Craiger Posted November 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Musky you will start getting them more and more. Not everyday is good though...it's still fishing which can be very frustrating at times. Especially these cold water steelhead sometimes...its all about the presentation, not so much the fly choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasin_musky Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Craiger you are 100% that is for sure. I have honestly fished more with the pin since I picked it up. I do plan on getting out more with it I just need to get out fishing with someone who is able to give me some pointers about mending and such. I have been trying the dropper rig but my mend is horrible so I am not getting a natural drifts what so ever. To be honest I never tried swinging streamer style baits like yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craiger Posted November 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 oh man stripping and swinging streamer or minnow patterns is the way to go...the hits are unreal!! Maybe i can meet up with you sometime to see whats going on and try to help you out. cheers craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakFisher Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 thanks a lot...i will post a step by step some time soon for you guys. Some have eyes just to add weight to the fly for when i'm fishing faster flows. I prefer the unweighted ones...tend to lose a lot less of those ones... . Just depends on the run i'm in. great flies, great fish. Ive recently started tying marabou streamers as well but havent had much success on the Niagara, heading up to the credit soon. Where do you get your tube kits for the tube flies? is there a store in the region, or do you get them online? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craiger Posted December 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 thanks a lot....these aren't tube flies. I've tied these on hairpins of all things. I make my own shanks out of hairpins and tie on a stinger hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakFisher Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 thanks a lot....these aren't tube flies. I've tied these on hairpins of all things. I make my own shanks out of hairpins and tie on a stinger hook. very ingenuitive. do they still hold up well after a few fish? I saw a great vid on youtube of a good way to attach two hooks together, I'm sure it would work for hairpins too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craiger Posted December 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 ya they hold up just as good as the store bought shanks do...Pay like $5 for 100 of them vs. $8-10 for 10. i will post up some pics soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chasechrome Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 nicely done brother... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Have you tried any spey type flies? They are very effective on the East Coast for Atlantic salmon, so I'm sure they'd rock on the Niagara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craiger Posted December 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I have tried some traditional flies on niagara with not much luck. Best flies there for me are rabbit strip intruders in all white and white and pink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I have tried some traditional flies on niagara with not much luck. Best flies there for me are rabbit strip intruders in all white and white and pink. Until i get material for intruders....do you have any pics of the rabbit strip intruders? Btw awesome tying you do. Also i am going to build my first spey rod over the winter 14ft anything i should concider with that? What would be a decent reel to match up with my rod? Ive been wanting to try spey for a while after watching a few regular guys on the saugeen.....sure can cover alot of water and looks like fun too me. In the meantime....i still use the pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craiger Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Next time I tie some rabbit strip flies I will post them up for you guys. As for the spey rod build I would recommend something in the 12.5-13ish foot range to get started. Unless you were going into casting traditional long belly lines. Then you will need the extra rod length to pick up that line to start the cast. 12-13ft 7-8/9wt rods are perfect skagit or scandi line rods. Most people these days are starting with skagit and moving up from there. My two main rods are a13'2" 7wt and a 12'4" 8wt. This can get very confusing when starting out so feel free to ask any other questions. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
river guide Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Best flies there for me are rabbit strip intruders in all white and white and pink. Good call Craiger! Have had some of my best winter days on this colour combo under a float at Niagara. Nothing fancy, all about the colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Next time I tie some rabbit strip flies I will post them up for you guys. As for the spey rod build I would recommend something in the 12.5-13ish foot range to get started. Unless you were going into casting traditional long belly lines. Then you will need the extra rod length to pick up that line to start the cast. 12-13ft 7-8/9wt rods are perfect skagit or scandi line rods. Most people these days are starting with skagit and moving up from there. My two main rods are a13'2" 7wt and a 12'4" 8wt. This can get very confusing when starting out so feel free to ask any other questions. cheers Good advice! Mine is a 14 St Croix 9/10 weight paired with a Pflueger 1912 (now the 1990) with a 650 grain skagit line. The combo casts like a cannon! I find that with heavier flies like Zonkers, the set-up is just the ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Hey coachman...i picked up a 9 weight from Anglers roost cheap...i had some build me a nice reel seat and matching cap. I need to get guide specs yet and some cork rings for the handle. Can you give me some measurements on your handle? Im going to build it over the winter. This is going to be all new to me....so i appreciate any tips or advise.Whats a reel like that worth? Im going right in cold feet....lol.I have fly fished before....that was years ago. Nothing like hits on the fly for sure...once im all setup i will practice on the Grand river for Bass pike. Thanks guys.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Hey coachman...i picked up a 9 weight from Anglers roost cheap...i had some build me a nice reel seat and matching cap. I need to get guide specs yet and some cork rings for the handle. Can you give me some measurements on your handle? Im going to build it over the winter. This is going to be all new to me....so i appreciate any tips or advise.Whats a reel like that worth? Im going right in cold feet....lol.I have fly fished before....that was years ago. Nothing like hits on the fly for sure...once im all setup i will practice on the Grand river for Bass pike. Thanks guys.. I hope this helps. The only working camera I have is my cellphone at the moment. The handle is 23 inches, with the lower grip measuring 5 inches and the upper 13 3/4 inches. This is of course a 2-hander. The Pflueger Trion runs about $130-$150. There are pricier reels out there but this really is the nicest reel for the money that I've used. I actually bought this entire setup on Kijiji a few years ago. St Croix no longer makes this particular rod (model 14010), but similar St Croix rods have a full retail in the $260-$300 range. I bought everything (including the rod, reel, line, backing, running line and heads for $300. Got a sweet deal I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Thats perfect.....thats a good deal you got. I would guess you mainly use a roll cast? How far can you get it out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Spey casts are mostly roll casts. There are many excellent Youtube videos on the subject. I fished the Ross Bridge Pool on the Margaree in Cape Breton a couple years ago where I had the current to set the anchor for the cast properly. I was able to cover 90 percent of the pool. That's 90 feet plus with no effort. I can probably get further but so far haven't had a chance to test it. Maybe the Whirlpool one day soon I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 This first shot is actually the Hart Pool on the Margaree. You may have to blow the image up to see clearly, but you can see the line rolling out. The head I'm using is a clear, and is just coming off the surface. You can get an idea from this of the length of the cast. The second shot is one of my brother trying my rod out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Im super pumped to begin spey fishing. I have been looking at reels and stuff all day...LOL Was checking out some nice flys on ebay as well. I wan to tye my own, but Im thinking to buy a few first then start to duplicate them. I know there is just so much material to tying your own flys....I already have lots, but I seen how much Cliff has and what the stores carry and its easy to get overwhelmed. In the next month Im going to concentrate on the rod....been looking at the snake guides and stripping guides as well. Im almost thinking it might be better to just buy a spey handle then add some burl to it, to make it your own kind of thing. I hope you guys will allow me to pick your brain on lines/ leaders and that sort? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chasechrome Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Im super pumped to begin spey fishing. I have been looking at reels and stuff all day...LOL Was checking out some nice flys on ebay as well. I wan to tye my own, but Im thinking to buy a few first then start to duplicate them. I know there is just so much material to tying your own flys....I already have lots, but I seen how much Cliff has and what the stores carry and its easy to get overwhelmed. In the next month Im going to concentrate on the rod....been looking at the snake guides and stripping guides as well. Im almost thinking it might be better to just buy a spey handle then add some burl to it, to make it your own kind of thing. I hope you guys will allow me to pick your brain on lines/ leaders and that sort? pm me brother and I can put you onto some really good resources...I will be happy to share my photos of spey recipes of mine via private mail only. cheers and good luck wiht the spey!!! cc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craiger Posted December 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 Right on Coachman...looks like the older SA skagit head on there. I have a few of those bit prefer the newer compact heads out there. On the niagara i've been using the SA intermediate 600g skagit. They swing low and slow even with all the different current seams you have to deal with on that river. They are also like 22-24ft in length so the D loop is nice and small which is important on the big river as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chasechrome Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 Right on Coachman...looks like the older SA skagit head on there. I have a few of those bit prefer the newer compact heads out there. On the niagara i've been using the SA intermediate 600g skagit. They swing low and slow even with all the different current seams you have to deal with on that river. They are also like 22-24ft in length so the D loop is nice and small which is important on the big river as well. Yup Craig-man...that's the stuff...skagit compact is the ticket... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakeyes Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 very nice looking work, well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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