IndianaYakFish

Earlier this month I fished with the guys from Feenstra Outdoors up near Newaygo, MI. My first guided fishing trip and I couldn't have been happier. While I'm not normally a guided trip kind of guy, I wanted to learn about steelhead and how to catch them on the fly. To say I learned a lot on the two day trip would be a great understatement. My guide was Matt Z. and he was excellent. On day one myself and the other client caught numerous nice walleye on the fly and in the early afternoon I landed my first ever steelhead. WOW what a fish those steelhead are! On day two, the DNR was shocking the river for walleye so that they could collect their eggs, so needless to say the fishing wasn't too good that morning. After lunch it picked back up and I landed my second steelhead of the trip. I can't say enough good things about the guides and fishing. Think it's the only time I've ever fished in a cold rain and truly enjoyed it. Lol!

These are what I've used for the past couple of years and I am really happy with them, even when cutting braided fishing line for my conventional fishing gear (although I'm using that stuff less and less nowadays).

Welcome to the board. Nice looking flies!

Welcome back.

www.jacksonkayak.com For fly fishing, check out the Kilroy, the Coosa HD (not the standard Coosa) and especially the Big Rig. The Big Rig is super stable. I have owned both the Kilroy and the Coosa HD and have settled on the Kilroy. All of them have the high/low seating, come ready to fish (includes rod holders and such) and are built right in Tennessee.

Don't you hate it when...word gets out to your buddies that you enjoy going to the craft stores with your wife. Now, what did I do with that Hobby Lobby coupon?

I work second shift and tie either in the mornings before work or late at night after work. Usually coffee or a cold beer is on the bench.

The tip. But I've had em break at both ends?

Was tying up some wooly buggers yesterday and my hackle kept breaking when I tried to wrap it. I'm not using hackle pliers so there wasn't any sharp metal edges to catch it on or anything. I just bought the hackle about a month ago, but not sure how long is sat on the shop's shelf. Could it just be dry? Would letting it sit in water for a while before using it help or something? Any input would be great, thanks in advance!

Actually, for those little brookies, a cane pole would work. HA!

flyguy613, the rod in that pic is my 20 year old St. Croix (can't remember the model) 5/6 weight. Bit of over kill for those little brookies, but it's the smallest weight fly rod I own right now. HOWEVER, my 8 weight also has a Sage reel, but I have the Accel rod. Love the Sage stuff and would love to replace the older St. Croix with a new Sage rod, plus ad a 3 weight to the lineup eventually. I'll be using the 8 weight to chase carp on the fly for the first time next week. Rookie chasing carp...this should be entertaining. Thanks everyone for the kind words. I can't wait to get back up north.

That looks like a great day right there!

While on a quick Memorial Day weekend trip to our land in the eastern Upper Peninsula, my brother in law and I managed to spend all day Sunday on the local rivers. We fly fished while the women went to do touristy stuff and shop, so it worked out well. I'm totally new to fly fishing for trout, so when this little brookie took my brown wooly bugger, I was pretty pumped up about it. This was not only my first trout on the fly, but also my first fish of any kind on a fly I tied myself. Definitely have the fly tying fever now! I went on to catch three more little brookies on the same brown wooly bugger before we had to call it a day.

My goal is pretty simply...instead of chasing bluegill with a fly rod once or twice a year, this year I'm going to target bass, steelhead, pike, carp and trout with a fly rod on a regular basis. Have my work cut out for me, but it's going to be a heck of a good time.

Hi everyone! New to the forum, semi-new to fly fishing (been chasing a few bluegill off and on for decades is all) and really new to fly tying. I live in northeastern Indiana and do most of my local fishing from a kayak on the rivers and many small lakes in our part of the state. My wife and I also own a small parcel of land in the upper peninsula of Michigan (God's country) that we bought just about a year ago. Since we bought that land, I've decided I need to fly fish a LOT more both up there and here at home, so here I am. Plans this year are to target bass (largemouth and smallmouth), pike and carp here at home as well as trout up north. My brother in law and I have a long weekend planned in April to chase steelhead in the UP and I can't wait. I've never fished for steelhead and it should be a great time. When it comes to fly tying, I've only tied a couple to play around and give it a try. I'll be tying some egg patterns, wooly buggers and clousers soon to get me going this spring.