Weekend Report

[MikeA]

It's tough right now on the fly. Water is gin clear and low. We had 10 fish follow Sat and despite spending 5 to 10 min working them boatside they wouldn't eat a fly. We did have one solid eat and a miss on Saturday. On Sunday there was a total of 13 follows with two of them solid eats. I've been working on a topwater recipe for a couple of years now and Sunday seemed like a good time to try it. Since the fish were half heartedly chasing our underwater presentations I decided to try to provoke an aggression strike with a big surface fly. It worked! I put the fly on and within 30 min I had the first hit and another much larger fish hit about 100 yards down river. When I say hit I don't mean like a boil under the fly... The kind of hit I'm talking about looked more like those videos of a Great White breaching out of the water after a fake seal being towed behind a boat. The fish had the fly engulfed both times as was evidenced by the teeth marks all over it but the hook gap wasn't wide enough to catch on the way out. I'll be working on that fly some more.  

It was a seriously great time despite no fish in the boat.

[fishfindergeneral]

That's great Mike. Love to see those top water blow ups... sounds like you're really on to something.

[Steve H]

Nice Mike, you guys are starting to dial it in.

[gaspergou]

That's simply awesome. I'm completely stunned at the possibility of toothy topwater in Feb; but I've never even thought to try until about May... I've got a couple ginormous tube-body poppers backed up with 6/0 Gamas, as well as a 6/0 Pole Dancer-type critter  that might get wet ASAP... will let you know if it works.

My boat trailer lights crapped out on Friday, so I picked up a set of spiffy new LED lights on Sat and wired them into the existing wiring that night. Got too dark to see before I tested them, and all I did was connect +/- and grounds, so no reason WHATSOEVER there should be a problem, right? Got a slow start Sunday morning, loaded the truck and tested the lights. Nada. No running, no turn signals, no brake. Got out the multimeter and checked the trailer connection; zip on the vehicle-side flat connector so swapped that out. Now nothing worked except the right running light; no turns, no brakes. Why would one side work and not the other? Hmm... When wires swapped, brake lights worked (but no running or turns)... I figured that was better than nothing,until I got in, went to start the vehicle, and nothing. Shorted out. Deploying the most effective tool in this situation -- a steady stream of expletives -- I went inside and grabbed a beer. Noon in the Atlantic Time Zone? Hmm, maybe Iceland. Managed to scavenge the appropriate fuses, reconnect the battery, and got the vehicle started. Abandoned the boat, threw the canoe on the rack and headed north... Rumors of jumbo walleye staging for the spawn and some big muskies mixed in (munching on Waldo?) set me on a short detour... maybe they're there, maybe not. Several hours of tossing everything from partial yak carcasses to glide baits to small clousers resulted in one puny rockbass and a couple bluegill. Moral of the story? Focus and don't listen to rumors... Four more hours spent trying to get the lights working this afternoon -- and still no progress. Will get back on the water one way or another real soon, even if it requires sacrifices of bourbon to the trailer gods... 

[jarrod white]

I promise that a couple of bourbon sacrifices will have the lights working in no time, and if not, you won't really care 

               JW

[TWiles]

Musky Hookup on Topwater!!?  That's what flyfishing dreams/nightmares are made of .  After seeing Crystal's buzzbait get swallowed by the New River a few falls ago on a hellacious bite...I've worked my arse off trying to get that same thrill again.  Like Gaspergou said, I wouldn't have expected it during the cold months...but who would know if no one ever tries it.

Mike, I hope you get a repeat experience..with a 6-0 or 8-0 hook this time.  Remember, they're known for attacking the head of the bait.

TW

[jarrod white]

it was an amazing site for sure, I happened to look over my shoulder on the second event and got to witness the whole thing first hand

               JW

[gaspergou]

Good day  today-- you were right. Wow. I'm still wearing an ear-to-ear grin...

[MikeA]

Topwater?

[gaspergou]

Yup. One ridiculous explosion and a very nice fish missed, it hit as soon as the popper touched down -- I must have dropped it on its snout. A 38 on the popper a bit later, and its identical twin about an hour later on a black/blue streamer. 

[MikeA]

You nailed it weather wise too. Perfect timing before this front. Wish I could have been there! Congrats.

[jarrod white]

Congrats, and yes I knew today was good too as I saw all the wildlife around the farm putting the feed bag on 

                         JW

[twohicks]

I can relate to a little top water action in Feb.  Plum forgot that a few years back, me and a friend(now decesed)  was tossing redfins on C.H. the 1st of January during a warm rain.  We were back in a creek arm and missed 3 fish that bew up as we made a "v" in the water.  Yes, they were all Musky's and they were all over dem fins.  You can never predict exactly what a musky will do.  When you think you got em figured out, they throw you a knuckle curve.  Yall may be on to something.  Time to break out my "spook"?!

T.H's.