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SIZE.—The size of this fish varies according to the locality and the time spent in the sea as well as the food conditions. Some streams produce fish that grow larger than others even though their ages are identical. The average size is about ten pounds and many are caught that weigh from twenty to thirty […]
The Muskellunge (Esox obiensis)
ORIGINAL HABITAT.—The muskellunge, often called the tiger of the fresh waters, is a Northern fish, inhabiting the waters of Canada, the upper Mississippi watershed, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, and the Great Lakes territory. PRESENT RANGE.—Its range has not changed very much over a […]
I have kept, for many years, a consensus record on some of the much discussed qualities of the various trouts as expounded by writers in both books and magazine articles. It is just one of those things that neither you or I can argue with. I don’t say that I concur entirely with what the […]
Generally trout, if feeding, have a one track mind—they relish one course at a time. When nymph feeding they indulge until somewhat gorged (providing food is ample) then take to the fly on the surface. Expecting trout to come to your floating fly when they’re concentrating on underwater feeding is the equivalent of you eating […]
Temperature of the water, I believe, has much to do with the trout’s activity as it concerns the fisherman. Too cold or too warm reacts on fish just as on animals and man. The main four trout species vary, too, in their comfort requirements. The brook trout’s comfort range is when the water is between […]
WHETHER CALLED formality, good form, civility, etiquette, manners, courtesy, or ethics, one could fill a modest volume on things one should or shouldn’t do in the opinion of real sportsmen if one wished to be regarded, himself, as a sportsman or just a real man on the stream. I could plead that you do not […]
Consider your net as a necessary adjunct or tool to use in preference to your hands, as a device or implement to assist you in safely landing your trout and then in handling him with the mesh between your hand and the fish whether it is your intent to release him or kill him.
If beaching […]
OVER HALF the trout you catch, deliberately but certainly not intentionally, hook themselves. You can take the credit should you wish because your listener believes you, as all anglers are traditionally truthful. Aren’t they? The hooked trout, those which might have again become free agents and in which you had a finger in snaring, were […]
There are three distinct phases of fly fishing:1—Dry or floating fly. 2—Wet fly and streamer. 3–Nymph and Larvae.
Dry fly fishing is the easiest insofar as performance is concerned. Successful results is another factor. Nymph fishing enacted properly is the most difficult of the three and requires the most knowledge and know how. Wet fly fishing […]
Never underestimate the instincts (or intelligence) of a wild trout. It can completely upset the studied theories of the most experienced of us. Without conscience, the trout is capricious, fickle, inconstant, fitful, crotchety, fanciful, eccentric,whimsical, variable, irritating, frustrating and as changeableas the mind of our loved ones, the feminine gender. He does the unexpected under […]
Now that we realize how important underwater aquatic insects are to trout, let’s go back to our wet fly fishing—with an added respect for our wet flies and nymphs. In the early years of wet fly fishing, three flies were used on each leader. In
modern fly fishing, most wet fly anglers now use only one. […]
Many times, bonefishermen working the banks in Florida Bay will see schools of tarpon circling or just lying still in the great holes that arc spotted like lakes through the banks. Here, where the water is seven or eight feet deep, is another ideal spot for baby tarpon, and it is much easier to land […]
Cast your wet fly out and then let it sink well down towards the bottom. If the bottom is sand or gravel, let it go clear to the bottom. If there are too many weeds, you’ll have to count until the wet fly is about a foot above the weeds or obstructions, then start your […]
Worms, medium sized ones of the light colored variety, are the traditional and most consistently successful live bait for panfish, although small minnows, crickets, small crawfish, hellgramites, weed worms and many other live baits are also good. Use a 7 ft. to 9 ft. leader, tapered from .015 to 2 X (.008 inches diameter), with […]
There are many days during the summer, in late July and August, when bass and the other chief game fish have gone to very deep water and are gorged and resting. During these warm summer days—and in the heavily fished resort areas, or close to our cities—only really expert anglers can get bass. Sometimes nobody […]
More American anglers fish for Large-mouth bass than for any other fish. From this standpoint the Large-mouth is the All American game fish. Certainly his adaptability to many waters and conditions, his willingness to take all kinds of artificial flies and lures, as well as live bait, and his gameness when hooked justify the American […]
These beautiful and gamy fish are only found in a few lakes, and in still fewer streams, in Maine, the Northern New England states and Eastern Canada, especially Quebec.
In the summer, when the water temperature gets above 48°, Land-locked salmon retire to the deep water of the lakes they live in. There you can only […]
Fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon in America is now pretty much restricted to a very few streams in Maine, and to the rivers of the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada and Newfoundland. Only a very small percentage of American anglers have a chance to cast a fly for this great game fish; but for those […]
Brook trout, Rainbows and Cutthroats thrive in cold water lakes where there is a satisfactory amount of dissolved oxygen in the water (above 3 parts of oxygen per million of water) and where the food supply is good.
In the East this usually means small lakes and ponds. In the West, most of this type of […]
Landlocked Salmon are the same species as the Atlantic salmon, but have either become area bound without access to the sea, or have lost the migratory urge which makes the Atlantic salmon perform his phenomenal ocean to river migration.
The landlocked are both limited and widespread in habitat, as they have been planted in many lakes […]
Probably more words have been written about the largemouth black bass than about any other fish, except, perhaps, the trout. It’s not because they are harder to make hit, or that they wage a tougher fight, or that they jump higher, or bore deeper, or shake their heads more than others. It’s because of two […]
Two of the best smallmouths I’ve ever caught came to big poppers. One was taken from an Ontario lake only a few acres in size, one evening when I dropped a yellow popping bug on the mirrored surface and popped it only once. While the tiny waves were just starting to roll out from it. […]
Weather lake or river dwellers small-mouth and largemouth black bass are great fly rod fish, mostly because they feed on so many different forms of life that can readily be matched with artificials. And they have such tremendous appetites that while they may sometimes get selective and go for one dish only, they can still […]
Throughout history, Fly Fishing has remained the peak of the angler’s art. Other weapons of attack on dwellers of lake and stream and ocean may come and go, but when a man has tried every one, if he is a philosopher at all, he will come back to the fly rod. For the light wand […]
Whats fly Fishing?
When fly fishing the fish are not caught by traditional means, instead artificial flies are cast with a fly fishing rod and reel. The line used should be heavy enough so when you cast the fly will be near its target. Artificial flies vary in weight and size depending on the […]
