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Post by Bobby on Jun 13, 2014 7:34:57 GMT -6
I headed down to the spillway with my 10wt with Carp and Cats in mind. This is the first back to back fishing days I have had in about 4yrs and I was pumped. Got there and into the water by 5:30 and began to cast to Carp that I could see with no luck. Switched up to a white streamer and started casting west toward the deeper water and managed to hook into 2 different fish that broke me off. Both were on for about a minute before feeling the snap of the line. One of the fish must have cruised right through a pod of Carp because just as the line went slack the water erupted in about a 20 ft circle with fish scattering.
As the day progressed more and more minnows began surfacing. When looking at the water with the sun at your back it was like when they show the camera flashes in the stands at an event like the olympics. The sun was catching them just right to flash as each one jumped and then disappeared into the shallow murky water. I would say there were thousands of them in there and yet never saw much chasing them. I am sure they were being gorged upon by fish but didn't see too many boils on the surface for all the action they were creating. They seemed to be trying to eat some flies that were landing on the water but maybe they are in there for spawning?
I noticed a few fish flies emerging and had a few dozen waiting for me on my car when I packed up at 9:45.
Back to the fishing... I easily hooked up with 10 fish throughout the night and watched a buddy who I had met through Facebook and isn't on this forum yet catch a Pike, Walleye, Cat, Goldeye and Drum all on the same fly. I only ended up landing a Goldeye and I learned that setting the hook can make a huge difference in fish hooked and fish landed. I am not disappointed with the results because I am still learning and that was the longest I have been on the water with a fly rod by far. It is also my first time fishing the spillway. All of our success came on some variety of streamer with white being the hot colour. No surprise really with all those shiny baitfish stacked up in there.
Had the pleasure of meeting Joel and watching him fight a cat for a good 7-10 minutes then snapping a picture of it for him. I was too shy and was scared to get in his and another anglers way but once he had that fish on I watched how you are supposed to fight a fish with the fly rod in amazement.
All in all it was a great day on the water and the lack of numbers was never going to be an issue. The art of this sport keeps me entertained and I have alot of learning left to do. If I was there to knot my leader well then this report would have a completely different ring to it.
-Bobby
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Post by brucerap on Jun 13, 2014 11:12:39 GMT -6
I've learned the hard way to check your knots regularly, Bobby - especially after hooking into a good fish. I was out earlier this week and witnessed the shiners too. Many of them were trying to pick off caddis flies on the surface as the caddis were depositing their eggs.
What size tippet are you using?
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Post by sedgehammer on Jun 13, 2014 11:26:21 GMT -6
Was nice to meet you Bobby. Thanks for the pics. I'll have to post them at some point.
You guys have any more luck after I left?
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Post by Bobby on Jun 13, 2014 11:37:59 GMT -6
I didn't have any other fish and I think Geoff hooked up to 3 but ended up with only one goldeye to show for it.
I had 1x tippet. It was the strongest I had with me. I had 20lb fluorocarbon as well but it looked too thick for some of the eyes of the flies I had wanted to try. I should have went to the car and put it on after I realized I would be fishing with bigger flies and that the tippet I had was too light. The bigger problem for the majority of the lost fish was the hook popping loose. I think I was being too light on the hookset or maybe I wasn't leaning on the rod enough and gave the fish some slack. Something to work on either way.
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Post by brucerap on Jun 13, 2014 15:35:35 GMT -6
Yeah, 1X is definitely a bit light for those waters. I use 15lb fluoro tippet on a short 30lb. butt section. If I'm throwing smaller stuff I'll drop down to 1X or 0X, for the reason you mentioned of getting the line through the hook eye. Strong, sharp hooks are important too.
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Post by Bobby on Jun 16, 2014 7:34:16 GMT -6
I had a few hours to kill last night and didn't hesitate to grab my waders and boots and head back to the spillway. I wasn't sure what I'd find there given all the rain but I knew the casting practice couldn't hurt even if the fish weren't hungry. First cast I caught a 10-11" Goldeye and thought maybe it was gonna be one oft hose nights like I have yet to experience. The 2nd fish broke me off and after that nothing...
The water level hadn't changed much from the last trip, as I'm sure it wouldn't until the rain water swells up the Red today but there was a current in the spillway that switched directions depending where you fished. Almost like it was a giant eddy from the river, the water was flowing towards the river on the southwest shoreline and then about 2/3 of the way East across the spillway it was gently flowing towards the floodway. It didn't stop raining the entire time I was out there and the few others shore fishing I saw never stayed very long. A couple guys near the spillway mouth on the North side had a few fish caught between trips to stay dry in their car, but other than that the only fish coming out of the water were the carp which I tried failingly to cast to as I watched them boil the surface.
I had a few youtube tricks I wanted to try to fix up my casting and I definitely felt better on the water last night than on Thursday. I am still trying to find a go to fly that I have confidence is fishing the way I think it is. I'm sure that will come with more time spent on the water. Last night with the light current I was trying to let a muddler drift slowly toward the river and varied my strips hoping to mimic a wounded fish. I need to hit up some clearer water and watch what is happening when I move the fly and see if it is anything like I imagine.
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Post by sedgehammer on Mar 4, 2015 10:09:37 GMT -6
Well I promised I'd post the pic Bobby got of my cat. 9 months later...haha. Some Instagram editing included.
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Post by kilgortrout on May 25, 2015 21:10:16 GMT -6
You need to try a one of Stu's home grown DDH in your fav color and you will be set. Cheers Ron
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