Yeah please post them when you get the chance! I'd love to see them!
I expanded my inventory of dressed hooks with a large quantity of single hooks, thinking the action of them on a spoon could be pretty enticing using a method of high test braid to attach them. I'll post a picture when I get a moment. Pretty eager to try them out and I'll report back on any success or lack there of. I feel like I really was able to cut down on extra space in my pack this year, only to be taken up by even more fishing gear  but I absolutely love it. Still a few more flies I want to tie up now that I think about it, but smaller ones with the remaining space I have in those fly boxes. Streamer box is LOADED.
Trip is less than 2 weeks out!
Hobbes

Wow yes! I prepared to try the exact same setup! I have 3 williams wobblers so I took one, removed the hook and left it to tie on a fly exactly like you said! Thought of a big bugger, or some bunny strip streamers to give them extra flow would be good choices, but like you said at this time of year it probably won't matter much, just need to get it in front of them. I had heard of people going with a worm behind a spool like this, so I figured a fly should also be a great option back there. 

I also picked up a pack of those Wigglefin action discs, which are a small shaped pieces of plastic that vibrate your fly and you can adjust further up or closer to the fly for faster or slower presentations on the vibration. It just sits on a bobber stop so quick to move where you want it.

I have been debating if I should start a new thread or continue posting here, but since this has all the relevant input I want to talk about, along with no other new threads being made in the fishing section, then I might as well keep the party going here!

When I have time I am going to write up all the different strategies I experimented with last year, what I found worked, what didn't, and thoughts for this year!

I have my first trip planned for early May with not much else on the calendar in between so all my ADHD is starting to turn it's hyper focus on chasing Lakers and Specs in the magic of Algonquin.

I hope you are all doing well and ready to talk flies, lures and fishing!

Cheers,
Hobbes

Oh one cool piece I missed mentioning was the biggest splake I caught was fishing Stillwater style and it took a black balanced leech under a quick release indicator while I slowly drifting past a rock wall where we located some fish.

I haven't paddled much in thunderstorms but I've certainly spent some time fly fishing the local rivers as the thunder starts!

Good call on the white and blue flash for streamer colours. Goes in-line with consistent silver/blue spoon pattern you see people recommend. I would double down on that too when hitting the bigger lakes with cisco or whitefish and cruising over open water, but surprisingly not a colour I have explored much. I have been focusing a lot on dace/shiner patterns and colours (lots of yellows, browns, chartreuse, black, golds and copper) for those shore/minnow imitations. Yellow is definitely a colour those specs attack. This spring will see my group head through Hogan/La Muir/Big Trout (plus everything before and after from Opeongo) though so I'm definitely going to be more keen on what you mentioned with the silver/blue/whites. 

I do wonder what size streamers/spoons/baits you guys find success with? I plan on finding more spots for jigging this year, tying up some hair/marabou jigs to throw out on areas I'm keying in on with this route, but thinking about what sizes I should aim for.

Hobbes

Hey there, Hobbes sounds like you had a pretty good year last year although like most of us there’s never enough time to fish as long as we’d like! A couple things I’ve learned over the years. Firstly, when trolling streamers the only way to get a positive hook set is to place your fly rod pointing straight back, out the stern of the canoe with your reel lodged over the thwart or yoke in front of you. Obviously works much better if you’re paddling from the stern seat but it works in bis with reel over front edge of your seat. The only problem then is your line goes back along inside of boat past the stern paddler…anyway, when you get a hit, grab the line and the rod together for a second or two, don’t worry about trying to grab the reel just yet….it’s a direct line to the fish so usually you are in with a solid hook set - this works tremendously well for me. On big Lakers your drag will engage as they run. There is a bit of stretch in the system because of your leader so I keep the drag fairly tight until I feel the weight of the fish. As for flies themselves, I’ve experimented over the years, using really big streamers, imitating the 6 to 8 inch Cisco Lakers feed on on the better lakes. I tied these up with extended stinger hooks but you still end up losing fish because Lakers are notorious followers in deep water. They nip the tails of prey fish and circle back and pick up the wounded so what I tend to do now is use smaller flies 3 to 4 inches, max tied on a size 2 Daiichi 2370 hook. Again that presentation is mainly for trolling across deep basins and open water (usually with a full sink line and a bit of backing as well). When trolling along shore lines where you could possibly cast and catch bookies as well, I use smaller flies about 2 - 2.5 inches or so , tied with rabbit and Marabou…of course I also have lots of bucktail deceiver types as well.  Almost anything will work, but I have had really good luck with Marabou Mickey fins and white Zonkers. I tie those zonkers up on a shorter shank hook, using mono thread. The shorter shank does not affect hook up ratio because the fish can easily take the whole thing on a hit as the fly is small/shorter. Starting with a few wraps of lead free wire up around the eye using pearl mylar for her body and the rabbit strip on top. Tie off ad, tiny 3-D holographic eyes and coat head with your choice of UV head cement.  The mono thread disappears under the glue and if finicky like me, you can form a nicely shaped head.,There are lots of ways to tie zonkers and they can be dead simple but the pearl Mylar body and 3d eyes make a difference in my opinion. I’ve tried a bunch of different colors, but the white works best. Also deadly for steelhead and salmon in the fall. But then I tie a bare bones version because you can lose a lot of flies. I think I’ve mentioned this before but when fishing water 20 feet or less and along shore lines, I am almost always using a clear intermediate line. When I want to troll deep water, usually with a full sink line,,I get the line out and away from canoe by first making a cast of say 30 feet or so and then I pull out my full line from the reel while rapidly moving my rod tip back-and-forth in the water - it’s sort of like the same idea of the water haul cast, but I’m just using the water drag to pull the line from the rod tip. You can throw big loops from side to side of rod tip. I do it rapidly then quickly start paddling which straightens the line out. It’s really the only way to do it without getting tangles especially with a full sink line. Hope this helps. Good luck this spring.

Moonman.

Last edited by Moonman (1/26/2025 3:26 pm)