Ola Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 so i'm tired of being embarrassed by the grand river steelies and thought i'd switch it up a bit - and get thoroughly embarrassed by the niagara again. lakers are in and in season, if i am not mistaken, so the question is...what kind of luck do other fly fishers have chasing these fish. keep in mind i have never even managed a fish over 10" in the niagara, ever, even with conventional tackle so... what kind of flies do they take? Intruder-style? Streamers? balls of lead wrapped in feathers? size 32 bwo dries delicately presented on the crest of a wave? we were also thinking of expanding our adventure to the u.s. side like artpark or some such place, so that we can now pay extra $ for our humbling. does that sound like a reasonable idea or do you recommend staying closer to home so we can slink back there faster at the end of the day without risking having customs guards laughing at us too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Ive talked to guides on the grand who are having just as tough season. I would say your going to need heavy sink tips or dumbell weighted flies to get down on the Niagara. But thats only my thoughts not experience...as i have yet to swing flies there. Minnow patterns are going to work for sure.Streamers are proven effective and im sure big intruders will attract fish. The only steelie i hooked this year was at the catt on the swing with a pink/white streamer. I have been targeting big boulders and having my swing end close to them is when my "only" fish hit. I have talked with guides and the usual black purples pinks reds are colours of choice. Been told to look for fish in the slower moving water this time of year...and to control the speed of your fly to keep it in the zone. With that being said, i dont pretend to know...and your guess is good as mine. Im trying to learn still and do what i think is right. Ive only used my spey rod 4 times this fall...so i have not been very aggressive in pursuit. Lots of great swinging water in the US and finding aggressive fish on the feed in the spring might be a whole lot easier. I know going in that im not going to get numbers of fish swinging...thats a given. But if i get some excercise and fresh air...then any fish is a bonus. I have to say that i need to put in the time....like anything confidence is probably the hardest thing. I find myself second guessing my tips, my flies, my presentation. Not as easy as what people think to hook fish steady on the fly. Bass is another story...no problem hooking lots of them this past summer on the grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Skeoch Posted December 22, 2014 Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 So Ola, did you get out. How many did you land? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ola Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 yes, we got out to the mighty niagara. no, we didn't land anything in the mighty niagara. yes, i lost a good chunk of the sinking portion of my line to the mighty niagara. no, we did not purchase anything, including no alcohol or tobacco or electronics or duty free. yes, we did get pulled over for a search crossing back at the lewiston bridge after nightfall. no. they didn't even bother to ask the most obvious question about whether we had new york fishing licences before breaking out the pit crew. yes, three of them went over our car with a fine-toothed comb. no, they did not find anything except wet waders and wet boots and drying flies in the car because, as we had already told them, we were fishing and purchased nothing except those n.y. fishing licences which nobody cared about. yes, when they were done, they just stuffed everything back in a heap and smashed the hatchback down until it closed despite what it may have been doing to the expensive fishing gear blocking the door. no, i was not pleased, despite their claim that they tried to be careful. yes, it annoys me that we have a record that extends back to my daughter's stateside schooling, of declaring everything and paying duty when required, including a three day excursion into pennsylvania the weekend before when we clearly could have done our christmas shopping since we had an unused allowance of $2400 bucks on that trip, but this time, after viewing all that stuff on file, they decided we were lying. no, there really is not much you can do about that anyway. yes, have a good christmas and yes, we'll try again in the new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Yeh ive had that search as well Ola. I did give the guy an ear full for tossing my rods around. He then asked me if i could remove them as he proceeded to check my wader and wading jacket pockets. They pulled us in because my brother declared a single pack of cigarettes. Two uniformed officers searched the car one on each side from glove box to console to tailgate. Nothing to be found as per usual. Im ok with being searched...thats just doing thier job. I was not ok with the disregard for my equipment as they just jammed it back into the plastic bin. On a secondary note: Hows your fishing been Rob?? Have you got some pictures and reports to share with us? Come on out on my next expedition , ill let you do a photo shoot...lol . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 I have a friend who is a pit crew member for an "Outlaw" dirt track race team. Two cars, spares, equipment etcetera pulled by 2 semis. A week after 9/11 they had a race in Ohio. Crossing the border both rigs were searched exhaustively. They were even made to dismount the tires from the rims of the race cars (spares too). Of course they also had chemicals of various descriptions for the cars that they had to submit to inspection. And it was the same deal: total disregard for the items that were being inspected. When the inspection was over, the team was rushed out of there with no time allowed to put things back the way they were. Of course, this was just after the 9/11 attacks, so things were pretty crazy at the border crossings. But the race team had by that time been crossing a couple dozen times a year for about 3 years. So the whole episode was pretty heavy-handed. So the moral of the story is never take anything for granted at the border. Fishing tackle or other personal belongings are just objects to those guards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finsanity Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 They should change the name of this fly section to biatch fest because nobody hete catches fish and all I here is whinning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 LOL. Two things anglers know how to do is complain and exaggerate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finsanity Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 Lol can't say I'm any different lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ola Posted December 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 finsanity, i'd gladly change my tune if i could ever catch one of those blasted fish i spend so much time and effort chasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finsanity Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 On the niagara I use a fast sink tip and just because the water looks slack on top doesn't mean it is underneath. I use silver top white bottom on a shank with a size 10 trailer flies about 3-4 inches I've got quite a few Lakers that way I'll pm u a spot Minnow pattern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeman4 Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 When i swing flies on the niagara, i use a weighted green and white streamer. just wrap the shank a bunch of times with some lead, make a decently appetizing looking fish bait and put your time in on the water. choice of bait, IMO is not as important as presentation. In colder water of the Niagara this time of year, fish aren't going to move very far to get food. Unless your dangling it right in front of them, its a no go. This is all i use, and i use it under a float as well. Never let me down, old faithful, ask anyone i fish with, i always have an abundance of green streamers in my fly box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trouttamer Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Same streamer as above in white bottom pink top works nicely aswell, dont forget to add a bit of flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ola Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 so basically, we're talking just a weighted clouser without dumbbell eyes. i do like the pink white clouser for warmwater so i'll give tat a shot as well as olive and whatever other colours i have. i also am leaving the dumbbell eyes off some intruders, as was suggested to me and we are using wire instead of power pro to experiment on reducing the tangles. if i don't catch a fish i will at least have a nice collection of shiny new meaty flies. i do agree that the key seems to be getting down first then worry about the fly choice so i will be using a full sink next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.