advice for northern water novice - General

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8/11/2006 9:28 AM

	1fst2m6
4 posts

advice for northern water novice (United States)

i'm headin out of atlanta in a few gays for some fishin in middle MN.. I'll be in Menahga for a few days.. i've messed around with spin set up on Spirit lake before but thought sending all my fly equipment up there and tryin that would be a good time. What should I be doing differently on your lakes compared to my local georgia lakes?

8/21/2006 5:43 AM

	ouitdee
546 posts
www.mnflyfishing.com

Re: advice for northern water novice (United States)

Probably to late to respond to your post. But did you get a chance to get out with your fly rod? I'm not to familiar with area you'll be in, but assume you'll be fishing lakes in the area. Were you fishing from shore or a boat? If I was guessing that fishing shore would be tough this time of year unless you can find a good bass lake or panfish lake that easily wadeable, because of the all the private property lining most of MN's lakes. Top water lures like a diver for pike and bass. Small poppers for panfish. If your able to fish the outer weed lines, I would definetly put on a streamer like a Deciever for some bigger pike and bass. Weeds are common in most Minnesota lakes this time of the year, so prepare for that.

Remember that wind is the enemy up here for fly fisherman in Minnesota. It always seems like there is some kind of wind to fight and never fails when I go out :)

Capt. Ouitdee Carson - Arrowhead Fly Angler
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8/21/2006 6:29 AM

	1fst2m6
4 posts

Re: advice for northern water novice (United States)

No your right on time! I fly out wednesday at 9am land in MN at 11ish and will be in wadena county about 4pm. The place i'll be crashin at with the wife and new kiddo is on the lake with a boat. I spent 2 hours at Bass Pro Shops on saturday picking up a pluthera of lures. [img]http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/72000/72001a.jpg[/img] along with some additional dry flys and nymphs just to screw around with. i've got a couple small boxes of terestrials and devievers i'll be sure to pack. thanks for the heads up! I'll be sure to post pics of what ever i end up with theres 160ac of open lake from 0-46' deep. and a vast expanse of pads and reed grass area.

8/21/2006 6:55 AM

	1fst2m6
4 posts

Re: advice for northern water novice (United States)

Fly H2O™ Bass H2O Fly Kit <-- most recent purchased set along with various foam and hard poppers, dropper nymphs. this week should prove to be a nice quiet time away from the office.

cant' figure out how to edit my previous post.. sorry for the re-reply.

any other information would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Travis

8/21/2006 7:50 PM

	ouitdee
546 posts
www.mnflyfishing.com

Re: advice for northern water novice (United States)

Modified By ouitdee on 8/21/2006 7:51:32 PM)

It looks like you should have a good selection of flies. Now it depends on the weed type if your going to fish some topwater. If you have weeds growing the surface or if your fishing lily pad areas, you might want to make sure you have some kind of weed guard on your flies, otherwise you'll be handing up alot on the weeds.

Oh, btw is this the lake you'll be fishing - Spirit Lake?

It's like a very nice bass lake from looking at the map and premilinary DNR report, looks promising and fun for sure. I would definately try that outer weed edge, where the water starts to drop rapidly from the 5 foot mark to the deeper parts of the lake. Otherwise top water flies along that edge and all the way to the shore. I would guess there is an inside weed line as well, then from there all the way to the shore line. That is nice haunt for largies and panfish. Can't tell from the map, but it seems like there are few cabins on the lake. Don't be afraid to throw some streamers, wooly buggers or poppers near the docks, but it gets real tricky when fly fishing around docks.

I come from a good background fishing for bass - smallmouth and largemouth - using traditional spin gear like plastics, spinner baits, tube baits, etc. So throwing to structure like downed trees and docks is easy to do with regular fishing gear. When I'm out fly fishing and need to fish those same structures, whether it be docks or other shoreline structure, it just doesn't work the same fly fishing. I still find myself getting lots of snag up, but then again, I find myself catching decent fish when I try to get that fly as close as possible to the structure. I'm still working on my accuracy fly fishing from a distance and fishing structure. It's tough on days where fish will not move 2 feet to chase a fly down and you need to get your fly right on top of the structure. But hay thats the fun of fly fishing, practicing your cast until someday it just comes together and you know you have a fish on before the fly even hits the water. Enough rambling.

Good luck out there and let us know how you did!

8/22/2006 6:53 AM

	1fst2m6
4 posts

iRe: advice for northern water novice (United States)

i've done nothing but tight tree covered trout streams for the past few years (short pitches 15-30' and roll casting). so broad open casting will be interesting... -been screwin around in the back yard trying to pitch under the stair case at 40-50' the deck and under shrubs, it's interesting! YEP thats the lake! i've got a model (.dwg autocad file) of the bottom of the lake and all the topography maping (.dxf - not editable autocad file) for the surrounding area available through USGS. this'll be a good time! thanks for the DNR info that makes this week look even more promising. can't say i've ever wrestled a pike on any tackle. GREAT... i'm gunna loose a finger.

home will be at the end of juniper east side of 87 on the lake. All the docks are temporary i'm sure you deal with this alot but most of the docks here in atlanta are fixed structure or anchored/teathered floating and are not removed for winter. it'll be fasinating to see how tangled i'll get on their frame work.

pic of that last time i was there through the back door... windy and -16*

i'll post pics.. thanks for your help!

8/31/2006 7:45 PM

	fishinaddiction
7 posts

iRe: advice for northern water novice (United States)

Thanks for the advice there flymaster. It's come in handy.

1fst2m6 I'd love to hear about yer trip up to the north country.

later f.a.

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