Flycanoe
08-28-2007, 01:14 PM
This year, I tried something completely new. I designed, tied and fished my own kokanee trolling flies instead of using conventional gear.
The seasons over for me now that school and fall sports have started, so I thought I'd report on the results. Also kind of wondering if anybody else has done anything like this.
My method of fishing is the same as conventional gear in that I am trolling with a downrigger and using a dodger to give the fly action, but I am using a fly rod/reel combo with mono running line with my flies. Bascially, it's just my shooting line setup with a sinking head, dodger and fly on the end.
My flies are based on the wooly bugger pattern in colors that match the most popular kokanee lures of pink and charteuse.
The first picture shows my first attempt at a kokanee trolling fly and the dodger I used with it.
My son and I fished it at New Melones Memorial weekend and did fairly well. Landed 3 fish up to 13", with 4 more hookups that came unbuttoned, 2 right at the net.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/ldorius/steelhead%20flies/Tied%20Flies/kokeflyflpink2.jpg
Decided to add a 2nd hook to the fly as Kokanee mouths are really soft making them difficult to land. So I came up with this 2nd version of the fly that I call the double bugger with 2 hooks.
My son and I fished this new version 2 weeks ago and did fairly well again. Landed 3 kokanee to 15" from the only 3 hookups we got, so we lost none. My son really had a blast fighting a 15" kokanee on a 5wt fly rod.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/ldorius/steelhead%20flies/Tied%20Flies/IMG_2136.jpg
So overall, I pretty happy with the results so far and now starting to think up ways to improve the fly for next year.
The seasons over for me now that school and fall sports have started, so I thought I'd report on the results. Also kind of wondering if anybody else has done anything like this.
My method of fishing is the same as conventional gear in that I am trolling with a downrigger and using a dodger to give the fly action, but I am using a fly rod/reel combo with mono running line with my flies. Bascially, it's just my shooting line setup with a sinking head, dodger and fly on the end.
My flies are based on the wooly bugger pattern in colors that match the most popular kokanee lures of pink and charteuse.
The first picture shows my first attempt at a kokanee trolling fly and the dodger I used with it.
My son and I fished it at New Melones Memorial weekend and did fairly well. Landed 3 fish up to 13", with 4 more hookups that came unbuttoned, 2 right at the net.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/ldorius/steelhead%20flies/Tied%20Flies/kokeflyflpink2.jpg
Decided to add a 2nd hook to the fly as Kokanee mouths are really soft making them difficult to land. So I came up with this 2nd version of the fly that I call the double bugger with 2 hooks.
My son and I fished this new version 2 weeks ago and did fairly well again. Landed 3 kokanee to 15" from the only 3 hookups we got, so we lost none. My son really had a blast fighting a 15" kokanee on a 5wt fly rod.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/ldorius/steelhead%20flies/Tied%20Flies/IMG_2136.jpg
So overall, I pretty happy with the results so far and now starting to think up ways to improve the fly for next year.