Hey everybody,
I am a novice fly fisherman at best, but I do have enough experience on our rivers here to at least catch some fish when I go out. I recently bought a fishing pontoon and I'd love to catch some fish with my fly rod from my pontoon... That being said, I have no idea what to do. Do I need sinking line to have any chance at all? What type of flies should I use? Dry flies? Nymphs?
Really any help at all here would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance for any response.
[signature]
Streamers with floating line or sinking line is what I usually use while toon fly flinging. When the dry action is on I wouldn't pass that up. Nymphs while chasing panfish on the toon seems to work well for me too.
Areas I would target on a toon would be the inlets, outlets, and just out of reach of the shore fisherman.[
]
[signature]
Thank you very much for that. When you use the streamers how big do you use? Also do you retrieve them, drag them, let them sit? I don't know the first thing about using streamers.
[signature]
Welcome to the world of tubing/tooning with a fly rod.
It can be a little intimidating at first because
1- your not sure where to find the fish.
2- your not sure what to use.
That being said, almost all of the fish that I catch on stillwater is with some type of sinking line. You can catch some on the surface with floating or intermediate lines but if you are going with the odds, get the fly down. Buggers and leech patterns are a good place to start in sizes 4-10 in black, olive, Canada blood, and brown.
It's like anything else, put in your time and you will get good at fooling some fish.[
]
Good Luck!
[signature]
If you scroll and search this forum and the float tubing forum here, you'll find literally volumes of information about fly fishing the lakes, and fly fishing from tubes and toons. I mean, days worth of reading.
As for a
in cheek response, I always approach lakes this way: Go to the lake, find where the river comes in, and fish the river![laugh]
But really, just what Flygoddess alone has posted over the years will keep you going for a long time, plus what others post. Look for patterns, ideas that are repeated.
[signature]
Choronimid fishing... look up Flygoddess's posts. It will answer any questions you have about it
[signature]
Thank you all for the information and advice. I'll definitely be doing some reading [
]
[signature]
[#0000FF]As a tuber-tooner I say welcome to the dark side. Once you get the hang of navigating your new ride you will wonder how you ever got along without it. You will have to learn how to cast while sitting low to the water...but higher in a toon than a tube. That usually means you will do better with a longer rod...or a shorter cast. And fishing in stealth mode from your toon you will be able to work in closer to the fish and not have to go for a distance casting trophy.
As far as fly patterns, there are a few "standards". But you should first spend some time learning the specific waters you wish to fish...and how they change ecologically through the different seasons. What the fish feed on in early spring...and summer...and fall into winter might be widely different in size, color and location in the water column. That requires a good knowledge of line types and how to change lines to present your flies at the right depth...and at the right speed.
You also need to learn your targeted fish species and how they vary in different waters and under different conditions. The fish of one species may feed and act differently in different lakes...or even in the same lake at different times of year and under different conditions of temperature, depth and clarity.
Best case scenario is that you will be able to take a very few selected flies and catch fish on them on most waters. The reality is that you can spend a lifetime studying this sport and every day you realize just how much you don't know. But the journey makes for a lot of fun and every little success only adds to the total enjoyment.
Take advantage of any opportunity you get to look into the fly boxes of others...and to join them on the water for some personal instruction. Then visit a few tackle purveyors that have good fly fishing departments...with KNOWLEDGEABLE staff. Look at the fly patterns and size ranges...and ask questions. The better shops are usually happy to help guide newbies along the path of enlightenment. But be prepared to make at least a few small purchases to show your gratitude.
Lastly, take advantage of the internet. There are countless videos showing everything from tying various fly patterns to fishing them to proper casting techniques. Also plenty of stuff on fly fishing from a toon.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]