30 September 2007, 12:54
idahochukar2Flyfishing for channel cats
After a half day of C&R on the Red River in Winnipeg using a level wind reel and 6' rod I decided to try my luck with a Winston XTR 9'-9 wt' I'd brought along. My guide had never seen a flyrod used for this kind of fishing and he expected the rod to blow up. I caught and released so many I lost count exactly but it was somewhere around 6. They all were in the range of 34" to 37", the largest weighing 27#s
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http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w212/idahochukar2/10.jpg[/IMG]30 September 2007, 13:02
idahochukar2Woops, lost the second picture
01 October 2007, 21:09
yukon deltaI've never caught cats on a flyrod. What was your setup and how deep?
Nicely done.
02 October 2007, 06:21
TumbleweedSo, what do you do when you're not fishing? Hunt moose with a BB gun??
04 October 2007, 01:05
idahochukar2Hunt moose with a BB gun....very good. Actually I learned about catfishing with a flyrod from some guys in S. Africa on the internet. Fishing style is unorthodox as there is not a 'cut bait' fly but I did the same as I'd done with the level wind reel and rod....almost.
We'd used a 3 ounce sliding sinker earlier so using a 9' 8#=/- leader I'd use for salt water fishing, I spooled out a bunch of line onto the boat floor and gave her the heave ho. Everything went zinging out into the river perfectly and I settled down with the line going straight directly out the end of the rod. I kept the line and rod in a straingt path to the bait so I could feel the slightest 'tug' without going through the rod.
When I felt any movement on the bottom I quickly stood up and yanked hard and fast to set the hook. Just as you'd do with a big fish in salt water. Never lost a fish except when one fish went around one of the two anchor ropes we had out.
The river was moving fast enough that I don't think even with a full sinking line you could have kept the 'lure' where it needed to be. But then if I get a chance to try it some more and the water isn't too deep I'll give a Limburger Cheese fly a try
04 October 2007, 03:28
idahochukar2 Although not caught with a fly rod, this is typical of the ones we caught