It’s a blizzard in December and there’s a -30 wind chill today so fly fishing is the last thing I’ll be doing anytime soon but I find myself dreaming of warmer temps and fly casting to open water. I grew up in southeastern Minnesota where quality trout streams were fairly abundant. My dad taught my brothers and me how to tie flies and cast a rod when I was young and I enjoyed tying flies more than fly fishing. I think mainly it was because I couldn’t drive a car yet and my success on the water was better with night crawlers, rooster tails and Rapala’s. Many years later I spent a couple of summers guiding in Alaska and really got into fly fishing. The fly fishing was easier up there and the abundance of hungry fish made it possible for most anyone to catch a fish as long as the fly was wet. Trout and grayling were fairly easy with egg patterns on remote waters and lining for reds isn’t exactly fly fishing but utilizes a drifting presentation with a fight that can’t be matched. To me the fight on a fly rod outweighs the fight on other gear 10 to 1 as does the challenge of matching the hatch to fool a fish on some fur and feathers.
Leave your spinning gear at home
Jeff Korbel is a old friend and avid fly fisherman. I’m pretty sure he has caught just about every variety of trophy class of freshwater fish on a fly. Besides tying up some of the most innovative flies imaginable, Jeff builds custom rods to meet every need. When I asked him how he managed to catch so many trophy fish on the fly he told me that he leaves the spinning gear at home. Although I’m getting better at leaving the spinning gear at home, I still find myself going back to the spinning gear as a backup. I still carry both, but nowadays if I find a good bite I switch to the fly for the challenge and the fight.
Eventually I got into flipping for steelhead in the spring. Creek banks on the north shore of Lake Superior are steep, brushy, and aren’t very wide. Casting isn’t really necessary, a simple flip or roll cast will usually do. Spinning gear works just fine for steelhead but the fight is explosive on a fly rod. My last steelhead was caught in a stream about 10 feet wide, the fish ran about 70 yards downstream and I had all I could do to keep after it.
Western Waters
Years ago my youngest brother Dan moved out to Montana. The flowing waters out west are heavily dependent on bug hatches and although you can catch stream trout on spinning gear fly fishing is king. I look forward to bringing my flyrod with me every time I head west and I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with an old high school buddy, Ryan Schmidt who is an avid fly angler and my guru when it comes to fly fishing. Ryan helped show me nymphing, dry fly fishing and the art of swing streamers. The rivers of Montana are absolutely beautiful and the best ways to see them are drifting down them in a raft or drift boat. I love rowing and am happy to row fish filled river. Fly fishing while floating is a great way to cover water but you only get one shot at a location and then it’s on to new water, the fly has to drift naturally and your line needs to be mended to avoid excess drag. When casting from shore you get to work an area thoroughly and can try different patterns and presentations. I make it a habit to stop at the nearest flyshop when fishing anew river and ask for some recommendations on fly choices, I’ll buy a handful of flies for the box and get often get some good information on where to start.
Schmitty with a plump rainbow
Lake Fishing with flies
Although most of my fly fishing is done when traveling west to Montana or North to Alaska I’m pretty lucky to live in Ottertail County where we have fantastic largemouth bass and pan fishing that can be done on a fly rod. I’m also lucky enough to guide in the boundary waters in the summertime where the smallmouth fishing on a fly can be fantastic. Many species are particularly vulnerable to a fly in spring and early summer when they are spawning on their beds. I have an return client named Randy who strictly fly fishes for pike and smallmouth with me, the best part is that besides driving the boat I’m encouraged to fish as well and one year we boated over a hundred smallmouth in 3 days of fly fishing. Randy travels down to the Carribean and fishes saltwater as well but the best thing Randy taught me is to use affordable gear and simple tactics. Sometimes fly fishing seems to be overwhelming with fancy equipment and complicated knots, it doesn’t have to be. Keep it simple and go out and have fun!
Many newcomers may be intimidated to get started fly fishing due to the complexities of knots and gear but I think you’ll find that if you go to most any fly shop and tell them you are a beginner, they will do their best to help point you in the right direction. A guided trip is probably the fastest way to shorten the learning curve and as your skills progress so will your knowledge base and desire for quality equipment. Before you know it, you may be tying your own flies and building custom rods in the cold winter months while waiting for a nice summer day to cast a fly at an eager fish!
Randy was back again this year in June and invited me to fly fish along with him, not only was it a blast but I continually learn stuff along the way and/or relearn the stuff I forget after a long cold winter.
Full disclosure, I’m an amateur fly angler at best, just because I enjoy doing something doesn’t make me an expert and my last venture with a fly rod is proof. I was out in Montana visiting my brother and eastern Washington to chase some salmon this summer and I saved my last free day to do some fly fishing on the Little Blackfoot just outside of Helena. That stream holds a special spot in my heart, not only have I seen elk and moose along it’s shores but my mother’s ashes were placed in the river, it was place she liked to visit with me. Besides the scenery the thing I like about the L. Blackfoot is that it’s shallow enough to cross in many places yet it still has pools that hold a variety of fish. The day started out slowly and I lost many flies along the way to overhead trees as well as roots below the banks. I suppose it’s just as well because I lost at least a dozen flies before I found something that had worked. Thank goodness for mountain whitefish, they are scrappy and eager to bite, I also ended with several browns and a bonus cutthroat. I started out the day feeling like the worst fly fisherman ever but ended up landing somewhere between 15 and 20 fish. I have come to the conclusion that if I can catch more fish than the number of flies I lose, it’s a pretty good day!
