Think

Sometime next week winter lake trout fishing begins. I’m still trying to master a fly rod version of my marabou jigs shaking and shuddering like my conventional fishing technique. It’s a killer technique. For more than 60 years, now. So it’s a good move to decide during my “wake up about 3 AM” Thinkfest, to practice that technique with the fly rod, today

“Practice” was the noble goal. But I still haven’t learned that it doesn’t take long catching no fish, that you wonder if you’re practicing correctly. Think. You’d better have a plan to catch fish or you won’t have confidence with what you practiced.

The 1/100 oz fly rod marabou jig is simply the exponentially smaller same version of the spinning rod marabou jig. Frankly, it’s just a mini-streamer. Something you (line) strip and for more advanced fishing, shake your rod tip in various ways-I’ll argue the most exhausting form of fly fishing. Three weeks ago, my ginger jig was the ticket. So I started with the ginger jig, today. Not a bad strategy, but not the best strategy when for two weeks, the plastic jig at the bottom of the picture has been killin’ it with the crappie, bluegill, and bass. The bad strategy was my staying with it for about an hour. And too many fishermen stick with lures, places, and ideas that worked a week ago, a year ago, “…when I was 7 years old…”, too often.

The other bad strategy-don’t fly fish streamer techniques on sunny days.

Finally…I reasoned that I’d tied something years ago that I thought would be killer for everything, and was still yet to be impressed. The middle jig in the picture is that tie. This one is for a conventional spinning rod. I put the two fly rod jigs of the same in the trees before I got to this picture today, Yep, another myth destroyed. “Experienced fishermen don’t put flies/lures in trees.” One tree plant was a noble effort-I was trying to cast within an inch or so of bald cypress branches. The fish have been laid up under those branches for weeks. The other tree plant was ahem…very amateur. Roll casting where I was standing wasn’t a good option-a layer of leaves and grit coated the surface water out about 10 feet from me. So, I’d mapped out the narrow area behind me that I could back cast and if needed, perform some mid-forward cast acrobatics to get my fly to land about anywhere I wanted. In my excitement, I forgot my narrow lane and on a backcast, planted my second working jig in a tree limb about 10 feet above my head. 🙄 Leaving me with a slightly altered version of the two lost jigs, at the top of the picture.

So what was the excitement that caused me to forget my backcast lane? After wasting that first hour I asked myself the question, “What have I tied that most closely mimics that plastic jig I’ve been throwing with the spinning rod?” It’s a jig of white mixed with gray, marabou feathers. But do you see the common thread that’s exact in all three? The silver flash. Think. “What colors do I have that come closest to that plastic jig, and do they have flash?” If they have flash, that’s probably going to be the dominate feature on a sunny day.

So my streamer practice morphed into simply leaving my homemade contact (streamer) leader on, but placing an indicator about two feet above the silver/white/flash 1/100 oz jig. Lake fly fishing simply doesn’t demand the “perfect leader for the technique” until you’re dry fly fishing, the way river fishing demands it. And THINKING…making all of these changes after an hour of crickets fishing, resulted in another 1+ hours of killin’ em. Big bluegill, crappie about as big as can be expected on this lake, and one ornery bass.

Think. About your goals in relation to the climate and weather and what the fish will permit. Think. About what was working with another style fishing and how to mimick that with the fly rod. Think. About what was likely the primary attractor with your lure that you can’t use fly fishing. For me, catching when I’m fishing isn’t as fun as the thinking. Solving the puzzle. Successfully.