Any fly fishers here. what type of gear do you carry on your trips. Do you fish drys or wets. what length of rod do you carry?
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Happy Scream Day! 😱
canoe fishing gear
- Thread starter forest runes
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I flyfish out of my canoes all the time. I've fished for everything from panfish, bass, pike, trout, and salmon out of them. So I bring whatever gear I need for the fish I am targeting. I usually have 2 rods with me when I flyfish (out of a canoe or not) one rigged for casting drys and the other usually rigged for streamers. If I want to toss a nymph, depending on conditions and size of nymph I'm casting, I will use either rod. My rods vary between 7' and 10', depending on weight. I've used all of them in my canoes.
My favorite canoe to fish out of (wc and high-end composite people don't read this) is my 15' aluminum. Very stable, wide, plenty of room and I can stand in it comfortably without worrying about tipping. Caught a lot of fish out of that canoe over the past 40 some years (my dad and I got it when I was 10). I also feel comfortable standing in my Wenonah Wilderness and flyfish out if it a lot, too.
If you don't feel like standing, kneeling works, too. Particularly with a shorter rod and lighter flies. Throwing northern pike flies with an 8 or 9 weight from a kneeling position can be challenging.
Biggest problem flyfishing out of a canoe in my opinion is line management. Lots of things for line to get wrapped around - bags, portage pads, you name it...It's not a safety issue, but it is a pain. Maybe stretch a piece of canvas 2 ft wide from gunnel to gunnel right in front of you so the line has a clean place to lay. Going to try that this year.
In my opinion, canoes are infinitely better flyfishing platforms than the more popular sit-on-top kayaks...never warmed up to fishing out of one of those.
My favorite canoe to fish out of (wc and high-end composite people don't read this) is my 15' aluminum. Very stable, wide, plenty of room and I can stand in it comfortably without worrying about tipping. Caught a lot of fish out of that canoe over the past 40 some years (my dad and I got it when I was 10). I also feel comfortable standing in my Wenonah Wilderness and flyfish out if it a lot, too.
If you don't feel like standing, kneeling works, too. Particularly with a shorter rod and lighter flies. Throwing northern pike flies with an 8 or 9 weight from a kneeling position can be challenging.
Biggest problem flyfishing out of a canoe in my opinion is line management. Lots of things for line to get wrapped around - bags, portage pads, you name it...It's not a safety issue, but it is a pain. Maybe stretch a piece of canvas 2 ft wide from gunnel to gunnel right in front of you so the line has a clean place to lay. Going to try that this year.
In my opinion, canoes are infinitely better flyfishing platforms than the more popular sit-on-top kayaks...never warmed up to fishing out of one of those.
Great thoughts on what to do with line ,stripping in line to work a streamer turns into a spider web for me. Do you ever drift with wets like they do in british lakes ?
Occasionally I will drift with wets like that...usually when I'm tired and just want to kick back. Sometimes on deeper lakes, though, I will do a pile cast with a woolly bugger on the end, and let it sink as I drift along
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On my trips, I carry my tankara for graylings and trouts, and a non expensive 2 piece rod set up for pikes. I use a mixed of dry and wet flies, but my kit is pretty modest.
How do you stow them when underway ?
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The Tankara is easy... slide into its own handle done. The 2 piece, I usually let it set up and jammed it being the stern seat.
Never seen that Tankara rod before , years ago a few mfg. made steel rods on the same principle but heavy & with dull action , is that graphite , hows the action ?
To help with line management, i was thinking of making something like Cliff Jacobson's "trampoline style" tumpline. Maybe, maybe not use it as a tumpline, but when flyfishing, have it in front of me sorta like a canvas table. Here's a picture of his trampoline tumpline:
http://piragisnorthwoodscompany.blogspot.com/2014/10/blog-77-how-to-make-tumpline-for-your.html
http://piragisnorthwoodscompany.blogspot.com/2014/10/blog-77-how-to-make-tumpline-for-your.html
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It is graphite and a great action... One big "maker" of these rods is Tenkara USA http://www.tenkarausa.com
Super light weight... They say that it is for smallish fish, but I've seen Yvon Chouinard(founder/owner of Patagonia) land salmon with one!! http://www.patagonia.com/ca/shop/luggage-fly-fishing?k=1G-3g
I really like mine. It is the rod I use the most!
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I came across this Mad River Winooski yesterday, fiberglass, 14' by 5' wide..(it just looks 5', actually 39"), lots of write ups claiming it to be a good fly fishing platform.
I tried fly fishing back in the day, never had the time or money to really get into it. I'd like to try again, any suggestions for a reasonable rod/reel/line/tippets/flys for pan fish/small bass out of a canoe? Nothing expensive or classic, just a decent starter outfit.
Thanks
HaHa, from what people say in the reviews, it's a nice canoe. But, I always take those reviews with a grain of salt, here's what some say and then again, maybe what they should say,
"Oh yes, I'm so pleased with my Happy River Jabonie, sweetest canoe I ever paddled, my life partner also agrees, we plan on getting married now."
or, maybe this:
"yea, so I bought this canoe, a Happy River Jabonie", paid alot, worst canoe ever, I'll never smile again! My girl hates it too, now I hate her, I hate everybody, canoeing sucks.
"Oh yes, I'm so pleased with my Happy River Jabonie, sweetest canoe I ever paddled, my life partner also agrees, we plan on getting married now."
or, maybe this:
"yea, so I bought this canoe, a Happy River Jabonie", paid alot, worst canoe ever, I'll never smile again! My girl hates it too, now I hate her, I hate everybody, canoeing sucks.
Ha ha, good one Robin! I gotta keep my eyes open for one of those Jabonies, sounds like a good canoe!
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Robin, you don'T need anything fancy, I would go the Tenkara route, simple, no reel, no fuss, fast to get out and put away, cheep.... Or can be cheep. If you like the western type, then you can get a descent kit for less then $300 easy...Probably less than $250 even... I'm not pro by any means, really far from that and I'm sure other will chime in!!
Robin, There are many quality and affordable options. Performance of fly rods peaks out way before the price does. So you don't need to spend a fortune. However, the bottom rung fly rods will frustrate you and turn you off from the sport.
A line of rods that I recommend all the time are the Temple Fork Outfitters rods. I have several. For pan fish/small bass I really like the TFO Lefty Kreh Finesse series. The Signature series is good as well. Both are around $150 for the rod.
You can spend upwards of $1,000 for just the rod, but it's not a linear scale with performance. They are pretty though!
I would recommend a 5wt rod matched with a weight forward floating line (5wt). 9ft leader/tippet coming down to a 5x size.
You don't need a fancy reel, a nice click and pawl reel will serve you well. TFO makes reels as well, but I haven't used one of their reels. Sometimes you can find an Orvis Battenkill clickk and pwal used for $50 or even less. Great reels.
I was todl, although I haven't looked, that Cabela's sells entire TFO outfits. Might be worth looking into.
For flies, especially during spawning, it's a blast to use relatively large (#12, #10) dry attractor patterns like a Humpy. Anything that works for trout will work for panfish. A selection of Woolly Buggers in size 8, 10,12 in black or some other dark color will work wonders on bass. There is also a wide variety of flie patterns tied specifically for panfish and bass - look in any flyfishing catalog or on-line.
Have fun. Spawn starts not too long after ice out, so now the time to get geared up. - Sean
A line of rods that I recommend all the time are the Temple Fork Outfitters rods. I have several. For pan fish/small bass I really like the TFO Lefty Kreh Finesse series. The Signature series is good as well. Both are around $150 for the rod.
You can spend upwards of $1,000 for just the rod, but it's not a linear scale with performance. They are pretty though!
I would recommend a 5wt rod matched with a weight forward floating line (5wt). 9ft leader/tippet coming down to a 5x size.
You don't need a fancy reel, a nice click and pawl reel will serve you well. TFO makes reels as well, but I haven't used one of their reels. Sometimes you can find an Orvis Battenkill clickk and pwal used for $50 or even less. Great reels.
I was todl, although I haven't looked, that Cabela's sells entire TFO outfits. Might be worth looking into.
For flies, especially during spawning, it's a blast to use relatively large (#12, #10) dry attractor patterns like a Humpy. Anything that works for trout will work for panfish. A selection of Woolly Buggers in size 8, 10,12 in black or some other dark color will work wonders on bass. There is also a wide variety of flie patterns tied specifically for panfish and bass - look in any flyfishing catalog or on-line.
Have fun. Spawn starts not too long after ice out, so now the time to get geared up. - Sean
Canotrogue - Nice pike for a first one. These slime machines are a blast on a fly rod. I'd like to see you deal with one on your Tenkara outfit!
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I had an other one on the line well before that first one that was a monster
... I swear... But didn't have a pike leader on... so it escaped.... The thing is with the Tenkara gear, you don't want to have to heavy of a set up/gear on it, cause you loose all the finest and fun of it!!
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BTW, Northern pike up here can easily reach 3 feet and some as big as 4 feet!!
