Mid Summer Stride

There have been a number of river floats the past few weeks.  Some days fish are taking small stuff on top and others its big articulated streamers.

But first things first - these are the two best floats I've ever seen (courtesy the Spooner Rodeo Parade).

Great idea, I don't know how I didn't think of it.

Musky Princess from Hayward.

 

And remember, the river isn't just for fishing.

 

 

Some nice catches.  Sprinkling from the St Croix and Namekagon.

 

 

Whiffed on my two good musky takes.  Rivers have been slow for Mr. Mooskey but the lakes have had some good action.

And I thought I was having a bad day

I took Henry and my dad out for a float on the Upper St Croix Saturday after the monsoons passed.  From the previous week's success (sorry Russ and Scott about not getting pics) I thought we'd have a great float.

It was a little slow.  Dad hooked a few fish but nothing for Henry (he thought he lost a musky however).

What really caught our eye was a twisted canoe.

I check everything since I found a loaded Ruger 45 in a duffel bag on the river 2 years ago.  We even tried to free the canoe so it wouldn't take up the river but no luck.  High water I'm sure will bust it free.  I hope everyone was OK.  Fortunately the flows over the past week right around the 2,000 cfs so it wasn't dangerous.

Fishing should become more consistent in the coming weeks.  Good flows will keep the larger fish up river and allow us to get to them in the boat.  Normally after July 4th it's wade fishing time but we might catch a break this year.

The Big "Mo"

I just got back from fishing the Missouri River near Craig, Montana.  Awesome trip and I highly recommend it anyone.  My buddy Matt from work has a friend Jordan living in Helena which is a great base camp.  Not that Craig isn't fun but a town of 100 with 150 driftboats has limited night life (tap room scene is doing well in Montana FYI).

We got to the river Thursday morning and had to stop by Headhunter Fly Shop.  Headhunters has probably one of the best report/blogs http://www.headhuntersflyshop.com/blog-fishing-report/

We picked up the hot flies and put in right below Holter Dam.  It is a big dam and they are letting a lot of water out - over 8,500 cfs and the bumped the flow to 10,000 that day (ideal range is 3,000 to 4,000, or so I've been told).

 

I put on my freshly pink painted anchor and we were ready to go.  A little side note - I spray paint my anchors because I have lost them either in the river or by leaving at the boat ramp.  The pink really stands out and I received many complements on it.  If you're in Craig and see pink anchors let me know, I think I started a trend.



Thursday was really difficult with 30-40 mph winds and trying to figure out a pattern.  We did manage some nice fish however.  Friday was lights out - we double floated the river and found the hot sow bug fly.  The 3 of us hooked about 50 fish but had a hard time landing some of the larger fish because we'd put the anchor down to not blow by our spots but reeling a 20+ inch fish into the current has many variables that often go wrong. 

Buffs are fashionable on the Missouri and it beats sunscreen - I even find them cool just to wear.

Really the main stretch with the highest density of fish is the bridge at Wolf Creek to Craig.  It is about 3.5 miles of river but you can really work sections and with lower water wade around islands.

Above is a shot at the Wolf Creek bridge.  In general they call the Missouri the largest spring creek.  It is a big river but fairly easy to fish.  We indicator fished almost exclusively and needed 2 BB split shot to get down in many spots.  Flies are your typical tailwater selection of sow bugs, lightning bugs, San Juan worms, midges and may flies.

Almost all fish were in the 18-20 inch mark with a handful outside the range. 

There are lots of fish, and lots of people.  We got on the river at 7:00 am and did a double float to avoid the crowds as everyone floated down the river.  Overall great trip, phenomenal fish and very good fishing.  I'm sure I'd be amazed to see the epic dry fly fishing mentioned in the Fly Fish Film Tour movie "Sipping Dry" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPWiIvwM1vQ

Get a guide, do it your self, whatever, it's just fun to fish new water.

We'll Miss You Brian

Sorry for not posting in a long-time.  I haven't had any good reports to relay and the main reason for that is that my great buddy Brian was diagnosed with cancer in July.  Unfortunately after a brutal battle he passed away mid-December.  He was 40 and left a wife and two young boys.

I met Brian about 5 years ago on the Brule.  It was fall, the water was low, and a few of us floating line, indicator fishers were being pushed out of the deeper slower holes to the riffles.  We exchanged numbers like school girls and bumped into each other on the Kinni twice the following spring.  That fall I invited Brian to stay at the cabin instead of the luxurious accommodations in Brule.  Both of our wives had some concerns about this overnight with a person neither of them had met.  Brian's wife was worried we were swingers.

 

After a successful steelhead trip, we stayed in touch, introduced the families and became best of friends all around.  The boys love hanging out together (and still do of course).

I am very blessed to have known Brian and be able to share a number of great fishing trips with him.  He was becoming proficient on the sticks we were working on trips this summer.  Brian always joked with me that "even if we retired today and lived to 100 we still wouldn't get all the fishing trips in we had planned".  At least we had a few.

End of Summer Report

We'll we're hitting the end of the summer which is sad in some ways but it means good musky action is just around the corner.

The upper St Croix is running really low and we've been primarily wade fishing the river.  Action has been steady with topwater but the fish are not relating to the banks as much because of the low water.  It is a little harder to find that mid river break when you're wade fishing the river, especially before you trip over it but when you do there are more than one fish schooled up.

The Mississippi is flowing perfect right now and fish are really active with this heat.  We floated from St Cloud down to Clearwater the other day and had two dozen nice fish (missed a bunch as well).  We've been waiting almost 3 years for the river to be fishable in August.  With this heat and stable weather it should be good through mid-October.

I don't really care about SMBs anymore because starting Labor Day weekend it is full into musky.  Sunday we're planning a musky float and B. Marshall has lent me his new Sage Pike rod that he wants stunk up with Esox slim - I will do my best.

Tomorrow however I am in Washington trying for some more Pacific steel.  Trying my lunch at spey fishing the Cowlitz. 

What happend to summer?

July was going along great - good SMB popper action and then last weekend happened.  It was a 45 degree drop from the previous week's high to the low Saturday.  We were wet wading to cool off and then Saturday we did it to warm up.

What was weird is how it triggers musky and pike to bite.  Friday we floated the St Croix near Grantsburg and although we managed a dozen nice smallies on topwater the highlight was Jeff's 36 inch musky on a topwater.

The best part is I didn't have my net along.  When I picked up he and Bob in the morning I said "muskies have been biting but if I put the net in the boat we won't catch one".  Of course we were in waist deep water and I had to try and grab the thing.  The water was really low and we (me) dragged the boat a lot.

Saturday it actually got colder and cloudier.  Smallies slowed more but the pike started biting.  I caught this beauty on a flash tail streamer on a jig hook (PS I think that helps the hook setting - note the fly in the top of the mouth).

Going to do an evening float Monday and then Mississippi Friday.  I'll try and take less grip and grin photos.

St Croix Early July

We were on the river (both St Croix and Namekagon) over the 4th a number of days.  Flows looked good but the rivers had some color to them from the heavy rain the previous week.  Fishing was pretty slow even though we managed to catch fish each time out.  Smallies weren't chasing topwater and you really had to drop it right on their head.  Muskies on the St Croix were really active and we landed a nice 32 incher wade fishing (very fun) and missed two others.  The Namekagon musky bite was slow and we had one take early on and saw a nice fish right in the middle of the river below a riffle. 

Here are some good early morning pictures on the St Croix the morning of the 4th.

St Croix was Hot!

I know I said in a New Year's resolution that I wasn't just going to just post fish pictures and instead get better action shots - this is going to be an exception.

Blake got his biggest SMB career to date - a 17 inch beut.  SMBs were almost all on topwater - finally.

And while he and Scott were casting topwater I followed up with a wounded minnow pattern and this fella came out of nowhere - my biggest pike ever.

A nice part about fishing in rural NW Wisconsin is that on your drive back you can fire off a few rounds.  Blake and I are working on Yeti promotion shots - and this was the first firing of my new AR-15.  Only $1.10 a round!

We head to Door County for a week vacation.  It's mainly going to be gear fishing but we have a musky day Tuesday and I'm bringing the fishing boat for SMB and walleye action.  No flats carp plans.

First Musky on the Fly for the Season

We have been hitting the St Croix a bunch lately.  Even though water is a little high the clarity has been good and it's warmer than the Namekagon.  Brian and I hit it Memorial Day weekend and even though the day finished pretty slow, it started great.  A 30 inch musky started the day off on a chartreuse sculpin I tied for such an occasion.

Minutes later and slow moving 19 inch smallie hit the same fly.

 

Not pictured is the pike (Brian likey big pikey) caught on the same fly.  I'm sending it to one of the main fly companies for it to go into full production.  Brian got the St Croix Grand Slam on the same fly - I don't know how we didn't touch a walleye dredging the thing.  That would have been amazing - maybe next year.

 

Last weekend we hit the section up by T and caught some big girl SMBs. 



As you can see from the photo - the boys were with me.  I don't know why I think every year it works to take 4 people, 2 of which are little boys, out in the boat.  At least they weren't bugging mom.

 

Fish are starting to move a little more - nothing on topwater yet but I assume that will be changing pretty quickly. 





Driftboat Season Underway

Started the season off last weekend with two full days of floating the Namekagon and St Croix.  There were high hopes but quickly it was realized that the late spring has delayed everything.

We started with a short float by County Rd T which had pretty good clarity.  The gauge at Riverside said 3,030 but that includes the Totagatic which was dumping a ton of water to fix the dam and the Namkagon which was dumping a bunch of water from late snow storms. 

Nothing - Matt had a walleye strike but that was it.

We then floated the Namekagon for 10 miles.  The river was moving very quickly but still had that clear clarity we love.  We switched to a jig with some plastic to try and get down and find a walleye or two since the smallies weren't around and musky is closed.

Matt caught the largest redhorse sucker I've ever seen on the jig.

We floated the Namekagon 10 miles in about 5 hours - record time. 

We went back to float the same stretch of the St Croix thinking the warm sun might have helped.  One pike and this small musky.  Matt caught it on a tiny Rapala.

On the St Croix the following day the winds were in the 20+ mph range - but at least at the back of the driftboat.  One lowly pike at the take out.

We'll be out again for Memorial Day - probably will be epic with about every warmwater species in the post spawn eating frenzy at once.  Or at least that's what comforts me from 2 fishless days.

Florida Trip

 

Why didn't I do a post on my Florida flats day trip sooner?  Because it didn't go well that's why.  It seemed like a great day, warm, nice and sunny, tide coming in, fish moving - but 25 mph winds.  It was really difficult to sight fish through the 1 ft chop let alone put a fly where I wanted it.  I had shots at fish - and I missed takes.  But basically I landed one small redfish and a flounder on the clouser.  It was cool but not getting fish is tough.

 

The next day a couple of guys from the wedding and I took a 65ft charter out 15 miles into the Gulf.  It was simple and we caught lots of fish - mainly gray snapper and porgey but there was all sorts of crazy stuff brought up from the bottom.

 

Other than that I'm just tying flies and waiting for the Fly Fish Film Tour Friday February 1st.  We have 20 guys going - should be fun - maybe I'll win a new rod.

Musky Fly Time

It's winter now and I've been working on some great musky flies.  But before I get to that - take a look at this video I was slow on uploading.  This was a 36 incher caught on the Namekagon in late October.

Underwater Musky Release from >Charles Metzig on Vimeo.

I've been working on a bunch of musky flies.  Most the Supercharger by Jared Ehlers - here's a pic.

 

You do go through an entire packet of Flasabou per fly.

 

Here are the video links for tying (it is pretty quick and easy).

Supercharger Part 1

Supercharger Part 2

 

Next up is spinning deer hair for heads.  But first I head to Florida for a little redfishing.



Musky on the Fly

Fished the Namekagon last Saturday for a full day float with Matt and Brian.  We had 8 musky bites on flies but only got one in the boat.  Brian had one hit and a great hook set but somehow she came unbuttoned.  The river was super clear which was expected with the lack of rain - unfortunately there was a lot to look at and Matt and I both missed fish that were on our fly next to the boat while looking at others.  In total we saw maybe 10-12 muskies and caught 3 nice pike.  This was the only photo taken (it's pretty bad) - 29 incher.  I vow to start taking better photos and not just of people holding fish.

We mainly used 6 to 9 inch minnow patterns on sink tips and the fish were active.  Honestly, just about every spot that looked like it should hold fish did. 

Sunday we did a super short float (really sweetie) on the St Croix and didn't move or even see a fish. 

Musky Maddness

Just got back from our annual trip to Lake Vermilion with the work guys.  The past 2-3 years we have really focused on muskies but have yet to get one in the boat - many close calls.  That changed this year.  This fella bit my black bucktail on the second turn of the figure-8 - 46 inches.

The next morning we started out and decided why not head back tot he same spot - got this girl on the figure-8 as well but I did it for a number of times after she lost the bucktail on the first figure-8 of the retrieve.

This one was about 47 inches.  We saw 4 other fish and Matt had one bite right at the boat and turn but the fish missed - it wasn't Matt.  Basically all fish where moved on double-bladed bucktails - it was great.

We also had some decent walleye action and were a fish shy of limiting out the first day in about 3 hours of fishing and had to throw back 3 19 inchers out of the slot. 

Vermilion is awesome with tons of islands and structure to cast too.  We saw fish in a bunch of spots and it really built our confidence to finally get one in the boat.  I can't wait for next year.

I two weeks we'll switch back to the drift boat for Namekagon and St Croix musky floats.  This low water should really concentrate the fish.

Klickitat Steelhead

Brian and I are back from fishing the Klickitat River in South Central Washington and it was epic.  We fished for two days at the Steelhead Range owned by Jack and Jen Mitchell (http://theeveninghatch.com/Klickitat.htm).

The Klickitat starts from the glacier on Mt. Adams which you can see from the ranch.

This time of year the fishing gets more consistent but it can be hit or miss with visibility depending on the weather for the glacier.  The river itself was really cool.  In total we covered somewhere around 27 miles.  Parts of it were pretty dicey and I was glad I wasn't rowing.  While we were there the flows were around 900 cfs, Jeff and the crew told us it hit 60,000 cfs this spring and there were significant changes from last year.

The fishing for the most part was really easy.  We would float down and look for the troughs, buckets and slots which basically were different color than the rest because it was deeper.  We had 7 and 8wts rigged with a nymph and an egg under a big indicator and let it ride.  The takes we slow and easy but after that it was anyones' guess how crazy the fish would go. 

The guy in the front of the boat did have an advantage.  In the first 45 minutes of fishing I hooked and landed 3.  Very quickly the trip was exceeding expectations.  The picture above is me with the "Corbra" aka Jonny.

One of the best parts is that we were wet wadding.  Even though I have about $2,000 in Simms waders I really like wearing shorts and sandals when fishing.  It was cool in the morning and at night but otherwise the 50+degree water was fine.



 The wild (unclipped fish) you are not supposed to take out of the water, hence the belly in for the photos.

I botched the picture of Brian with this 20+lb Chinook

And I botched this one (my bad Brian) - here he is with Kevin and nice wild fish.

We hooked almost 30 fish in 2 days and landed at least 20.  We were having so much fun that we stopped taking fish pictures.  It also made losing some fish that went absolutly crazy easier to handle.  Some fish just dominated us.  We even tried swing flies from spey rods too.  The fishing was great and mixing in some chunky 20+ inch whitefish (not pictured), 15 inch resident rainbows (not pictured) and about 50 smolts (also not pictured) you were able to stay in the game from 9:00 am to sun set.

I highly recommend it and I will be back.