catch them!

It's really all about confidence in what your using. Any more I almost feel like I'm at a disadvantage with a casting rod!

-SF

[Blue Tip Spinner]

SilverFly- i agree once they get into the tribs, but man do i love watching my rod take a sudden violent hit and stay down!!!! :yay: :yay:

[lilnorthfork]

i love watching my rod take a sudden violent hit and stay down!!!!


Still haven't found it, heh? :laugh:

[AndyK]

BTS: As SilverFly wrote, “It's really all about confidence in what you’re using.” My biggest Springer this year was 20 pounds. On a #4 Red Butt Skunk. And to paraphrase what you wrote, “There’s nothing like tying your own fly and catching a Springer or Chinook on it.”

Almost sounds like a challenge from SilverFly about catching a Springer in the Willamette! Imagine the looks, with me casting a fly in late March or April on the Willamette in downtown Portland!

Now, if you could figure out the leads and the depth the fish were at. Then if you used the right sinking line and knew how fast your fly would get down, you could drift the fly right over the salmon…

[Blue Tip Spinner]

i love watching my rod take a sudden violent hit and stay down!!!!


Still haven't found it, heh? :laugh:



LNF- nope still haven't found it. i have been checking on ebay to see if the fish had put it up for sale, but no luck. :grin:

[SilverFly]

Hmmm,... Willamette Springer Fly Challenge, - has a nice ring to it! I'm sure it could be done, just a matter of how much time you would have to put in. Sounds like a job for a determined retired guy :wink: .

An alternative might be to run a fly 18 inches or so behind a spinner or plug. I don't think that would be against the regs. I talked a buddy of mine that was getting skunked at Drano into trying this once. He ran a fly behind one plug (running four rods) and the only fish he got that day was on the fly. If trolling flies works at Drano it should work on the Willamette.

Although that goes against the theme of this thread, once a few springers were caught this way it might provide enough incentive to actually break out the flyrod and give it a shot.

Dang, now I'm thinking of trying a small dodger and fly combo next spring :idea:!

-SF

[Mark Vickers]

Okay, we kinda laugh about springers on the Willamette or Columbia with a fly but think about this...

Bucktailing for coho (trolling a fly on or near the surface in the ocean) is one of the most spectacular and effective methods for taking them. Please note, I'm the world's most unlucky silver fisherman, so take this with a pinch of salt.

In a book that I picked up at the library (that I can't remember the name of) it is demonstrated that deep water lake trout can be taken with a fly trolled off of a downrigger.

Last, salmon mooching like they do in British Columbia is often the go-to method. Essentially, they use a noodle rod and drift a herring at the depth where the fish are. Couldn't you just replace the noodle rod and herring with a sinking line and fly?

Hmmm, I may go out this weekend and see if I can pick up a fall chinook in the Columbia...

[SilverFly]

Mark,

That's pretty much how I caught my first salmon. My Dad took us up to Tofino when I was a kid (late '60's). His method was trolling coho flies behind a dodger. Worked great and was a blast. Probably didn't even need the dodger. He tied them with polar bear hair and green or blue bucktail.

It might work on the Columbia too. I ran a fly behind a spinner once fishing for steelies in front of Camas and had a takedown. Reeled in and found the flyhook straightened!
(you can probably guess the pattern).

Not sure what pattern I would try for fall nooks, - maybe something black or chartruese. Springers seem to be fond of peach woolly buggers.

Wouldn't hurt to run one behind a wobbler! You could be the first to nail an URB on the main Columbia with a fly. That would surprise some folks!

-SF.

[AndyK]

Nailed Chinook #5 at Herman this morning. What would have been #6 straightened my “trailer” hook; should have tied the fly on a better brand of hook.

The fly of choice for fall Chinook on the Columbia (at Herman) is still my Orange & Black Wooly Bugger.

Trolling a fly is not fly casting and I think any competition should be limited to fly casting!