Flymen Blog
Something about pulling a fish out of a big body of water makes you feel heroic.
Walking up to a big body of water, so big that your cast doesn’t even cover a fraction of the water, can be daunting and even downright discouraging.
You almost feel nervous to make your first cast. Where do I start? How do I tackle this water without a boat?
But when everything comes together and you hook into that fish, you feel like you won the lottery!
Here are a few things to help make swinging your fly rod feel a little more like fishing and a little less like… flailing.
Most of us will not get the chance to chase bonefish on the flats of Belize, but with a little preparation we can still get the same rush a little closer to home.
As a staunch streamer junkie, there's nothing greater to me than having a big brown trout absolutely hammer a streamer.
But after fishing Gulf Shores, Alabama, I realized I've been missing out – the salt is a streamer junkie’s dream.
Saltwater fish hit a fly like they have had a lifelong vendetta against that poor little Clouser (seriously, I had a ladyfish almost take the fly rod out of my hand).
Fly recipe
Rear
- Hook: #2 Gamakatsu B10s
- Tail: Flashabou
- Tail 2: Senyo's Fusion Dub
- Body: Senyo's Fusion Dub
- Wing: Magnum Rabbit Strip
Front
- Hook: #1 Gamakatsu B10s
- Body: Senyo's Fusion Dub
- Body 2: EP Tarantula Brush
- Pectoral Fins: Deer Hair
- Wing: Magnum Rabbit Strip
- Head: Fish-Skull Sculpin Helmet
Everyone has their own style of fishing whether it be with a spinning rod or a fly rod.
Those of us who choose to pick up a fly rod also have our little own niches in which we choose to stick with.
Unfortunately, we tend to put our streamer boxes aside during this time of year and stick to more traditional approaches.
Yes, it’s exhilarating to watch that giant brown trout come to the surface and take your size 18 dry fly as you fish a tail out of a pool or a nice steady run, but what is more heart pumping than watching that same giant fish chase your 4” to 8” streamer from bank to bank and demolish your fly on the strip or the end of your swing?
Catching a pickerel, pike, or musky on a fly rod is an intense experience that translates into obsession very quickly.
There are only a handful of fish that I can say I’m obsessed with targeting on a fly rod.
Trout are at the top of my list, but any of the fish within the esocidae, or esox, family come in at a close second.
Spring and fall are the typical seasons when big pike are most vulnerable to a fly angler, but I can’t help but target them all year long, summer being no exception.
These tips will help you dial in summer pike within your local system.