It's Just a Baby

The rain was coming down this morning when we left our cabin to chase the fish around. Not only that, it was cold and windy. Put those ingredients together at the latitude of northern Saskatchewan and you have a very nasty day for fishing. We rented two boats from Thompson Camp and headed out on Otter Lake. Otter Lake is actually an over swollen part of the Churchill River. On the map, Otter Lake looks to be about fifteen miles long and eight miles wide in some places. There are hundreds of islands and you could get lost quick. We weren’t too worried as we purchased a good map and had our GPS.

Even with the rain coming down we were comfortable, completely dressed in warm clothes and waders with rain jackets. We were also as pumped as you could be. Our main target today were big pike. Having the opportunity to fish for big pike doesn’t come often for we Rocky Mountain folks. The first place we stopped proved we were going to catch fish. We must have caught twenty small pike. Place after place we caught fish. Finally I stumbled into a decent pike by most standards, a fish of 6lbs, but for the locals it’s a baby.

The highlight of the day was hitting a favorite walleye area on the lake. The dude who rented us the boats recommended we try a particular spot. I was fishing with Bill and when we pulled up to this spot, Chris and Steve were already there anchored. They were jigging for the walleye and were excited to say they caught several. This was good news because despite being serious “catch and release guys”, fresh walleye for dinner was on the menu. I purposely brought along my 6-weight Ross rod and a Rio Type 3 sinking line just for the walleyes. I strung her up and on my first cast landed a gorgeous walleye. I released the fish and two casts later landed another. To make a longs story short I went on to land eleven in less than an hour. The fly performed better than jigging by far which is very unusual.

It was a great day to start the trip. The best part is we ended the day with sunshine and no wind. Perhaps our weather took a turn for the good. Tomorrow we will relax in the morning then drive two hours north to the small town of Southend on Reindeer Lake. At 4 pm we will catch a sea plane to Pagota Lake and spend the next four days. Because we will be so far in the backcountry, this will be the last report till we get out. Be ready for some exciting entries and photos in a week!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Radioactive Fish

In January it was announced that the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant leaked radioactive substances into the Connecticut River (see image above). Recently, a yellow perch was caught for miles upstream and tested positive for the radioactive strontium-90. This isotope has been linked with bone cancer and leukemia, and was found 100 times above the federal Environmental Protection Agencies limit for safe drinking water. Despite this health officials say there is no reason for alarm and that people should not limit their fish intake. Hmmmm.

Scorpionfish vs Octopus - who will win?

Yellow Stone On Brown Gill Plate

I've been busy all weekend with work and unable to enjoy the holiday so I've got nothing interesting to add just to wish all a good Monday. Hopefully come Tue or Wed I'll be able to post a few fish - real ones - and a good trout report. Cheers.

Let the Pike Games Begin

30 hours after Victor I find myself in Missinipe, Saskatchewan. I’m with good friend Chris Hart and his friend Steve Bjorklund and his friend Bill Wilshire, these guys are all from Bozeman, Montana. All I can say is it was a long drive. I left Victor at noon yesterday. Once I got to Chris’s house we immediately left and picked up the other guys and drove to Malta, Montana. We crossed into Canada early this morning and drove for ten hours to where we are now.

I’m living up to my nickname, “Monsoon Currier”, the weather is for the ducks. The good news is that it is supposed to improve all week. If you look at a map of Saskatchewan, we are about fifty miles north of the small town of La Ronge, Saskatchewan (look northeast). We are going to stay at this place called Thompsons Lodge on Otter Lake for two nights and tomorrow toss flies for pike and walleye. On Tue., we will drive further north to the small town of Southend, Saskatchewan on Reindeer Lake and fly into an outpost lake called Pagota Lake.

I don’t know how often I’ll be reporting while on this trip but I’ll do my best. If I fall behind I’ll catch up when I get home. Keep and eye for some exciting reports and photos and tips on catching pike and walleye on the fly.

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Simple Hares Ear SH Emerger

Got the spring FlyRod & Reel magazine the other day from a news stand and was impressed by the new take on streamer patterns. Feathers and rabbit strips with a lot of weight. Looks good and easy to tie. I realy took notice of the rabbit-strip jiggy and the kickin' chick'n. Big browns watch out.

Yao Ming: Shark Fin Soup

Vertical Migration: A Hunting Tactic of the Blue Shark

The blue shark, Prionace glauca, is a common species found throughout tropical and temperate oceans. This shark is often considered to be a surface dwelling fish of the open sea, but it is also commonly found in the dark waters of the continental shelf, swimming into the sunless depths. In this study acoustic telemetry was used to follow 22 blue sharks over the continental shelf and slope, between George's Bank and Cape Hatteras, in the North Atlantic, between 1979 and 1986.

One of the most interesting points of the paper was the authors explanation for their movement patterns. Sharks exhibited highly predictable vertical migrations over several hundred meters. Most sharks, including the blue shark, have strong chemosensory capabilities. In the ocean olfactory cues would be better distributed along the horizontal plane due to the current shear between layers of differing density. Thus, an olfactory stimulus will spread as a radiating disk. By moving vertically through the ocean the sharks would significantly increase the odds of encountering such an odour trace and this is what was observed.

Carey, F., Scharold, J., & Kalmijn, A. (1990). Movements of blue sharks (Prionace glauca) in depth and course Marine Biology, 106 (3), 329-342 DOI: 10.1007/BF01344309

CDC Ant

Nothing to add today, just a little ant. Have a good Saturday.

Three Midges

Here are three Midges I did in pencil and pen/ink.  As the holiday weekend approaches I want to send out a big thanks for all those who have put there lives on the line for this country. Without you we would not enjoy the freedoms we now enjoy. Job well done!

Also if you get a chance, check out troutrageous.blogspot.com and his June contest. Of course if you don't I have a better chance to win. Good luck.

Time to Rest the Casting Arm

It’s prime time to visit Yellowstone National Park if you want a chance at seeing some bears. Each spring, Granny and I take a two day jaunt up to the park and try to see as much wildlife as possible. The park has few visitors this time of year making it a very enjoyable time to drive around at your own pace. Although any critter is fun to see, we love to watch the bears. Normally we do this trip the first week of May, but due to my fishing schedule we missed that window so we hit Yellowstone the last two days.

We got a late start on Tuesday morning which put us in the West Entrance at about noon, horribly late for searching for wildlife. We drove to Old Faithful and saw the usual, hundreds of elk and buffalo and a coyote. Then we backtracked north towards Mammoth and we saw a black bear just south of Twin Lakes. We borrowed a campsite at Mammoth Campground (they hate when you do this) and cooked up a quick lunch of dogs over a fire then started the slow drive to Lamar Valley, a top bear and wolf viewing area. All our usual bear hotspots let us down. We saw the complete opposite, relaxing elk, antelope, deer, bighorn sheep and bison. When these critters are resting so are the bears.

We drove out the North East Entrance of the park and past Silver Gate, MT and Cooke City, Montana and found a place at the base of Pilot Peak where we could camp and make dinner. We did this about 5 pm then headed back in the park. Unfortunately there was an accident just ten miles in and we spent an hour trapped until the wreckage was cleaned up. That gave us a late start on the evening bear search. Once cleared, we drove all the way to Slough Creek and nothing. It appeared things weren’t going to happen so we turned back to camp.

It was 8:30 pm when just south of the Yellowstone Institute we saw some panicking elk cows on a hillside with our naked eye. Out popped a charging black bear and the elk dispersed. They didn’t run far before turning and challenging the bear. Sure enough, these elk hid their calves in the area and the bear was there to steal one for dinner. This thrilling act of nature lasted only a minute before the large black bear found a calf and grabbed it by the head and ran for place to dine. The elk cows did their best to free the seized calf but were no match for the bear.

As if that wasn’t good enough for the weekend, ten minutes later with just enough light to see, we ran into a grizzly with two cubs in the meadow by Pebble Creek Campground. What a great day all packed into the last hour! We got up very early Wednesday to drive Lamar Valley before sunrise. As far as carnage goes, things were slow. However, we watched a large wolf approach and cross the road near Slough Creek Campground, some foxes, coyotes and spent an hour on a hillside observing a huge black bear eating grass in a damp field.

Yellowstone’s fishing season opens on Saturday on many of its rivers and lakes. My recommendation would be concentrate on the Firehole and the Madison Rivers. Although we couldn’t wet a line during our wildlife rendezvous this weekend, we certainly made a few stops along these rivers to observe a few fish rise to blue wing olives. Also keep in mind that the upper Henry’s Fork opens to fishing as well. This includes Box Canyon and Last Chance. I saw one large rainbow rise from the platform at the Last Chance parking lot. No matter where you choose, the fishing should be excellent for the openers. As for me, it’s big pike time!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Rainbow Trout & Softhackle

ORIGINAL SOLD - 5 x 7 PRINTS AVAILBLE

Here is a nice little 10x8 Rainbow Trout painting I did yesterday. I was at a loss for the type of fly to put on it and finally settled on a standard soft hackle. Of course, with the exception of the fly, the work is done in watercolor.
On the fishing front, I am looking forward to a trip up to WV for a morning fishing with my buddy from Killbillies Outdoors. He has promised to show me some good water and the weather looks great. Hopefully I'll be able to hook up with some nice fish and get some killer pics for this blog and future paintings. Also looking forward to trying out some flies Bigerrfish sent me. Look for the post in a week or so.
Also my favorite forum is back up after nearly a three week absence due to a bit of an infection. It got cold I guess but its fixed now...

Mullet

Not to be confused with the redneck version, this Mullet does have a business in the front and party in the back look to it. Also like its human counterpart, it does catch fish.

Beautiful Canada

One of the perks of fieldwork is driving through a new country and seeing the landscape as you check out field sites. I was lucky enough to do that last week hence the lack of posts lately. So I thought I would share some of the photos of my trip rather than write up a proper post. I was traveling around Newfoundland checking out turbid estuaries, of which there are apparently none!!!!

Red Humpy & Paypal Is Up

First,  here is a red humpy.  It's been a while since I've posted a dry fly and I particularly like the looks and fishing of this fly.  I used a toned down palette for this work instead of going brighter with the red and I like how it turned out.  It gives it a more aged, rustic look.

Next,
I finally added a paypal buy now button to the blog. For now I only got it up for prints of the Brookie & the Dolphin but will soon be adding an additional button for all 6x4 prints of any fly on this blog. Also my art website will be getting buttons for buying original paintings as well as prints. I hope that this makes the whole process easy and user friendly for those that have inquired into the process and prices for purchasing any of these pieces.

Thanks for the support.

A Snowy Fin Chaser Classic

May 20-23, 2010

I’m just back from the Fin Chasers Carp Classic VI Fly Fishing (Fun) Fundraiser held on Blackfoot Reservoir of South East Idaho. Each year this event raises money to help an angler, fishing guide or fly fishing industry worker in need. There are no cash prizes as all entry fees, raffle ticket purchases and donations go entirely to the one in need. This year it was for Peter and Lisa Holman’s three month old daughter Laney who needs a heart operation. Many fly fishing manufacturers and shops donated products to be given out as awards for good angling and prizes for raffle tickets. The event consisted of seventeen three person teams. This is the first time I attended as a competitor. My team included friends Trey Scharp and Ben Smith. The weather was forecasted to be horrific so we named our team “Could Be Worse” just for fun. At least that’s what we kept telling ourselves.

Although the contest occurred on Friday and Saturday, most contestants arrived Thursday. Ben Smith and I hit the shores of Blackfoot Reservoir around 4 pm to scope out the lake looking for the best place to fish. I’ve carp fished here many times; however, water levels are the highest in years. All my usual haunts were flooded and there were no signs of carp. That sent us driving all over and on several hikes scouting new water. Finally we found some free-jumping carp. With carp located we returned to event headquarters where we met up with Trey and camped with the other contestants.

Many of the contestants are friends whom I haven’t seen in months. Those I didn’t know are friends now. We shared stories, ate deer burgers and of course consumed numerous beverages. Although forecasted to be raining, we had mostly stars and temperatures in the upper 30’s. It was great fun. With doing well in the competition a priority, the “Could be Worse” boys retired before midnight for a good sleep.

I expected the bad weather to start during the night, but the sun rose and the lake was glass. King grebes, coots, pelicans and a variety of duck species squawked from shore to shore while the meadow larks and cranes echoed around camp. This gorgeous morning was bonus time as the weather was about to change fast. After a $5 all you can eat pancake breakfast (this money also donated to the cause) and a meeting about the rules of the tournament, contestants took off to their secret carp spots. Fishing would end at 5 pm.

It was a twenty minute drive on rough roads and through grain fields to our honey hole. As we drove across the last pasture, abusing our rigs all the way, we arrived where Ben and I saw carp the night before. Sure enough, as we slipped into our waders, the first carp left the water and crashed back in making us super psyched.

Our confidence didn’t last long. During the first two hours of fishing, none of us hooked a fish. The sunshine was replaced by drizzle and the calm turned to gale winds. By now, I was chest deep using the tail wind to get some long casts to free-jumping carp nearly out of range. I prefer sight fishing carp on shallow flats or grassy areas, but there was no chance to see one there in these windy sunless conditions. I crept one of my favorite carp flies, the rubber legs hare’s ear, along the bottom where the carp were splashing. I was just waiting for a grab, but nothing. Just as I began to shiver, I heard cheers from nearby as Trey hooked up.

Often times when you blind cast to leaping carp, you snag them. Snagging obviously doesn’t count for the tournament so when Trey saw his carp hooked in the mouth, he hollered in relief. If you haven’t caught carp on fly then you should. Carp put up a hellacious fight and after two runs into his backing, Trey finally bear hugged an 8lb mirror carp and proudly brought it ashore. We were on the boards!

It’s amazing how the shivers disappear when the confidence comes back. It was full fledged rain when Trey came over to tell me about his catch. He caught his fish slowly stripping a brown woolly bugger. I told him to try his bugger out with me and sure enough he hooked up with a beast. As his brute worked him in and out of his backing I tied on a brown flash-a-bugger.

In this competition each individual is allowed to enter only one fish. Although the team can turn in three, each individual must catch their own carp. So when Trey landed his second fish, he could not add it to our team total. Contestants can however, release their smaller ones and record their largest. Treys second carp was a dandy that we estimated at about 18lbs! Carp live out of water forever, so he released his 8lber without any problem. Now we were really on the board, but Ben and I had to catch a fish.

With water now dripping down my neck from rain smearing me in the face, and running down my arms while I cast, I hooked and landed my fish. It was by no means a monster, but it was a fish of about 10lbs. We had a team total of near 30lbs for the day, if Ben could add another we’d be sitting pretty. Surely, there would be many teams with no fish at all. Ben came over to Trey and I. It was apparent that there were lots of fish here. Trey caught another 8lber and I got schooled by a giant only to have the hook pull out. Then, with only fifteen minutes left, Benny landed his fish. It was only about at 3lber, but it would do. At 5 pm we began the drive back to camp.

It’s always fun watching everyone return from their day. There’s lots of smiles, a few frowns, a crazy story and a few excuses. Luckily, the “Could Be Worse” boys were smiling. It was apparent we’d done well because only two teams brought in three fish. Unfortunately, the other team with three had bigger fish and one team had two fish, each over 20lbs. The way things stacked up, first place scored 42lbs, second place had 38lbs and we were in third with 32lbs. Not exactly where we wanted to be, but ok. Treys trophy carp weighed 18lbs 5oz! But the biggest of the day was 21lb.

We never got out of our waders all night except when it was time to sleep. It absolutely poured rain on us. Somehow we laughed through it while cooking up elk burritos and sucked a few beers. Then it was back to bed for a fresh start. We knew we had to catch about 50lbs of carp to take over 1st place.

During the night a funny quiet came to camp. I knew the precipitation didn’t stop. I was freezing in my sleeping bag. It got quiet because the rain turned to snow. At 5 am I peeked out at the first glimmer of light and confirmed my assumption. There was a fresh 2” of snow and it was coming down steady. Carp fishing isn’t great when it’s cold so I knew we were in for a challenge. With that in mind, we had no time to waste. We ate our pancakes and were the first team out of camp. The roads were so slippery with mud and snow we had to creep along. Wet dirt roads can be more difficult to drive on than snow and ice. Mix the two and you’re in for an adventure. It took us a good 45 minutes to get near our spot. “Near” is the word. Just before getting to our location is a steep hill and we were smart enough to park and walk. This meant bringing very limited supplies and a 20 minute walk.

We arrived at the previous days honey hole to no jumping carp. Things didn’t look good. The wind picked up to a gale straight out of the north and it was snowing sideways. The temps were much colder than Day 1 and we were all shivering. I actually got out of the water about three times just to warm up. To make a long story short, we didn’t touch a carp. No strikes or anything. We froze our butts off, cast our shoulders out of socket and my hands are still cramped two days later. As we reeled in at 5 pm we wanted to change our team name from “Could Be Worse” to “Could Be A Lot Better”. We popped orange whips at the car and made a long slow drive back to camp.

I didn’t expect other teams to do well either, but I expected to see some fish caught and expected to lose our third place standing. However, I was somewhat pleased to see it wasn’t just us and that it was a brutal day for all. There were only three fish caught total from the seventeen three person teams! The biggest was much smaller than on Day 1 at 12lbs. Best of all, we kept our 3rd place finish. In fact, 1st, 2nd and 3rd places all remained the same. All in all, it was a fantastic fun filled weekend and more money was raised at the Fin Chasers Carp Classic VI Fly Fishing (Fun) Fundraiser than any previous year. If you want to have a great weekend and a chance at a giant carp on the fly, join us in May 2011! Be ready for some exciting posts in the next couple weeks as I take on the pike and walleye of northern Saskatchewan.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Muskie Streamer

Here is a muskie streamer with a bit of camera manipulation for the Canadian aviation map background.

I have purposely kept politics out of this blog, and will continue to do so because fly fishing and politics don't ever need to mix just like work and fly fishing need to be kept apart, however.....  A while ago our president caught heat over a comment he made over our social dependence on technology. Now while the prez & I have not seen eye to eye on a number of issues, I tend to agree with him on this one. Kids are growing up today without an understanding of the natural word around them and are escaping into their ipods and playstation instead of being outdoors and interacting with people.
  To cut to the chase,as a Blogger I'm as guilty as the next guy when it comes to using technology ( this post is from my smart phone ) but used properly it is a valuable tool to learn. An example is last year I  had less than a dozen days with a fly rod in hand. This year I've exceeded that and then some plus learned and grew as a fly fisherman and painter. I think a mix of old and new is healthy, to much technology and one looses sight of where we have been, to much focus on the past and you can't see the the road ahead.  Use technology as a tool and never forget that that is all it is.

Bottom Line... Don't let our kids escape from reality, use the internet to find a killer blue line and take them fishing.

Green No-named Streamer

Lime Trude

This in a Knoxville Lime Trude. If you take this fly into the mountains of TN you are going to catch trout. Again, this little fly is done on an aviation chart and is a mix of watercolor and pen.

Black Zonker

Here is a rabbit strip Zonker with a mylar tube body. Add a bit of fur for a collar and you got a killer streamer.  The color variations with this fly are vast but black and white seem to be the most widely used. 

  I know there are quite a few of you out there that live by the midge and would classify it as your favorite fly (bigerrfish, and midgeman come to mind) but for me it is the streamer.  Midges probably catch more fish on average but fish, of any species, seem to hit streamers hard!  There just is no mistaking a hit when you are stripping in a bucktail or Zonker and a hawg of a fish takes you fly. I love it! 

Dolphin

Did a bit of work on a fish I've wanted to paint for quite a while. Some time ago my father in-law and I did a bit of offshore fishing and he was lucky enough to hook into the best fish of the trip. It was a dolphin and it has to be one of the best looking fish I have ever seen. Blues, yellows, and greens, this fish was a piece of art and it was a memorable trip. We caught several other fish on that trip but this is the one that I remember.
This piece measures 18"x10" unframed. The fly is an Offshore Deceiver. I will be selling this piece for $80 unframed and $130 framed. 10x8 prints with a simple 14x11 mat cost $11+s.h. Until I can get my website setup with a paypall function, If you desire to purchase the painting or a print just Email me and we will work out the details.




For those of you that have asked about the Brookie painting and prints, the 10x8prints will run $11 + Shipping and the Original will run $110 for the painting and $160 if you want it framed.

Crawdad & Bassin

Here is a quick crayfish but the real story is a bit of bass fishing at a hidden pond a friend of mine took me to this morning. These are a few of the fish that hit my fly, notice the nice bass. What realy got the blood pumping was a hoss of a bass that was about twice that size and tuged on my 4lb line then lept in the air in a few heart stopping explotions. It was by far the bigest bass I had every caught on a fly or on a spin rod. I got it to the heavily weeded shore where I got a great look at it just before he hooked into a bunch of weeds and swam off. No picture so YES this is just another 'fish story'. Also, I out fished my spin casting buddy 7 to 2 and he is seriously thinking about picking up fly fishing. This is the second time he and I have gone fishing and the second time I have out fished him. Long live the FLY--------->>>>>