Got around to putting some pics up from the recent fishing trip up north. Got some nice smallies and largemouth and a few decent northerns. But most of all I got to fish with my family and friends, which is what it is all about.
http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/
--Dr. Todd
Gratuitous Fish Pictures
-
Jack Bright
- Advanced Board Poster
- Posts: 419
- Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 4:52 pm
- Location: Caledonia,MI
blog
Once again. . . enjoyable reading. Thanks, Jack
-
Robin Sayler
- Super Board Poster
- Posts: 1004
- Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:44 pm
- Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Great photos and thanks for sharing with all of us! Looks like fish are all over the place.
I thought that was a pretty creative use of a spinning reel on a fly rod by your brother. Tournament longcasters do that with conventional reels and I'm trying to picture how you retrieve and fight a fish with the reel in a low position. Was that intentional or out of necessity?
I thought that was a pretty creative use of a spinning reel on a fly rod by your brother. Tournament longcasters do that with conventional reels and I'm trying to picture how you retrieve and fight a fish with the reel in a low position. Was that intentional or out of necessity?
Actually, Brian, its a technique that I have only seen my brother use (which I shamelessly copy). He almost never, ever loses a fish--backreeling of course--and he got a 24 pound northern last fall on a fly rod, Fin-Nor spinning reel, and 8-pound test line. He is a pretty remarkable fisherman and I have been meaning to get him to write an article on how to spin with a fly rod. May not be unique but you don't see many people doing it! My father prefers a single piece 7.5' medium-heavy spinning rod, made on a Loomis blank.
The fish were unreal for about 10 days and then shut down. I talked with Jim Madden who was fishing about 100 miles west of me, and the same thing happened to him. The cause? Three hatches in five days--caddis, may, and an unknown bug. The fish were gorging themselves on emerging insects so the fishing pretty much disappeared. Over 30 walleyes in the first 10 days, only about 8 in the last 10. But the bass were on most of the time!
--Dr. Todd
The fish were unreal for about 10 days and then shut down. I talked with Jim Madden who was fishing about 100 miles west of me, and the same thing happened to him. The cause? Three hatches in five days--caddis, may, and an unknown bug. The fish were gorging themselves on emerging insects so the fishing pretty much disappeared. Over 30 walleyes in the first 10 days, only about 8 in the last 10. But the bass were on most of the time!
--Dr. Todd
-
Reel Geezer
- Ultra Board Poster
- Posts: 2314
- Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:06 pm
- Location: On the Snake River or Lake Lowell
- Contact:
My bluegill pond rig for the past 30-40 years:
South Bend Cross Double Built fiberglass rod, an Alcedo Micron reel, and some hooks and bobbers. Just go dig the worms and I feel like a kid again.
About 15 years ago, I did modify the rod by adding a #20 spinning guide instead of the fly rod stripper guide. I also have a Heddon fiberglass rod rigged out the same way.
South Bend Cross Double Built fiberglass rod, an Alcedo Micron reel, and some hooks and bobbers. Just go dig the worms and I feel like a kid again.
About 15 years ago, I did modify the rod by adding a #20 spinning guide instead of the fly rod stripper guide. I also have a Heddon fiberglass rod rigged out the same way.
-
Jack Bright
- Advanced Board Poster
- Posts: 419
- Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 4:52 pm
- Location: Caledonia,MI
Bluegill tackle
Way to go Phil. Makes great sport, with fly rod no matter how you rig it.
I made a graphite Loomis 8 ft. fly rod about 25 years ago, many nice trout
on it in Montana, etc., decided to retire it and converted it to my favorite
spinning rod for `gills, and 10 inchers are sure fun on it, if it only could
clean and cook `em, but what the h--- can`t have everything.
I made a graphite Loomis 8 ft. fly rod about 25 years ago, many nice trout
on it in Montana, etc., decided to retire it and converted it to my favorite
spinning rod for `gills, and 10 inchers are sure fun on it, if it only could
clean and cook `em, but what the h--- can`t have everything.
-
Reel Geezer
- Ultra Board Poster
- Posts: 2314
- Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:06 pm
- Location: On the Snake River or Lake Lowell
- Contact:
And of course as reel collectors, we should all be aware that originally all those side-cast spinning reels were used on fly rods. When the Humphreys came out in 1947 you could get a special Phillipson bamboo fly rod made specially for that reel. Local hero and Field & Stream fishing & roving editor Ted Trueblood even wrote a booklet about fishing the Humphreys on a fly rod.
Of course that is true...there has been some discussion about these hybrid spin/fly reels here on ORCA in the past year. If the technique was popular it surely wasn't where I grew up. Frankly, I'd never seen or heard of a Humphreys before I started collecting, and if it started a craze, it must have died out quickly.
That's a neat rig Geez and it looks like a blast. I love "freshwater piranhas" and only wish they could sustain that first 10-seconds of fight the whole time. No one would ever land a big one, I think.
What I think my brother does (at least as early as the mid-1980s) that is different than most people fishing today is spin-fish with a fly rod for big game fish. Trust me, it takes a lot of patience fighting a six or seven pound bass on a 6-7 weight fly rod, even with a spinning reel. He never uses the drag but back reels, and I've seen him fight 15-20 pound northerns for 30 minutes or more. He has landed them as big as 25 pounds and musky as large as 30 using this technique. It takes patience and skill but I also almost never see him lose a fish. The big trick is the hook set--not nearly the same as a bluegill inhaling a small bait. He fishes plastic worms and tube baits (the tube-craw is his new favorite) which are tricky to get the hook set. He trolls for walleyes with the same rig using Rebels and Rapalas. He casts crankbaits at night and early morning. He fishes creek chubs and river shiners at dusk for 30 minutes when the walleyes hit live bait. He dead baits suckers in the fall for musky (wire leader and 12-pound test).
As I said. it may not be unique, but I have been fishing since I was very young in many, many places and still haven't seen anyone else doing it this way (nor met anyone else who has either). Who knows? There may very well be a club with 10,000 members dedicated to this style of fishing.
Give it a try! Once you master casting (a bit unwieldy at first but you get the hang of it quickly) you may find you like it.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc01.jpg
Here's a shot of a 20-inch walleye coming to boat.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc02.jpg
About an 18 inch largemouth.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc04.jpg
Here is me shamelessly copying my brother--horsed this one out of deep weeds with a tube grub. I use a Pinnacle Dead Bolt on mine because, unlike my brother, I trust my drag.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc03.jpg
Any for you pond skippers, you can swap out for a smaller reel with some four-pound test and fish for bluegills. My brother took my daughter out for sunfish and they ended up getting a whole basket full of 8-10 inchers. She used a regular spinning reel, but my father bought her an 8-foot 1960s Shakespeare fiberglass fly rod and I am going to rig it out with a Mitchell 308 and let her use it for sunfish and small bass that can be caught out of local farm ponds. Should be a blast!
Pretty versatile technique, eh? Never claimed he invented the method, but I just don't see anyone else doing it with such a variety of game fish.
--Dr. Todd
http://www.whitefishpress.com/
http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/
That's a neat rig Geez and it looks like a blast. I love "freshwater piranhas" and only wish they could sustain that first 10-seconds of fight the whole time. No one would ever land a big one, I think.
What I think my brother does (at least as early as the mid-1980s) that is different than most people fishing today is spin-fish with a fly rod for big game fish. Trust me, it takes a lot of patience fighting a six or seven pound bass on a 6-7 weight fly rod, even with a spinning reel. He never uses the drag but back reels, and I've seen him fight 15-20 pound northerns for 30 minutes or more. He has landed them as big as 25 pounds and musky as large as 30 using this technique. It takes patience and skill but I also almost never see him lose a fish. The big trick is the hook set--not nearly the same as a bluegill inhaling a small bait. He fishes plastic worms and tube baits (the tube-craw is his new favorite) which are tricky to get the hook set. He trolls for walleyes with the same rig using Rebels and Rapalas. He casts crankbaits at night and early morning. He fishes creek chubs and river shiners at dusk for 30 minutes when the walleyes hit live bait. He dead baits suckers in the fall for musky (wire leader and 12-pound test).
As I said. it may not be unique, but I have been fishing since I was very young in many, many places and still haven't seen anyone else doing it this way (nor met anyone else who has either). Who knows? There may very well be a club with 10,000 members dedicated to this style of fishing.
Give it a try! Once you master casting (a bit unwieldy at first but you get the hang of it quickly) you may find you like it.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc01.jpg
Here's a shot of a 20-inch walleye coming to boat.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc02.jpg
About an 18 inch largemouth.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc04.jpg
Here is me shamelessly copying my brother--horsed this one out of deep weeds with a tube grub. I use a Pinnacle Dead Bolt on mine because, unlike my brother, I trust my drag.
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?marc03.jpg
Any for you pond skippers, you can swap out for a smaller reel with some four-pound test and fish for bluegills. My brother took my daughter out for sunfish and they ended up getting a whole basket full of 8-10 inchers. She used a regular spinning reel, but my father bought her an 8-foot 1960s Shakespeare fiberglass fly rod and I am going to rig it out with a Mitchell 308 and let her use it for sunfish and small bass that can be caught out of local farm ponds. Should be a blast!
Pretty versatile technique, eh? Never claimed he invented the method, but I just don't see anyone else doing it with such a variety of game fish.
--Dr. Todd
http://www.whitefishpress.com/
http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/