Post by Bobby on Jun 18, 2014 14:10:13 GMT -6
Having this be my 3rd trip in 6 days to the Spillway, I wanted to take what I had learned and see if I could figure something out. I knew 2 things. There are a tonne of Shiners in there right now and I had caught a couple goldeye while out on my previous trips. I decided to tie up some streamers and ended up with the following pattern. My idea was to imitate either of the two known species with this lightweight large fly in hopes that the fish interested would be larger as well.
The night began slow for me while I watched a younger guy catch 4 or 5 fish on the west side of the spillway and two older gentlemen catch a number of fish, the biggest being a 33.5" catfish. I had come to catch bigger fish, and my first fish was not a dissappointment. I knew that I may luck into a cat or even possibly a carp but I was pretty sure what I had tied would appeal to the Drum. The picture shows my first Drum on the fly rod and what a blast at that. Not the biggest by any means but a good fish to start with.
As the night progressed and the other fly slinging fellows left I began to move around a bit more, wading and casting toward the river from the east side. I got to the area that I had seen the most fish come from and began casting to a deeper pool. I would cast, let the fly sink and slowly pull the slack out of it. The current was gentle but I could feel a bit of a side to side action as the fly glanced off rocks and algea forming on the bottom.
Nearing nightfall I finally felt the first of 4 fish that I would catch on 6 casts. None of them were huge and they were all Drum but I had noticed a pattern after the first two earlier in the night had commited to that slowly worked fly and boy did it work well when the light was low. Thinking back I wonder if I had tied a couple darker ones maybe the action could have been pretty steady all night. I ended up with 6 fish and a huge smile glued to my face.
All in all it was a great evening on the water. I have learned that although fishing the spillway, or even the red for that matter might not be a busket list kind of deal for me, I have more trips in a week this year than I had in 3 months last year waiting for that free time to soak up some sheild lake smallies in solitude. In the end it isn't the fish that matter, it's that connection with the water and nature that keeps a guy like me sane in between the big trips.
s
The night began slow for me while I watched a younger guy catch 4 or 5 fish on the west side of the spillway and two older gentlemen catch a number of fish, the biggest being a 33.5" catfish. I had come to catch bigger fish, and my first fish was not a dissappointment. I knew that I may luck into a cat or even possibly a carp but I was pretty sure what I had tied would appeal to the Drum. The picture shows my first Drum on the fly rod and what a blast at that. Not the biggest by any means but a good fish to start with.
As the night progressed and the other fly slinging fellows left I began to move around a bit more, wading and casting toward the river from the east side. I got to the area that I had seen the most fish come from and began casting to a deeper pool. I would cast, let the fly sink and slowly pull the slack out of it. The current was gentle but I could feel a bit of a side to side action as the fly glanced off rocks and algea forming on the bottom.
Nearing nightfall I finally felt the first of 4 fish that I would catch on 6 casts. None of them were huge and they were all Drum but I had noticed a pattern after the first two earlier in the night had commited to that slowly worked fly and boy did it work well when the light was low. Thinking back I wonder if I had tied a couple darker ones maybe the action could have been pretty steady all night. I ended up with 6 fish and a huge smile glued to my face.
All in all it was a great evening on the water. I have learned that although fishing the spillway, or even the red for that matter might not be a busket list kind of deal for me, I have more trips in a week this year than I had in 3 months last year waiting for that free time to soak up some sheild lake smallies in solitude. In the end it isn't the fish that matter, it's that connection with the water and nature that keeps a guy like me sane in between the big trips.
s