Are there any fly fishers on this site?

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fly flinger

Member
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Apr 29, 2011
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Location
Whitefish, MT
Hi guys,
great forum, I've already learned a ton from the week's worth of lurking here. It's funny, as I was doing research on what kind of boat I was really wanting, on other forums I would read comments like "You should really be looking over at "tinboats". They're absolutely right.
I'm a fly fisher, always have been, and haven't casted anything but a flyrod. Not because I am a snob (I hope) but because I couldn't pick out a spinning reel from a casting reel (and yet I feel clever knowing there is a difference). Recently I've been wanting to catch some toothier critters than trout around here, and I'm lucky enough to live in the area of Montana that produces plenty of pike (and bass). After a few years of chasing them with a driftboat, I finally moved on and purchased a powered jon boat. Now I can crawl up the lower river and fish the sloughs and local lakes.
I've done a little searching on the forum, but I am wondering if there are any other fly fishermen on the forum. It seems to me that decking the boat is the no-brainer approach to flyfishing from a jon boat. But are there any other ideas I should consider?
Thanks for having me. This is a great forum with a lot of helpful advice.
Dave
 
fly flinger said:
Hi guys,
great forum, I've already learned a ton from the week's worth of lurking here. It's funny, as I was doing research on what kind of boat I was really wanting, on other forums I would read comments like "You should really be looking over at "tinboats". They're absolutely right.
I'm a fly fisher, always have been, and haven't casted anything but a flyrod. Not because I am a snob (I hope) but because I couldn't pick out a spinning reel from a casting reel (and yet I feel clever knowing there is a difference). Recently I've been wanting to catch some toothier critters than trout around here, and I'm lucky enough to live in the area of Montana that produces plenty of pike (and bass). After a few years of chasing them with a driftboat, I finally moved on and purchased a powered jon boat. Now I can crawl up the lower river and fish the sloughs and local lakes.
I've done a little searching on the forum, but I am wondering if there are any other fly fishermen on the forum. It seems to me that decking the boat is the no-brainer approach to flyfishing from a jon boat. But are there any other ideas I should consider?
Thanks for having me. This is a great forum with a lot of helpful advice.
Dave

Welcome aboard fly flinger, I note that your comment about other forums suggesting you look at TinBoats is one of the best compliments and credit to Jim & Tinboats I have heard to date. Our members are well aware of the quality of this site - wonderful to hear other sites are touting TinBoats as well :) :) =D>
 
:WELCOME:

Thanks for joining! There are a few fly fisherman here and I am hoping they see this post and respond. It would be nice to have a bunch of fly fisherman on board.
 
I fly fish, but I limit most of my use of the fly rod to Minnesota's trout streams. I have done some fly fishing for smallmouth from a canoe in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I've considered Chasing largemouth and pike with the fly rod, but I feel other methods are more productive most of the time.
 
I've fly fished, but mostly in streams. I participated in some other sites.

One fly fishing hint that makes a LOT of sense, when FF from a boat..is to cover your trolling motor; cleats and other grabby things.... with a wet towel. It prevents the fly line from catching up on those items. Sounds like a good idea to me.
regards, Rich
 
I trout fish with one and dabble a bit with the smallies during the later months.
I've been trying chain pickerel as well and loosing alot of flies I might add.
Bought some 40lbs leader fluro and going to try that as a short tippet for them.I'll be interested in seing what you might use for them toothy pike....welcome to the site
 
i fly fish almost exsclusively now.im not a snob,but i find flyfishing way more challenging than baitcasting (which i also do in the hot summer weather) and there is nothing like a steelhead on the fly.this year is a pink salmon year.i cant wait for that! i really think that if you match the hatch,you can/will have outstanding 20/30 fish days. up here we have several fly fish only,catch and release lakes that have 5lb.+ rainbow trout that will convert anyone,guaranteed.
 
richg99, that makes a lot of sense about covering up the trolling motor with the wet towel. That will definitely be the trick in outfitting this boat: getting rid of anything that catches fly line. Even in a driftboat, if there's the smallest thing to catch a line, it'll find it (like the pull tab on your PBR).

My set up for pike is an 8 weight rod and I use 6" of steel leader (although I am switching over to Cabela's titanium leader this year). Flies are usually 6 or 8 inches long, big and fluffy, and I like bright yellow for the water around here.

Once I get my boat out, maybe I can post more re: the fly fishing perspective. Although I do look forward to reading and learning more about conventional gear. Maybe someday I will get myself geared up with a spinning rod, too.

This is a picture of the current setup I have.
It's a Watermaster kickboat. It's like a raft with a bench in the middle and a hole in the front floor where my feet hang down. With fins, I can putter around pretty effortlessly (although very slowly) and I also have a 30# trolling motor. It's incredible how closely I can sneak up on fish with it. But it sucks at getting me very far from a lake's boat-ramp, so that's why I bought the jon. The pike you see there swam by me at rod's length. I actually had to wait for him to swim away from me before I could make a cast he was so close! And man, did he ever u-turn for that big bunny fly! That's a pretty average size pike for around here. My goal is a 20+ pounder this year. We also have a lake nearby that has tiger muskie, and that's another goal of mine.

Anyways, thanks for the welcomes! I think I will be picking up the boat this weekend. It's a 14' Alumacraft welded Jon boat with a mercury 2stroke 10 hp. She'll be called the "Slough Slayah!"
 

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Nice pike, especially on a fly rod. Wouldn't want him/her flopping around in an inflatable boat with me in it...though..Ha !

I hadn't given much thought to fly rodding for pike, though the lake I fish the most on, during the summer, has plenty of them, plus some muskies.

Guess I will pack my 8 wt for the trip. I have a nice 6 wt that hasn't been used in years. Might as well bring it along, too. Thanks for posting.
regards, rich
 
as said above smooth no catch decks are the key. ive fly fished from boats with snags it makes it less enjoyable. if you get a narrower boat that is less sturdy outriggers coul be nice.

if you tie your own a little fly tieing station in the boat would be cool.
 
I purchased a fly rod a couple of years back to learn how. I use it for the bream around these parts. I would love to try my hand in one of the streams in the northwest. I tinker with it a lot and I am getting better at casting. I do wear sunglasses while casting because I am not to keen on the thought of a hook zipping past my head like that. It is fun but I am probably doing it all wrong. I never had any formal instruction on fly casting.
 
Two of my best fishing buddies are die-hard fly fishers. They keep trying to entice me over to the "dark side" but so far I have been able to resist!
 
Some day, probably after I retire....I willl fly fish also.

But, up to this point in my life....I've never fished for a fly. :LOL2:
 
I flyfish for bass, although I catch more bream (about 10 to 1). When I do hook the occassional bass it is a real treat.

Ken
 
fender66 said:
Some day, probably after I retire....I willl fly fish also.

But, up to this point in my life....I've never fished for a fly. :LOL2:
Don't wait to long,smallies or any fish on the fly makes a great fight.
I almost always carry one,may not always use it but when the wind dies down and their taking surface flies,it can be a real blast.
 
I don't fly-fish from the boat. I do wade streams for trout and wouldn't miss fly-fishing for smallies on the New River during the summer.
 
Well I got my boat out for the first time today. I was really impressed. It's an Alumacraft 1448, maybe 9 years old, with an 80's 9.9 Mariner and a 30# transom trolling motor. The guy I bought her from had nothing but good things to say about the engine's power, but I was kinda skeptical about such a small motor. But I was wrong, she hauled *** across this lake, even into the wind.
Unfortunately, here in Montana, it's still winter, cold, and I got snowed on for a bit. So where I found smallies bedding up this time last year, there were none today. This lake also has tiger muskies that were planted six years ago and they should be of legal size this year. But no sign of them either. As for flyfishing from the boat, I struggled a bit minding the motor and my rod at the same time. I'm gonna have to experiment with wind anchors a bit, and eventually get a bow-mount. But right now I am SO ready for warm weather.
Although, two weeks ago I was in Mexico catching bonefish on the fly in 80 degree weather. So I shouldn't complain. :wink:
 
Ahhhh bonefish...nothing pulls harder, pound for pound, IMHO.

re handling the boat/motor and Trolling motor and trying to fish at the same time....

One thing that some guys have done is add a foot-switch (Big Foot or similar) onto the trolling motor's leads. Once you set the direction of the TM; and set the speed (usually slow)...you can just "bump" the boat along.

You can also flip a movable bar on the Big Foot and let the TM just putt along on its own, with only the steering to be attended to.

regards, Rich

https://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=big+foot+trolling+motor+switch&um=1&ie=UTF-

images
 
BaitCaster said:
Two of my best fishing buddies are die-hard fly fishers. They keep trying to entice me over to the "dark side" but so far I have been able to resist!
YOU SHOULD TRY IT I WAS THE SAME WAY, I CAUGHT THE BUG AND WAS A PERIOD OF ABOUT 6 YRS ALL I DID WAS FLY FISH I PULL IT OUT EVERY NOW AND THEN, BUT OHIO SUCKS FOR FLY FISHING NO TROUT BARELY ANY PIKE, WE HAVE STEELHEAD BUT I HATE FIGHTING FOR A SPOT TO FISH, PANFISH IS ABOUT ALL WE GOT FOR FLY FISHIN!!, NEVER WAS A BIG FLY GUY FOR BASS.
 

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