Don Reeves Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Glad to find a board dedicated to smallmouth fishing. I'm from Ontario ,Canada and I mostly flyfish but I like to think outside the box and often use flyrod tactics and lures that would make the flyrod purists faint. I'm looking forward to learning from the smallmouth experts in this forum. I fish from kaysk, pontoon and float tube and will likely get my canoe back on th water next season so I can spend time with my granddaughter who is 4 years old and loves to fish. She even helps me tie flies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ferguson Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Just for clarification, Don has registered on the forums, but has not become a paid member of the ISA (yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Hey Don,Welcome. I'm of Canadian descent myself. I would end that sentence with an aye but I now live in Georgia and by law have to say ya'll instead. I strictly fly fish for smallies myself and wasn't aware that there was a box. Just how far out of this box are you? That fly you posted looks like you throw trout flies at them. I love originality and creativity to a problem. Different is good. What are you doing different in Canada than we do here that we might learn from you? Are you a river or lake fisherman? There are alot of guys in this group who can really give you good information. And as you probably already know, check out what the spin guys are doing too. You can learn alot from them about where and when you should be fishing, you just have to adjust your fly fishing to mimic their techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Glad to find a board dedicated to smallmouth fishing. I'm from Ontario ,Canada and I mostly flyfish but I like to think outside the box and often use flyrod tactics and lures that would make the flyrod purists faint. I'm looking forward to learning from the smallmouth experts in this forum. I fish from kaysk, pontoon and float tube and will likely get my canoe back on th water next season so I can spend time with my granddaughter who is 4 years old and loves to fish. She even helps me tie flies. Don, Welcome to the ISA forums. After you get a chance to look around, you will see that there is a lot on the site. But as the Canadians would say, "Wait there's more, aye!" Assuming you live in Illinois, investing in a membership is well worthwhile. Getting the newsletter alone is worth more than the membership fee. It really is not a newsletter; rather it is a top notch magazine covering Illinois Small Mouth fishing from A to Z. Besides the newsletter, membership gets you into a lot of activities from fishing and conservation events on the water to meetings featuring expert speakers. As a tyer you should try a Bassbugger session. (BTW I just joined ISA this Spring and already feel I have gotten more than my money's worth.) As for your unorthodox tactics, I do not think you can outdo my father. He was very adept at lobbing Canadian Crawlers, shiner minnows, and grasshoppers with his boo rod and varnished HDH silk line. He developed the habits in the days before spinning gear was available for light persentations and just kept on even after. He was definitely from the "catch and kill" school of fishing. At least I hope you don't top him. I always enjoyed the teamwork required to fish from a canoe. Teaming up with the granddaughter next year should be especially rewarding for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Reeves Posted November 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 Don, Welcome to the ISA forums. After you get a chance to look around, you will see that there is a lot on the site. But as the Canadians would say, "Wait there's more, aye!" Assuming you live in Illinois, investing in a membership is well worthwhile. Getting the newsletter alone is worth more than the membership fee. It really is not a newsletter; rather it is a top notch magazine covering Illinois Small Mouth fishing from A to Z. Besides the newsletter, membership gets you into a lot of activities from fishing and conservation events on the water to meetings featuring expert speakers. As a tyer you should try a Bassbugger session. (BTW I just joined ISA this Spring and already feel I have gotten more than my money's worth.) As for your unorthodox tactics, I do not think you can outdo my father. He was very adept at lobbing Canadian Crawlers, shiner minnows, and grasshoppers with his boo rod and varnished HDH silk line. He developed the habits in the days before spinning gear was available for light persentations and just kept on even after. He was definitely from the "catch and kill" school of fishing. At least I hope you don't top him. I always enjoyed the teamwork required to fish from a canoe. Teaming up with the granddaughter next year should be especially rewarding for you. Many, many years ago I developed a passion for tying and fishing small jigs on ultra-lite spinning tackle. Then I started tossing weighted nymphs on 2 pound test.(spinning). Over the last 10 years or so I've done a lot of flyfishing for stillwater rainbows. When the fishing got tough in the summer months I started tossing jigs with my flyrod and was able to catch trout from the ponds more consistently than anyone using conventional flyrod methods. The club I belong to only allows flytackle. I use sinking lines a lot and sometimes cast plastics and even tiny plugs. " (The smallest "Thundercraw" is pretty deadly but I dislike the trebles.) In the past couple of years I've rekindled my love for smallmouth and am on a mission to find "Smallie Hotspots" reasonably close to home here in Southern Ontario. I fish both lakes and rivers but after buying a sit-on-top kayak and a pontoon boat I'm enjoying the river fishing the best. My reference to thinking outside the box refers to my penchant for experimentation and "pushing the envelope". I'm just as likely to be tossing trout flies at bass as I am to be fishing tubes for trout. I am just as passionate about tying jigs as I am about flytying. I'm more of a streamer guy than a dry fly guy but I certainly enjoy enticing bass with my deer hair bugs and balsa/foam poppers. My fishing is pretty much all catch and release except for panfish and I haven't used live bait for a very long time. Interestingly enough Georgia is one of the places I hope to soon visit. Ever since buying my Tarpon 120 kayak I've had the desire to get down there to fish the coastal saltwaters, the rivers that are home to "shoal bass" and some of the lakes that harbour freshwater "stripers". I'm glad to be aboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 You sound like my type of fishing partner. If you ever get the chance to come to Georgia, give me a call. You already seem to know what we fish for. As for the "box", I was implying that I'm so far out that I wasn't aware of it's exsistance. Good luck with you fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Reeves Posted November 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 You sound like my type of fishing partner. If you ever get the chance to come to Georgia, give me a call. You already seem to know what we fish for. As for the "box", I was implying that I'm so far out that I wasn't aware of it's exsistance. Good luck with you fishing. Craig, Good to talk to a kindred spirit. I was reading your post on the Bassbugger thread about you confidence in the "Hairy Fodder. Just watched Fox Statdler taking smallmouths with a "zoom lizard" on a flyrod. Got to get myself a passport so I can drive across the border and come South sometime soon. Can you fish for smallmouth all year long in Georgia? How about the stripers? Water gets awfully hard up here this time of year. I'm a retired teacher currently working a long term contract until the New Year. If I could swing it I'd like to go South to fish this winter or early spring. Driving down would give me the opportunity to fish smallmouth in Tennessee, Kentucky or one of the Eastern Seaboard States on the way down. I can see loading up one of my fishing vessels and my camping and fishing gear and getting lost for a few weeks. However my wife's not retired yet; she might think my plans are too ambitious. I originally found out about the wonderful fishing opportunities through the Georgia Kayaking Forum. Any other Alliance members ever go down to Georgia? (My musical background tells me the "Devil Went Down To Georgia.") God Bless, Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Loebach Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 I've been there once last spring & will definatly return when I can. Spots, Shoalies & stripers with the season almost year around. Spring starts in early March down that way. You should share some of your local waters & prime times to visit. Its nice to fish north as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.