A new bottom-dredging fly

My good friend Pat Ehlers, owner of the The Fly Shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has come up with another great fly for the 2010 season.  It is called the Grim Reaper and it is only one of his many flies that are sold through his shop and marketed all over the world through the Rainys fly company.  Pat is quite the fly fisherman and is a wealth of information.  He writes for many of the top fly fishing magazines and is working presently on a fly fishing destinations book.

I am always on the look-out for flys that will suit my style of fishing.  I have always loved to target river smallies on the bottom with a jig/plastic combo.  So it was only natural when I took up fly fishing that I would look to employ bottom-hugging flies.  Why?  Well, smallies spend most of their river lives near or on the bottom.  Sure, there are times when they are super-charged and attack baits/flies mid water column or on top, but most of their lives are spent in a negative or neutral feeding mode.  If you want to catch those neutral/negative feeding fish, the angler needs to fish slow with a bait/fly that stays near the bottom and right in front of a smallie’s face.

Last year my number one bottom fly was the Menominnee Mud Bug created by Nelson Ham.  I made a few tweeks and variations, but for the most part, Nelson’s design was wonderful.  This new fly by Pat should really compliment, or possibly exceed, the prowess of the Mud Bug.  The Grim Reaper is very easy to tie and is relatively inexpensive in its parts.  Here is a shot of two Grim Reapers that I tied - one being a standard size and the other a mini size:

The materials list is as follows:

Hook:  Daiichi 60 degree jig hook - 2/0
Tail:  Hareline’s reaper tails (medium or large)
Eyes:  Medium sized dumbbell eyes (small sized eyes for mini version)
Underbody:  Copper UV polar chennile
Overbody:  Silicone strands
Thread:  6/0 Uni thread - burnt orange

The neat part of this fly is the idea of using a 60 degree jig hook.  Why?  60 degree jig hooks are way less likely to snag up on the bottom of a rocky river.  Of course, this is very important when it comes to fly fishing for river smallies who love to hang around rocks and other debris.  Another thing I like is the reaper tail out the back of the fly.  This tail has outstanding, subtle action that will drive smallies wild.  I use to fish with plastic reapers years ago and always found them to be very effective.  When this weather breaks, you can bet this fly will be one of the first ones that gets wet!!

You can read more about this fly and other great flys by Pat Ehlers at his website:  http://www.theflyfishers.com.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

Mackinaw River….....long time no see

Saturday morning arrived cloudy and breezy, but fairly warm.  I knew with the rain coming in the afternoon, I better get out of bed and hit the Mack before conditions change.  Excitedly, I had decided the night previous that I would take one spinning rod and one fly rod.  The fly rod “thing” really excited me.  I had not cast any of my fly rods in quite some time.

I arrived at the river around 9:00 and observed the Mack in beautiful shape.  Fairly low and decent clarity.  I planned to only fish one wintering area that has produced fish for years.  Started with the spinning rod and a hair jig/trailer…........no dice.  Then I switched over to the fly rod.  WOW…...did it feel nice to actually cast again.  I took my Sage Smallmouth rod as I had some new big, bulky, sculpin patterns I had just tied days previous.  I wanted to see how they cast, sunk, and looked in the water.  The first fly, while it looked great, needed a little more weight.  The rest of the new flys I brought performed beautifully in the water.  I even had a small fish take a swirl at one of my Sculpin patterns.  I will post some pics of these new flys in the next few days.

So, after playing with the fly rod, I went back to the spinning rod and tried a tube and a suspending jerkbait….......still no dice.  After a couple of hours, the rain drops began to fall and I knew it was time to head for home.

No fish, but it sure was great to get out and actually fish open water.

AS ALWAYS….......................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

Letting Pictures do All the Talking!

Spent yesterday fishing with Central Illinois’ ice fishing guru, Nate Herman.  Four of us in the group this time.  Awesome day with six different fish species caught through the ice.  Here is just a sampling of the huge fish we caught:

The above Rainbow was just Massive!  Picture does not do it justice.  It took 18 minutes to land!!

My dad with a GIANT ‘GILL.

Another giant ‘gill for dad.

The above ‘gill is truly a “boone and Crockett” caliber bluegill.  At or slightly above a pound.

The above pictures are only a small sample of the number of fish we caught. Included, but not pictured, were Walleyes, Perch, Largemouth Bass, Golden Trout, and Crappie.  A day not soon forgotten.  Anyone out there wanting a GREAT guided fishing experience, you just have to get ahold of Nate.  Total class all the way!!!!!!!

AS ALWAYS…..................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE