Early Season Pike Fishing

April 11, 2016 / galen / Fishing, Fly Fishing

It’s just about mid-April, which means less than a month away from opening day of fishing season in Southern Saskatchewan. For me, early season means chasing hungry pike in the shallows. Outdoor Canada recently had an article on the topic. You read their 3 Unbeatable Rigs for Catching Huge Early Season Northern Pike.

i am especially drawn to the third heading in the article, the Fly Fishing Formula. I have a few streamers that are well liked by pike. But, I have my own summer fishing plan that was inspired by a different Outdoor Canada article so before I go into my fly box and tie on some of the big streamers, I first have to work the water with some of the Seven Flies that I have tied for this season. Maybe a variation of the Clouser Deep Minnow will work for early season pike. In my article, I tied all the flies with blue and white bucktail. Now I am going to go back and tie some other colour combinations, and add some length, to try and match the look of the whitefish spoons and cisco baits used by many anglers. Combinations of white, silver, and gold might look very whitefishy. Some mixed green colors, with yellow, white, and a flash of red can pass as perch soon to be a meal.

More to follow, as i tie some patterns, and more in a month as they hit the water.

7 Flies for Canada – #3 – Clouser Deep Minnow

April 3, 2016 / galen / Fishing, Fly Fishing

Fly #3 in the Series

This fly is a deep running minnow imitation. First time I fished a Clouser Deep Minnow was in a sheltered bay on Lake Diefenbaker, near Saskatchewan Landing. It turned out to be a popular fly with the Goldeyes in the area. I had good success with it a few years later at Besnard Lake, casting it past a Walleye pool then letting it swing down into the pool and pulling it through. The barbel eyes make it sink quickly and the upturned hook help avoid bottom snags.

Tying the Clouser Deep Minnow

This is a very straight forward fly to tie. If you can wind thread around a hook shank, you can tie this fly. For variation, just substitute colors of bucktail to produce different colored minnow patterns. Even tri-colored versions work, especially a green, blue, white combination. Because there are two bunches of material used, one for the body/tail and one for the wing, you can even add a little bit of red to the body, such as red and blue, and then white and blue for the wing.

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5. According to the Fly Tying Bible this is a 3 out 5 for tying difficulty. Once you figure out how to attach the dumbbell eyes, the rest of the fly is really easy.

Materials:

dry fly hooks, from #8 to #4 XL streamer hooks
blue and white bucktail
white thread
dumbbell eyes

Place the hook in the vice. Starting just behind the eye, build up wraps of white thread approximately 1/4 down the shank.

Attach the dumbbell eyes to the top of the shank using figure 8 turns of thread. Leave some space between the eyes and the hook eye. You will use this space to attach the wing material. Use enough turns to keep the eyes firmly in place. Cut small bunches of blue bucktail and white bucktail and place them together. The bucktail should be about 2 times the hook shaft length, or longer. Trim the end to make it even and place on the shaft behind the dumbbell eyes. Secure in place by winding the thread in wide spaced turns to the hook bend and back, which will create a criss-crossed pattern of white thread.

Remove the hook from the vice, flip it over and re-insert into the vice. This places the heavy eyes at the bottom of the hook and keep the hook bend facing up when fishing to minimize bottom snags.

Gather a mixed bunch of white and blue bucktail, longer than the body/tail bunches, about 2-1/2 to 3 times the hook shaft length. Catch them in between the hook eye and the dumbbell eyes. Use enough wraps of thread to build up a head then move the thread behind the dumbbell eye and add another 8 to 10 wraps of thread. Whip finish the thread here and add head cement to the wraps in front of and behind the dumbbells.

If your dumbbell eyes did not come pre-painted, you can choose to paint them or leave them. If you wish to paint them, to add more realism, you can use a dab of whiteout, let it dry, then use a black sharpie permanent marker. Small bottles of craft paint work as well, with a very small brush. Just be careful you only pain the eyes. You can paint them before you tie them to a fly, but because they are small items, it can be difficult.

The Fly Box

With Wooley Buggers, Brown and White Bucktails (Mickey Finn), and Clouser Minnows. These are all considered sub-surface patterns, fished as wet fly. They are also fairly large fly patterns. They are used to go down to where the fish are, feeding in the water column or the at bottom. The next fly we will tie will be a dry fly, the Bivisible.

7 Flies For Canada – #2 Brown & White Bucktail

March 28, 2016 / galen / Fly Fishing

Fly #2 in the Series

The bucktail fly is also known as the Mickey Finn. It is intended as a minnow imitation. I have fished this fly successfully for perch. They attack it aggressively with their tap-tap-tap bites. A large size fly, such as a #4 or a #6 is often to big a fly for their small mouths so I like to tie them in #8 sizes as well.

Tying the Brown and White Bucktail

When I dug into my tying supplies, I found myself without the recommended materials for the wing portion of the fly, so, I adapted and used the closest materials I had. In place of brown and white bucktail, I used long elk body hair and some white or red crystal flash. Variations of this fly can easily be made by using other colors for the wing and tag sections.

Difficulty level: 3 out of 5. According to the Fly Tying Bible this is a 3 out 5 for tying difficulty. I agree with them, if only because of the variety of materials this fly uses. a 3 out of 5, should mean that the average fly tier should be able to handle it, while a novice may struggle a bit.

Materials:

dry fly hooks, from #8 to #4 XL streamer hooks
red marabou or red crystal flash for the tag
red thread
black thread
silver tinsel or mylar piping
brown and white bucktail strands (I substituted elk hair and crystal flash)

Pinch off the barbs on all your hooks then secure the hook end of one in a vise. Start the red tying thread about 1/3 back from the eye and wrap the shaft back to the hook bend. Catch in a small portion of red marabou for the tag.

Cut a section of silver mylar piping about 2/3 the length of the shaft and remove any stuffing from the inside of the piping. Slide the piping down the shaft and just past the red tying thread. Use 5 to 8 wraps of thread to secure the piping in place, whip finish and add some head cement to the red thread.

Wind on the black tying thread at the eye. Push the mylar piping in forward then hold in place. Wind the black thread away from the eye to secure the piping in place.

Mix together two small bunches of brown and white bucktail and stack one end together. Place on the shank near the eye and secure in place with several wraps of black thread. Trim away any excess bucktail reaching past the eye. Wind on black thread to form a head, whip finish and add head cement to complete.

Options: You can add weight to the fly with lead wire, either by pre-wrapping the shaft or by attaching the wire at the same time as the piping at the hook bend, then wrapping the wire forward over the piping and securing with the black thread near the eye. You can also trade the marabou tag for a thread tag made with multiple wraps of built up thread.

When tying a shorter shaft fly, the mylar piping can be difficult to work with in such short lengths. Substitute some silver tinsel, using overlapping wraps from the hook bend to the black thread just behind the eye.

The Fly Box:

7 Flies For Canada – #1 Bead Head Wooley Bugger

March 14, 2016 / galen / Fly Fishing

Fly #1 in the Series

Tying the Bead Head Wooley Bugger

Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5.
All of the steps are pretty basic, but if you decide to add your own enhancements and options it becomes a little more challenging. The most difficult step is winding the hackle, but get yourself some good hackle pliers and it will be an easy job. According to the Fly Tying Bible (you need this book if you are even thinking of ever tying a fly) this is a 3 out 5 for tying difficulty.

Materials:

#4 Streamer Hook
Brass or Copper Bead Head
Lead Wire (optional)
Black Thread
Black/Olive Strung Marabou
Black/Olive Hackle
Black/Olive Chenille
Red Floss (optional)

Start by pinching down the barb on the hook with a set of pliers.

Slide the bead head over the hook and forward to the eye of the hook

(Optional) Wind the Lead Wire from the bend of the hook forward to the eye.

Wrap the thread approximately 5 times just behind the lead wire at the hook bend and catch in a bunch of marabou, stem of the hackle, and the Chenille. Continue winding the thread forward to the eye, which also serves to secure the lead wire in place.

Wrap the chenille forward to just short of the bead head and catch in place with several wraps of thread.

Wind the hackle forward and catch in place with thread behind the bead head. Tie off the thread and add head cement to finish the fly.

Options: You can create variations of this fly very easily, just by changing the color scheme of the fly, substituting olive for black in any of the material, from all olive to all black, and a mix of colors in between. On an all black version, create an egg-sucking leach by skipping the bead head and using red floss to build up a red, egg shaped portion just behind the hook eye.

The Fly Box:

7 Flies That Catch Fish in Canada

March 11, 2016 / galen / Fishing, Fly Fishing

I recently read an article in Outdoor Canada Magazine (my second favorite outdoor magazine) titled 7 Easy to Tie Flies That Will Catch Fish Anywhere in Canada. I live “Anywhere in Canada” and I love to fly fish so I have decided that it is my mission this summer to try all these flies and give you a report on how well they work and how easy to tie they are. One of the points the author makes is “these flies will work just fine if they’re a little sloppy”. Coincidentally that’s exactly how I tie most of my flies. I think “sloppy” also makes them look “buggy”, and, in some cases, injured.

So, the 7 flies are (in order of the images below the list):

I have tied and fished flies similar to all these at some point, except maybe the BiVisible. Good news, I can remember catching fish on all of them, from walleye and goldeneye on the Clouser Minnow to rainbow trout on the caddis. The wooley bugger has been a favorite, catching a wide variety of species including pike, walleye, and rainbow trout. The bucktail has work especially well on perch. I haven’t used an egg fly pattern in Canada, but I have caught steelhead on the Salmon river in Idaho with an orange/red version. Hare’s ear nymphs have caught rainbow trout and perch.

By the end of summer, I will also add a few of my favorites to the list, hopefully arriving at a respectable 10 flies that are easy to tie, easy to fish, and catch fish. Expect that list to include the Super Jumbo Mosquito.

Summer Fishing Plan

My plan for the summer is fill a new fly box with only these flies and fish them as often as I can. Translation: I now have another reason to go fishing. Whenever I convert my gear fishing fishing buddies over the art of fly fishing, I will arm them with a few of these flies and keep track of how well they do. Well, 2 months until fishing season opens, I’d better get tying some flies.

Essential Ice Fishing Gear

January 31, 2016 / galen / Fishing, Ice Fishing

Ice Fishing Essentials Gear List

5 Gallon Bucket & Seat
Auger
Rod & Reels (x 3)
Hooks
Tackle Box Tray
Bait
Hole Cleaner

By essential ice fishing gear, we mean the minimum requirements to get out and enjoy a day on the frozen lake. This is not everything, and it’s not the high end of ice fishing gear. That’s another article.

To start with, and we try to list off the obvious items first, you need a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. The bucket is your tackle box and your seat. If you are trying to take more gear than you can fit in a 5 gallon bucket, you are taking too much. Inside the bucket should be your ice fishing rod and reel, your bait, and your single box of hooks and weights. Add to this a hole cleaner (like a big perforated soup ladle) and you are stocked with the basics. If you plan on keeping some of your catch, then you need to add a filet knife and some plastic storage bags. Remember, it should all fit in the bucket. The only things not likely to fit in the bucket are the rods and reels, but there is a solution to that.

I’m a big fan of The Fishin Hole so I’m going to feature some product pics available at their stores.

Once you get to your spot, you need an ice auger. If we were trying to fish with primitive weapons I would say a hand crank auger, but when you have up to 4 feet of ice to drill through during a cold Saskatchewan winter, you NEED a power auger. Generally there are 8″ diameter and 10″ diameter models available. Don’t be cheap on your auger, get a quality 10″ auger. If you are planning on drilling a dozen holes or so, you don’t want the auger to ruin your day. Make sure you have the tank full of your oil/gas mixture before you leave so you don’t need to mess with that on the ice.

So you have a few holes drilled and you can set the auger aside for awhile. Now make sure you have the least expensive item in your ice fishing tackle box / bucket ready to go, the hole cleaner.

Some people call it a skimmer, or an ice ladle. No matter what you call it, when your holes start to freeze over, this $5 tool will make it easy to remove that thin top layer of ice from the hole.

The bucket, as was mentioned first, is your tackle box and your seat. I recommend you buy a pivoting bucket seat cover to go with your bucket. It gives a little bit of extra cushion for your butt and lets you move around easier. You will want a lid that is easy on and easy off as you will be storing your tackle in it and you will need to go in and out of it frequently. One custom modification you will want to make is to drill a hole in an outer flap on the lid and loop a zip tie through the bucket handle and the hole you drilled. When you put your rods in the bucket, they will stick out the top too far to bend under the lid. So let the lid dangle, but not get left behind.

Your choice in lures and bait is almost endless. I have three favorites that I like to have pre-tied on three separate rod and reel combos. When you are out on the ice, especially on a cold and windy day, tying knots can be difficult. Have three rods rigged up will keep you fishing and able to adjust your lure and bait presentation quickly.

Above left is a Swimming Jig. I used to use just a regular jig head, the same as when summer jigging over a walleye hole. It was my go to lure. Now I like the action of the swimming jig which seems to produce strikes a little better, especially with perch. To add some flash to the presentation, the Whopper Hawger in the middle is easy to fish and with a single J hook is also quick to release the fish. When I’m targeting walleye and pike, I like the Lindy Darter which also has a rattle feature to attract predators from further away. For bait, check with your local tackle shop, but the standard meal worms for perch and minnows for pike and walleye will never go out of style. Leaches may also work well but are hard to handle in the cold with gloves on .

I always multiple lures of each kind available, in varying weights and colors, just in case I feel the need to change up. The need to change up is usually triggered by the guy next to you out fishing you 3 to 1 using an orange lure while you are using green. Keep them in a tackle box utility tray, just one. Don’t try to bring your whole tackle box with you, just bring the one tray, with just the essentials. Less gear makes for less hassle out on the ice.

I mentioned before to have 3 rods rigged up and ready. I like to have rods rigged up for the lure/bait combination so that there is no waiting and no tying while on the ice. Pick the rod, add the bait to the hook and drop it down the hole. I am far less fussy about the rod and reel for ice fishing than I am for fly fishing. You can get a good quality ice fishing rod and reel combo for $35 to $45 dollars. At that price, get 2 or 3. When you save yourself tying time in a -30 windchill, you will know.

So there are your Essentials for Ice Fishing Gear. As I am writing this post, I keep finding myself wanting to drift into talking about some higher end ice fishing gear, some which is listed below. That will be a future article.

Ice Fishing Advanced Gear List

When you go beyond the bare essentials, you quickly empty your wallet, but add to the experience.

Tip ups
Pop Up Shack or Shelter
Propane heater
Wood burning stove
Underwater camera
Snowmobile gear sled

Add Your Favorite Places

January 6, 2016 / galen / Fishing, Hunting

Do you have some favorite fishing or hunting places? We do, and we love to help out others around us by adding them to the Favorite Places section.

Our Favorite Places to Fish and Hunt

Adding one of your favorite places does not mean giving up your secret spot. You don’t need to offer up your GPS waypoints. Rather, you are helping other hunters and anglers be more successful in the outdoors, doing the same things you love to do. If you are worried about your secret fishing spot, next to the secret inlet, just past the secret bush, then be a little more general, like “the west side of the lake”.

So take a minute or two, go to the link above, and add a few of your favorites. You just might find that others are doing the same and this will help you broaden your hunting or fishing locations and you may discover a new favorite spot.

Add A Campground Rating

December 2, 2015 / galen / Camping, Outdoors

Did you know you can add your opinion to the Campground ratings section and help other campers? On our provincial camping pages we include a campground rating and comments area.

Did you like your campsite? Were the facilities clean and modern? Was the firewood dry? How was the playground? Is the fishing good at the nearby lake or river?

Your opinions and comments will help future families and other campers pick the campground that is best suited to what they want from their outdoors adventure camping experience.

New Whitetail Outfitter Website

November 30, 2015 / galen / Deer Hunting, Hunting

Announcing the newest in websites hosted and managed by PrairieOutdoors.com.

www.bluehazehuntclub.com

Blue Haze hunt Club is a Manitoba whitetail deer hunting outfitter operating in the western area of the province, near Riding Mountain National Park. This location, spanning the forest fringe and agricultural land, is a hot spot for whitetail deer, offering optimum growing conditions for big-bodied deer.

After being in contact with Blue Haze, we discussed their online marketing needs and then we built them a website to focus attention on their whitetail outfitter business.

Proven Deer Hunting Tips

October 19, 2015 / galen / Deer Hunting, Hunting

Proven Deer Hunting Tips by Luke Harris

Preseason Scouting: An essential step to preparing for the deer hunting season is by scouting before it starts. Keep your visibility low on these outings by crouching down or even laying on your stomach. Watch for feeding patterns and the routes deer choose, this will show you where to position yourself when the season comes.

Tree Stands and Safety: Tree stands provide a good vantage point for getting your shot. You’ll also be above the deer’s normal viewing area helping to disguise you even more. Remember that most accidents in the tree stand come from falling asleep or when getting on or off your stand. The best way to prevent an accident is by purchasing a tree stand harness and using it.

Bait the Area In Which You Want the Deer to Be: Bait the area you want the deer to be with chopped up apples. Deer have trouble resisting the smell of apples and if it’s up wind they’ll certainly be compelled to find the tasty treat. This means you’ll have the deer right where you want him-in your scope.

Choose Good Clothing: There’s nothing worse than a cold rainy day when you’re wearing cotton. Choose jackets and clothing that are waterproof and windproof. Products with Gore-Tex and Wind Stopper are ideal but pricey. You can usually find Camo gear with the same functions for half the price. Do your research and shop around.

Using Deer Calls: You should allow 20-30 minutes between using your deer call. Anything more will sound unnatural to the deer. Make sure that you vary the intensity of the call. If the deer is close tone it down, if the deer is further away make sure he can hear it. Tie a string around your deer call so you can keep it around your neck, this way you won’t drop it or have any trouble finding it when you’re ready to use it again.

Wait Awhile Before Tracking Your Wounded Deer: It’s best to wait 20-30 minutes before you track down a wounded deer. Believe me this can seem like an eternity but it’s worth the wait. If you set out tracking immediately you’ll get the deer’s adrenaline racing and he’ll cover more distance in half an hour than you could in half a day. Let his wound run its course and soon your deer will be overcome with fatigue and weakness. Now you won’t have to track him so far. Happy Hunting.

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