Fly Fishing Q&A

I know it's sacrilege, but a on a floating 1" crankbait thrown with a 4wt with a floating line I caught large & small mouth, carp, catfish, stripers, bluegill, and crappie when tossed within a foot of shore and stripping it a few feet. It was a hoot.
 
six5 said:
I know it's sacrilege, but a on a floating 1" crankbait thrown with a 4wt with a floating line I caught large & small mouth, carp, catfish, stripers, bluegill, and crappie when tossed within a foot of shore and stripping it a few feet. It was a hoot.
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I have fly fished for 45 years and I see nothing wrong with what you did, and I think most fly fishermen today would feel the same. Your 1" crankbait is not much different from a cork popper which many fly fishermen would fish. The only thing that you have to watch for is not hitting the last section of the rod on the follow through as fly rods tend to be pretty thin near the tip. I am heading down tomorrow to Blue Notch and will fish some spinning gear if it is real muddy but will also work out what flies will work. I have caught lots of crappie and blue gill on flies in other waters and smallmouth in Flaming Gorge. This will be my first trip down to Lake Powell, and I appreciate all the insights other anglers have posted on this site. I will give a report when we get back.
 
Bruceflyfisher said:
I have fly fished for 45 years and I see nothing wrong with what you did, and I think most fly fishermen today would feel the same. Your 1" crankbait is not much different from a cork popper which many fly fishermen would fish. The only thing that you have to watch for is not hitting the last section of the rod on the follow through as fly rods tend to be pretty thin near the tip. I am heading down tomorrow to Blue Notch and will fish some spinning gear if it is real muddy but will also work out what flies will work. I have caught lots of crappie and blue gill on flies in other waters and smallmouth in Flaming Gorge. This will be my first trip down to Lake Powell, and I appreciate all the insights other anglers have posted on this site. I will give a report when we get back.
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Outstanding, enjoy. I might suggest some chartreuse clousers and a few sex dungeons for moving some dirty water and having a stinger should do the trick. And maybe a few small dries for slurping carp. fish report!
TR
 
TR. said:
I was on a trip down south recently and came across a fly line I had developed for the lake. I threw it on the 8 weight and gave it a throw. I had forgotten what this line was about and it was kinda fun to cast. I have mentioned this before however probably worth throwing it up here again. There are times you need to have a very short back cast at th e lake. Think up close to the moki wall or casting from a shoreline with rocks or hill behind you preventing a long backcast. Take a piece of lead core line..flexible not stiff. Measure out a length that will probably overload your rod and put on 150’ of amnesia running line (or equivalent). Get the shooting line past the tip and practice a good load and throw. gradually snip off and shorten pieces of the shooting head until you can throw the line without overloading the rod. Done. My example was 22 ft. Of shooting head on 150’ of amnesia 20lb. 8 wt, single load (1 backcast) and it will go well over a hundred feet. Now you have a 22 ft. Backcast and a good distance on the throw. The line is not really a joy to cast, and don’t believe the “no memory” on the amnesia spool, but when you are stuck tied up to a wall for a few hours with your buds it will put a smile on your face to still be able to cast and catch fish with a fly rod. This is also a great setup for early season stripers when they are running deeper than 10 feet as this setup sinks super fast and you can put a bushy enticing fly at depth for a long time with minimal movement just waiting for the school to swim by.

TR
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What knots do you like between running line and shooting head, and to the tippet?
I went to Pyramid last month and 99% of the flyfishermen had two-handed rods to cast from shore, they were fun and relaxing to cast with easy 60-100' roll cast.
 
Outside said:
What knots do you like between running line and shooting head, and to the tippet?
I went to Pyramid last month and 99% of the flyfishermen had two-handed rods to cast from shore, they were fun and relaxing to cast with easy 60-100' roll cast.
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That lake is on my bucket list
 
Outside said:
What knots do you like between running line and shooting head, and to the tippet?
I went to Pyramid last month and 99% of the flyfishermen had two-handed rods to cast from shore, they were fun and relaxing to cast with easy 60-100' roll cast.
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My buddy gave me a 4 wght. Spey last year. humbling experience 😂 I tend to use an Albright for 2 different sized lines. A little crazy glue to football it up helps but it still a good idea to have it out past the top guide when you load it. Every now and then I bring it in a little too far and when I feel it go through at high speed I check to make the tip of the rod is still in place lol.
 
I have read about people pre-treating their dry flies prior to taking them to the stream. I have just been treating the dries with a floatant (Gink) prior to fishing with them, and then using a drying agent like Frog's Fanny when they started getting waterlogged.
Do you pre-treat your dry flies, and if so, what do you use and why.
 
nataliadonnelly said:
I have read about people pre-treating their dry flies prior to taking them to the stream. I have just been treating the dries with a floatant (Gink) prior to fishing with them, and then using a drying agent like Frog's Fanny when they started getting waterlogged.
Do you pre-treat your dry flies, and if so, what do you use and why.
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Flyagra works very well for me for pretreatment. There are a bunch of other products that are great, most old school contain kerosene and paraffin. I like frogs Fanny for small dry flies and I have found the trick is to really work the powder in. And a dessicant powder to dry wet flies gives them an extended life. For the lake I don’t really use dry flies that need this, I tie in enough foam to keep the flies up.

TR
 
I believe a #2 Sex Dungeon would be a dynamite fly for both smallmouths and stripers as would a Sparkle Minnow. I caught a few smallmouth on both last fall. Unfortunately there were just not enough bass up on the shelves to catch a bunch. I used a high density sink tip line. I also caught a couple on an Autumn Splendor scooted along the bottom on a high density full sink line. That fly is a decent imitation of a Lake Powell crayfish.

Of course Clousers would be good for stripers and bass. They sort of resemble the Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worm in the 901 (watermelon/white laminate) color which is highly effective on the lake. There are times bass poppers would catch plenty of fish. Remember, smallmouth prefer smaller poppers than largemouths. I discovered this as a kid fly fishing for them in Ontario and on Ozark streams in Missouri. Panfish poppers worked the best.

Fly fishing will catch fish on Powell. The main issue is getting the fly in front of the fish. It will never be as consistent as conventional tackle due to the deep water habits of Powell fish, but when they are up shallower it can be effective.

Ed Gerdemann
 
dicksturn said:
Being an avid Fly fisherman, I've caught a 6 1/4 lb cutthroat on a fast river on my 10ft 5 wgt rod. Probably handle a 10 lb or better
6 wgt for up to 15-20 lb and seen 35 lb fish caught on a 7 wgt. Some depends on skill level and luck. Have caught really big fish on 5x tippett then lost the same on 2-3x.
I'm a cheapo and have caught as many fish if not more on my $150 fenwick fly rod as the $1000 winston boys
I'd like to see TR's flies for stripers, and suggestions also
Tight Lines
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I fish TFO Blue Ribbons which run $270-300. Quite frankly, they are far superior trout rods than those $1000 fast action wonders. I've had several guides buy them for their boats after trying mine out. Most trout, even in big rivers, are caught from 40 feet in, and these rods excel at those distances. They also do flip mends better than high dollar fast action rods which is critical for getting long drifts from a drift boat. They load quickly with minimal false casting, too

The most important factor in fly fishing gear is the line. A premium fly line like SA's Amplitude series will make a moderately priced rod fish like a premium one. That's the place to put your money.

Ed Gerdemann
 
Dr. Love said:
I normally use only two flies at Lake Powell. Stripers like a white-on-white clouser minnow 3-4 inches long. Smallmouth like a 1-1 1/2 inch black woolly bugger. l think the woolly bugger simulates a baby catfish. I fish both with a sinking line.
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Fast sinking line(6 inches per second) long casts and let it sink to the school depth of stripers, white w/ a little blue clowsers and strip fast about two feet. Fly rod is down in the water If fish are 30 feet, let your line sink for one minute and hang on to that fly rod.
 
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