Newcomer to fly fishing.

Hello everyone,

My name is Jacob, I am new to the sport of fly fishing. I have been spinner fishing since I was 5 and enjoyed every moment of it. I picked up fly tying and fishing last year and been hooked ever since. I enjoy that when I go out with the fly rod its not with the intention of landing 10lb pike its just simply to go out on a river and enjoy the day. As of now I have only fished the Napanee river in the stretch through Yarker and the Salmon river north of Napanee.

I know that most people they take their gold spot to grave with them, but if anyone has some nice little local rivers that they wouldn't mind sharing with me I would love to get the opportunity to try them out. No specific type of fish in mind pretty much all I catch in the Napanee and the Salmon river are these over sized minnows, not sure the species of fish (they look like big shiner minnows).

Also if anyone knows of a quality fly material retailer I would love to get their info.

Thanks,
Jacob

Welcome to the Forum, Jacob! Sorry I can't help you out with spots in your area - I've never fished there. I fish the small local lakes in my area for bass, pike and panfish.

Cabelas (www.cabelas.ca) has fly tying material.

Finally was able to get out and knock the dust off the fly rod, I am currently rebuilding a deck in Westport on Wolfe lake so I took the chance to try out one of my wooly buggers I recently tied. Maybe 5 casts and I hooked onto a nice little bass. Its my first time catching a fish off a fly that I tied myself, and boy what a rush it gives you.

I am looking into getting up to Clearwater Lake in the Frontenac provincial park for some brooke trout in a couple weeks, hopefuly for some success. With those of you who have caught Brooke trout in the past what type of fly do you recommend?




Attachment 25848Attachment 25849

Congratulations on the bass!

I've done well with Muddler Minnow patterns, Wooly Buggers, Red Tailed Wooly Worm and Royal Coachman streamers. Also a Black Ant fly.

thank you for the quick reply, ill have to look into those patterns and give it a whirl.

Well the made the trip into Clearwater lake, the hike was the height of the trip as all the lake wanted to offer up were sunfish. Going to try my luck at testmine in the future.

those "over sized minnows" could have been creek chub

Yeah I was told they have various names from fallfish to creek chub, nevertheless they are fun to catch on a fly rod and put up an awesome fight, if other fish species aren't biting they are usually willing to hit anything.

I recently did some river/creek scouting and found some nice stretches of the Napanee river up around first depot lake. With permission from land owners and a bit of a hike I was able to find a nice little stretch with moving water and plenty of side pools. First cast I hooked onto a 2lb largemouth and went on a land a couple more bass and about 10 fallfish.

Google maps seems to be the best way to locate the water and then you just gotta find a way to get to it. Next up I am wanting to give Millhaven creek a go, has anyone fished it before? are there any recommended spots to start? I am not overly thrilled fishing too close to the Institution so might try the section closer to Odessa lake. Anyone who has fished this creek before what might be some of the more active patterns to be tossing?

Jacob, this is a fallfish. Is that what you were catching?http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...2/100_0291.jpg

Yeah that is the exact fish, the largest I have caught so far was just under 3 lbs.

Attachment 26134

My first speckled trout, pretty excited to see this little guy on the end of the line.

Awesome Brookie man

Nice brook trout. That would be a big one down where I'm from, if you can even find them. So, you probably don't need any advice from me, but I have found that brookies take dry flies pretty much any time of day. In fact, even if they aren't actively rising and feeding on the surface, you can still get them on a good dry presentation. If you haven't dry fly fished yet, you should try it! Presentation is everything with dries. You can fish a pattern that imitates in-season insects, such as caddis and gnats this time of year; mayflies earlier in the season. But even attractor patterns like dry royal coachman will get them. Make sure you have a good floatant. I use Gink - that stuff will float anything.

Awesome advice, most of the flies I am using atm are wooly buggers, mainly because they are the easiest the tie and I am tying all of my own flies. I have only used dry flies a few times since starting and haven't had much luck, but mind you I give up on them early and switch to my go to bugger for some bass action.

I am looking at getting into some Pike fly fishing in the near future, should be exciting I catch plenty on the spinner so will be fun to see how they feel on the fly. Still trying to figure out a leader setup for them willing to take any pointers.

Theres an awesome story on here somewhere about a guy that caught fall fish as a kid, but he though they were trout. His parents liked that it kept him occupied so they dutifully cooked up the "trout" he caught and encouraged him to get more! You are right that they put up one hell of a fight, and often if you find large fall fish and chub, you are often in waters that are cold enough and fast enough for trout too, especially in spring and fall.

As for spots, how far are you willing to drive? I have a couple spots I have scouted up near Sharbot Lake I am willing to share for Bass, but probably a bit too far?

At first me and my dad had thought/hoped that they were a type of trout we were a little sad to hear that the fallfish were just chub but nonetheless they are an awesome day of fly fishing on a slow day.

I was recently gifted a 1970 Browning Silaflex Steelhead fly rod that my grandpa had used and I am looking to getting into some bigger fish areas to see how this rod handles.

Good luck with the pike. I don't target them but they always seek me out when I'm after bass or panfish and I've lost a lot of flies to them.

I did a "Yahoo" search" on "Fly fishing leaders for pike" and there's some good info. One guy uses wire leaders.

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Originally Posted by GoldenLakePete

Good luck with the pike. I don't target them but they always seek me out when I'm after bass or panfish and I've lost a lot of flies to them.

I did a "Yahoo" search" on "Fly fishing leaders for pike" and there's some good info. One guy uses wire leaders.

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Yes fine plastic coated wire leaders. You use crimps to make loops in the ends, but you have to leave enough loop at the fly so it can move. I use a profection loop on the leader and a loop on the end of the wire. This way I can change flys without cutting and crimping wire all day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jacob McD

Awesome advice, most of the flies I am using atm are wooly buggers, mainly because they are the easiest the tie and I am tying all of my own flies. I have only used dry flies a few times since starting and haven't had much luck, but mind you I give up on them early and switch to my go to bugger for some bass action.

I am looking at getting into some Pike fly fishing in the near future, should be exciting I catch plenty on the spinner so will be fun to see how they feel on the fly. Still trying to figure out a leader setup for them willing to take any pointers.

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You can catch and land pike without wire leaders - if you are lucky. Here's a couple from the spring.
http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...c/100_0601.jpghttp://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...c/100_0603.jpg

Jacob,

I have fished a stretch of the Napanee River between Newburgh and the town of Napanee (I grew up close by). The smallmouth bass and fallfish were a lot of fun! It has been some years since I was on that stretch but I believe I also hooked another species. Maybe perch?

Have you ever tried a Mickey Finn? I had a lot of luck with them. I caught my first black crappie on a Mickey Finn.

I have heard that Millhaven Creek gets some trout migration from Lake Ontario. I am not sure if it a certain time of year or not. I was told that if you got into the stretch behind the Legion Hall (or is it a Union Hall) you might find brown trout. Apparently there is a bit of a descent down a hill if you go in from the hall.

I haven't fished there myself, so this is just what I have been told.

Tight Lines!

Jacob

Do you have any poppers, IF someone made me pick only one fly to cast it would be poppers. 30+ years ago they were the fly I was taught to cast with for Bass and I may have caught more on other flies probably but poppers have to be about the most fun and can be very effective even in water deeper than you would think they would work.

Epoxy minnows gave me the wildest fly fishing on Ladyfish that are kind of like the Fallfish, I had been down the beach early in the morning and as usual seen bonefish but caught nothing. As I came back there had been a rain earlier and there was a small stream runnnig out of a brackish pond and the Ladyfish were going nuts. I lost track of how many I caught during the chaos and even got a small Pompano and Barracuda... until Barracuda cut the leader twice and it was time to get back to the hotel for breakfast. They weren't big but with their speed and triple flip jumps it was fun! Being flexible is often the best way to have fun with a fly rod so if someone gets snobby on you listen to their advice before and after the "a real fly fisherman wouldn't" and you will have lots of fun.

Now as for poppers I have three sizes and probably 10 colours in my one box and use them many different ways, a few weeks back there were some bass on the mayfly rise. Most were small and when it got too dark to see the fly I put on my smallest popper that is a bit larger than a large mayfly fly and before the mosquitoes drove me in I caught 3 more small ones in a few minutes. They weren't keepers but are a good example of being flexible. On poppers I have caught sunfish, pike, lots of bass etc and the visual part where that fish hits the popper is great... even though seeing them come up and stare at it and swim away is frustrating.

If you use poppers for pike try to keep the rod tip high so the wire leader doesn't hang down and hang on! Pike will hit sometimes hit like they are trying to imitate the great whites on a seal on shark week. That will get the heart pumping! :-)

Poppers, epoxy minnows and leech patterns are the must haves in my box, there are a wide variety of others like muddlers, deceivers, clousers, crawdads, mayflies etc etc. but a few if those in different sizes are what I would say are must haves on the water.

I would suggest that Orvis has some good videos if you want to get some tips.

Thank you everyone for all your help it has done wonders to my fishing experiences this summer. I have a new question to ask everyone I was recently gifted a Fenwick HMX 9Wt rod and I am looking to purchase a reel for this rod, I am wanting to use this for bigger game more focused towards Steelhead fishing I am looking for a good reel without having to drop 500$ on it. So if anyone knows of a suitable reel in the 150$ range please let me know.