Friday Night Fishing League

Well the local fly fishing forum I'm on has started a new activity of visiting a different pond in the state each week on Friday night. This is a great way to fish new waters that I would never have fished and meet new friends. We've gone to two different ponds so far and haven't been disappointed. Last night I caught several nice brook trout on a sinking tip line using a size 12 bead head prince nymph. Once the wind died down the fish started to hit the surface so changed over to a floating line with a size 18 fly I made up that looks something like a mosquito. This has been a great time.

Friday Night Fishing

Fished Friday night a local pond. Good time with some new friends. Was able to catch three brook trout. The wind made it a little difficult. Still was better than being at work

Trolling in the new kayak.

One of the trout Marc caught.

New Kayak, First Bass

I've been having trouble being able to sit for a long period of time in my old kayak so started looking around for a new one. Needed something that had a comfortable seat so the old back could handle more than an hour fishing. Hated leaving the water so soon because of the pain. Well I tried the Native Watercraft Ultimate 12 and really liked it so home it came. I spent the afternoon paddling around and fishing without any discomfort. Now I have a new fishing boat. The lake is still quite cold so the bass aren't really biting hard yet but I did manage to catch one on a green wooly bugger. So the kayak even has fish smell in it!

 

 

 

The new kayak

First smallmouth of the year on a wooly bugger

Trip to a new pond

Went to a pond I've never fished before this morning. Had a great time and the brook trout were very cooperative. They were rising but wouldn't take any dry fly I offered them so I went to a bead headed nymph. Fished it just below the surface and they were slamming it. Lost count of how many I caught and released. Wish I had brought my camera that was sitting in the truck. Had to use the cell phone and the photos just aren't that great. Oh well next time.

Short Time on the Water Today

Was able to get out for a quick fish before a storm hit today. Thought I was going to be out longer from the looks of the radar I checked but after about a half hour the wind picked up and the sky looked bad. Just as I was thinking it was time to get off the lake because of the close by thunder a nice 20" lake trout hit my line. He gave a great fight. Wanted nothing to do with coming up to the surface. Just kept diving to the bottom. Finally tired and came to the net. He hit on a Winni Smelt. This  seems to be my go to streamer. Most of the fish I've got this season since the ice went out have been on it.

Here's a photo before he went back to the deep.

Salmon Hitting Today

Morning started off slow with only one small salmon. After lunch I went out for an hour right in the middle of the day with the sun finally showing and the lake calm. Should have been the time when fishing would be at it's slowest but not today. Caught 4 salmon and lost another real nice one at the boat. It was one of those times that I just hit it just right and the action was fast. Biggest one I was able to get in the boat was 20.5 inches. The others were around 18 inches. It was a blast.

Winni Smelt pattern that caught the fish today. Got pretty beat up.

 

Beautiful afternoon. Warm calm and the sun out. First time in 4 days.

 

Another Day on the Lake

Nice to have a school vacation this time of year. Not many out on the lake yet so you get to fish without being bothered by all the vacationers. The lake is very cold right now, 42 degrees this morning so the salmon and lake trout can be anywhere. Fishing the top 10 feet of water seems to be the best place to find them. Although the salmon were no where to be found today at least the lake trout were around. Caught 3 while trolling streamers and lost another. Looked back at my log book from the past 2 years and the colors I was catching them on were pinks and orange. So last night I tied one streamer pink, white and red and the other was yellow, orange and a little gold flashabou. The pink caught 2 of the trout and lost one while the orange caught one. Here is a photo of one of the fish. It fell for the pink streamer. Will be out first thing tomorrow.