Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - april2008 - Index

The fact that many of the Sheboygan’s
fish approach or exceed 20
pounds—and are receptive to a
fly—makes one seriously reconsider
the need to travel around the
world in search of trophies.
it’s not uncommon to find several male jacks
vying for a single female on the redd. Keep
an eye out for this common behavior, and try
swinging an egg-sucking leech, popsicle, or
other attractor streamer pattern for aggressive
strikes from these competitive fish.
Tackle and Flies
When fishing larger Great Lakes tributaries
like the Sheboygan, I prefer a longer, singlehanded,
9.5- to 10-foot, 7- or 8-weight,
medium-action rod. Using a long rod makes
line and fly control and mending much easier
when drifting and swinging flies in a variety
of situations. The extra length also helps act
as a shock absorber when fighting big fish on
light tippet—critical when fishing 3X to 5X
tippets in clear water conditions.
Spey rods also have a definite place on larger
rivers like the Sheboygan, and 11- to 14-foot
examples are in common use throughout this
and other Midwest river systems. They work
great for swinging flies in the fall, but do have
limitations when attempting the more traditional
high-stick nymphing techniques.
Reels need not be costly, but should have a
large arbor to pick up line easily and a good disc
drag system to fight big fish on light tippets.
As for leaders and tippets, I typically start
with a 9 foot, 2X or 3X knotless, tapered
leader to which I attach an abrasion-resistant,
fluorocarbon tippet of about a foot. Leader
length and tippet strength depend a lot on
water depth, clarity and the flies I’m fishing.
In lower, clear-water conditions I fish a longer
leader and lighter tippets down to 5X. In
dirty water, I fish much shorter and stronger
tippets, especially when using any kind of
sink-tip lines to keep the fly in the zone.
Fly selection is the subject of much discussion
among Great Lakes tributary anglers.
Although every year seems to bring a new
“hot” pattern that’s guaranteed to catch more
fish, I prefer to stick with the “tried-and-true”
choices of eggs, nymphs, sculpin, bugger,
Spey, and leech variations. Among the many
patterns I always carry in my vest, these old
stand-bys always seem to do the trick under
most Great Lakes tributary conditions:
Glo Bug
orange/peach/chartreuse/Oregon cheese
sizes 10 to 16
Nuke Egg
chartreuse/orange/pink
sizes 12 to 16
Black Stonefly Nymph
sizes 6 to 14
Hex Nymph & Hex Wiggle Nymph
size 6
Jumbo John
orange/back/pink
size 6
Popsicle
orange/black/pink/purple
sizes 1/0 to 2
Egg-Sucking Leech
black/orange, black/chartreuse
sizes 4 to 8
Woolhead Sculpin
white/brown/black/purple/olive
size 4
Woolly Bugger
white/brown/black/purple/olive
sizes 6 to 8
Robert Tomes is a Fly Fish America regional
editor, and lives in Chicago. Robert makes the
most of the amazing anadromous trout and
salmon fishery in the Midwest.
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