Fishing Forum

A little helping hand here...to get these great pics and post up for Lundman.

Polokid and I hit Deer Creek Tuesday evening. Since the main ramp is closed and road construction delayed us for 30 minutes we didn't start fishing till 6:30 and the recreational folks were out in full force.
First trolled to the opposite side caught two small walleyes and released them both. Then when we made the turn I get another fish on and reel in. Only this time I have had two small mouth bass on the same lure, at the same time - trolling. I had to take a picture because even for me it was a little hard to believe.





[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The rest of the evening was trout hitting my walleye lures - yes, we picked up 3 brown trout and 3 bows all in the 17" to 19" range - then a couple more cigar walleyes. Then finally right before we were leaving I caught one eye that was about 18".
Overall Polokid & I caught about 10 fish and kept 4 - Three nice trout and the eye.
Below is a picture of an eye we caught last Sunday - it was a nice 25 incher....[/size][/font]


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Just wondering if you have any advice for someone who wants to fly fish for eyes?

Trent
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[cool]That was a short question, but there ain't a good short answer. The simple response is that walleyes are very susceptible to flies...but not size 20 emergers. They want meat. Think heavily dressed streamers and wooly buggers in four or five inch lengths.

The current low water situation makes all of my past experience pretty well obsolete for present application. But, I will share what I have found in the past and you can try to apply it where you can.

First, do not think walleye on flies in deep water. That means you will do better in the spring and fall, when they are near shore and in less than eight or ten feet of water. Otherwise, you need high density full sinking line and more trolling than casting.

For most walleye on the fly situations, you should use a minimum of a six weight outfit. An eight is better, for throwing the heavier lines required to handle the bigger flies. You can land any walleye in Utah on a six weight, but you will beat yourself to death trying to punch out casts with big flies, especially if there is wind involved. And walleyes bite better when there is at least a "fishing riffle" on the water. If you can find waves and muddy water on the windward shoreline, so much the better.

Don't worry about long tapered leaders. Six feet of good six pound mono will work, although you can turn the leader over better with a couple of stepped down sizes ahead of a two foot tippet.

Colors? In my wooly buggers I use about 4 main colors...black, white, chartreuse and purple. Purple? Yep. One of the most overlooked walleye colors there is. In streamers...to imitate shad, baby carp, white bass, perch or sunfish...add some flashes of silver or gold. A wisp of bright red or orange in the tail is sometimes a nice touch too.

Hook sizes? Think big. Smallest would be a size 2. Biggest might be a long shanked 3/0 forged hook. Keep the points sharp and touch them up once in awhile, especially when ticking the rocks...as you should be.

If I know I will be fishing in waters with a lot of rocks and/or stickups, I will tie up some flies with mono weed guards. I have attached a diagram at the bottom. If you use a good stiff mono loop from the eye around behind the hook, you can snake the flies through the nastiest reeds and rocks...but when a wallie munches it, the hooks will do their job.

In the shallow waters around Lincoln Beach, and other spots on Utah Lake, you can use a sink tip line and not weight the flies. I prefer an almost neutral buoyancy in the fly, and often the strike comes while it is motionsless or slowly sinking. For probing deeper, like around the rocks at Willard, you might want to throw a full sinking line...or troll from your float tube using the sinking line.

Retrieves can vary from short stripping movements to using the rod to do a slow sweep...either to the side or upward...with a "shivver lift", like fishing a damsel nymph on Henry's Lake.

During the month of June, at the mouth of the Jordan River (in years when they do not have it dammed off), the big post-spawn female walleyes stack up to intercept small white bass and mud cats being sucked out of the lake and down the river. They absolutely pound big black marabou jigs, so I tried fishing them with a steelhead shooting head and black wooly buggers...cast upstream and allowed to swim naturally downstream. The result was probably one of the largest catches of walleyes on flies...ever. I released over twenty large 'eyes and kept what was a limit in the seventies...of six fish. The largest was over 10 pounds.

I have done quite well on Willard with lighter colored flies...white wooly buggers and streamers, blue-backed "over and under" shad flies, and yellow or chartreuse with a red heed. Oh yeah, they work best for walleyes when you can keep the pesky cats and wipers from intercepting them.

I got into 'eyes on flies only once on Yuba. During the pre spawn period, right after iceout, I fished a couple of little coves and points around the narrows with a black wooly bugger with a chartreuse marabou tail. That combo had been working in plastics, so I tried the flies and they worked well too. The rest of the year the fish were generally too deep for effective fly fishing.

Deer Creek is tough enough to fish with worm harness, jigs and all the other standard walleye stuff. However, I have taken 'eyes from Deer Creek on flies...but only while deep trolling flies for big browns...on spinning gear and a section of lead core line.

I'll finish with another short statement. If you can find the walleye, in fishable water, they will hit flies as well as anything...if not better.
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Sounds Like i need to get a boat. Or would it be possible to do this from a float tube

Trent
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[cool]That's all I use...and all you need to reach lots of walleyes. It is possible to take a fair number of walleyes from shore, or while wading, but tubing lets you work a lot more water a lot more effectively. The fish in that pic in my last post were taken from a tube, as are pics of hundreds more...including my biggest, a 12 pound pig from American Fork Boat Harbor.

If budget is a concern, you can pick up a complete setup...tube, waders, boots, fins, sonar and everything...for about one monthly payment on a super boat. Once you have your tube setup, there are no insurance and maintenance costs, no trailer problems, no burnt out lights to get you a ticket and no winterizing. Fuel costs are low too, and you don't have to worry about getting in and out of the marina during low water.

The main problem with getting a float tube, rather than a boat, is the speed and range. You can't tow a water skier and you can't run clear across Willard and back...just to see who's fishing the other side and how they are doing.

Let me know if you start thinking seriously, and come on over and visit us on the float tubing board.
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Cost isn't too much of a concer becase I work in a fly shop Hooked fishing tackle. So that o.k. I do have the set up. A nice fish cat 4 those things are a riot.

Trent
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[cool]Yeah, I do reviews on different equipment over on the float tube forum. I went all the way and bought the Super Fat Cat....at $369. But from what I can tell, the lower priced Fish Cat has most of the same positives of the higher priced model. I have especially appreciated the big pockets, and the way the pointed bow handles wind and waves.

Saddle up that pussycat and go wave your fairy wand at those walleyes.

By the way, I knew you worked at HFT. Great store. I have been trading PMs with James about setting up some lure making seminars when I get back up there. Some basic "tube-ology" stuff might be good too.
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It was a good time on Deer Creek with Lundman like it always is!!!! I was laughing at the two smallies one lure trick!!! And amazed at catching rainbows and browns as consistantly as we were!!!! \

TubeDude, always a bounty of information, I definitely take notes, I am almost sure there will be a quiz when you get back up to utah. So studying as much as possible at least 2-3 times a week. Any hints on what needs more needs to be studied?????
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[cool]Hey, PK, always happy to chip in where I can. Sounds like a good trip.

I do not assign reading and homework. Everything is now on-the-water research and lab work. Learn by doing...but always be a student and never think you know it all. I learned a long time ago that just about the time I started to get cocky and think I had it all worked out, that the fishies would find some way to remind me that I did not. I get humbled on a regular basis.

As I like to put it, I don't know all the answers, but I sure as heck know a lot of questions.

Something I heard a long time ago makes sense to me. That is that the most important thing you can learn about anything new is not so much the exact formula for every subtle aspect...but HOW TO "THINK" IT. Fishing is a lot like computers. It is almost impossible to know everything there is to know about the subject. But, once you learn the basics and the way things work, you can usually work your way through most situations.

So, keep on inputting data and don't crash your hard drive. No tests at the end of the course...because the course never ends. And, like many other things in life, the journey is its own reward.

Now, if that ain't profound enough for ya, you're on your own. Time to go fishing.
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