Well, last week wrapped up the fall streamer night fishing season. This year was an odd one. I believe the conditions weren’t as favorable as seasons past due to odd generation times, and a warm spell that lasted late into the fall. Still, I feel there were numerous occaisions where we had gulps and grabs from fish over 10 lbs where we couldn’t achieve the crucial hookup (which really sucks as you’re staring at a bucket sized toilet bowl flush in the river glare where your fly was being stripped.). I’ve never missed more fish in a season than this one, using patterns which have worked well before. My buddy John came to the rescue with a stinger hook rigging that saved the day on my last outing. We both tied the practically the same flies, but his had a wider tail, and an exposed hook that wouldn’t foul–and his flies were just better at getting fish to the boat. When I modified my older flies to match his....BOOM Problem solved, fish hooked . My last night I landed about 10 fish, but unfortunately, none of them were the big boys that have eluded us. It’s still reassuring that there is a healthy population of 14"and 16" fish, because on a few outings, we found several of them.
Will probably have to wait until March or April for clear skies, and tolerable temps....but then again, that’swhen the walleye start going nuts....
Getting Fueled up:
J4 with a healthy brown:
Plenty of these guys in the river:
Stayed past sunrise to land one of the larger frequently missed fish:
