Catfish on the Fly (Another Perk of the Carp Revolution)

There was a time when ignorance pravailed. The Atlantic Ocean is spilling off the side of the world. The moon is most likely made of limberger and our destruction will come from the big-headed people on Mars. It has been true in some sectors of the fly fishing world, too. Alaskans used to claim reds (sockeye salmon) would not eat a fly. They don't eat. Ya gotta snag 'em. But now we know better. And people used to claim corn, dough balls and fiberglass arrows were the only ways to take carp. They're bottom feeders! And look at us now. Fly fishing for carp is the fastest growing and most accessible faction of the sport! (I take only a tiny, shared amount of credit for this, btw...) Now, a fair number of years into the wide-spread acceptance of carp fly fishing we are seeing great leaps forword in technique and in flies. Remember when the only good carp fly was a Clouser Swimming Nymph? Remember when Barry Reynolds book Carp on the Fly was just an oddity fly shops stocked as a joke or novalty to trigger weird conversation? Now the hardcore carp bloggers have picked up that loose ball and spiked it in the endzone. The amount of good, informative writing available online is now immense and the willingness of these fly anglers/writers to share not only their knowledge, but their favorite mud flats have finally opened this highly challanging and addictive form of fishing to the masses. And every new convert will inevitably create his or her new and better carp-specific fly pattern. It has been fun to watch and be a part of...

There have also been some unforseen perks of this carp/warm water revolution. Once the negative "trash fish" stigma fell to the wayside amongst the more advanced and enegetic fly fishers, other doors and frontiers have flung open and been explored. Gar, freshwater drum (sheephead), catfish, and bowfin are all fish to be hunted, coveted and the photos of their capture are circulated around the most devote tables. This is a fine example of a new generation taking what they have been handed, not complaining about the old or broken parts, and making it better.

Dead Fish Do Tell Tales

I heard it said once that you don’t really know a trout stream (even if it is the home water that you have fished forever) until you have volunteered with an electro-shock fish survey. The state division of wildlife will occasionally do these surveys to get an idea of the health of a particular body of water. The electrodes can be stuck deep under even the most cavernous undercut banks. The trout come belly-up…and the volunteers scoop them up in nets. Once the fish are measured and counted they are released unharmed. A bit punch drunk, maybe. The point being…as a volunteer you get years of unanswered questions answered. You will be shocked (pun certainty intended) and maybe a bit humbled to know just how many trout were in your favorite pools. And just how big the biggest trout really is…not that one fat 16 incher like you once thought. You might feel silly when a 22 inch brown trout floats out from under that root ball that you never put a fly near because you were too afraid to loose that $3 streamer.

So, if you ever get the chance to volunteer for one of these endeavors, don’t pass it up. But, these opportunities don’t crop up very often. You usually have to conduct your own reconnaissance. The actual act of landing fish is the best way to determine what size and/or sort of fish live in any given area, of course…but often the fish you catch are just the dumb ones. Sometimes you have to rely on old age or winter kill before the largest or smartest fish show themselves. Always stop and inspect the rotting carcasses. The most decomposed ones really test your species identification skills, but can be fun. Pretend you are on one of those CSI television shows. “Something smells fishy, Grisham. I suspect foul play…yuk…yuk…yuk…”

I have discovered some very interesting things about my local waters by taking a closer look. Sometimes it is simply a matter of not being aware of how big some of the bass are in a certain lake, other times it is discovering that there are big wiper or walleye in a little reservoir that no one in their right minds would suspect. Mmmm…juicy little secrets!

The Walter Mitty Fly Fishing Contest

1. Catch six fish species with a fly and fly rod.

2. All fish must be caught on same day.

3. Each fish must be UNDER 10 inches long!

This contest is to help get you through the runoff doldrums and to remind you all of the reasons you began fishing…and still love it. To enter, send me photos of your six fish (take photo of the fish in hand, so we all can see how small it really is!) and a short anecdote about your day on the water. Email them to me at jayzimangler@yahoo.com

Every entry will receive six free flies (of my choice…dictated by the tone of your entry) and have their photos and story published on the Colorado Fly Fishing Reports blog. Send your mailing address, as well…if you want the free flies.

I’ll kick off the festivities with my own entry. Here goes…. I woke up late on my last day off and found I was in the middle of missing one of the sunniest, most awesome mornings so far this spring. This didn’t necessarily pose a problem of neglected responsibilities…as I am a single dude living in a studio apartment with a cat, but it did mean I was situationally obligated to go fishing immediately. So I began reluctantly gathering gear…rounding up rods and deciding if it was a wet wading type of trip…or not. And I found that I couldn’t get myself excited about what I was doing. It might have been that it was the twelve thousand five hundred and seventeenth day in a row that I had woken up and prepared to either fish, talk about fish or fantasize about fish (and only a couple of those had anything to do with a hot dinner date at Sushi Tora). I guess I was finally burned out. I had been guilty of taking myself—and my fishing—way too seriously. I was far too programmed to stay at home and feel sorry for myself, so I rolled the windows down on my truck, found a good station on the radio…and drove around Boulder looking for inspiration— which got me as far as the irrigation overflow ditch behind some inexpensive CU student housing. I strung up a 4 weight and caught one tiny ditch fish after another…pumpkinseed sunfish, four inch largemouth bass, shiner, baby crappie, skinny catfish and bluegill. I left the ditch sunburned, dehydrated and as giddy as hell! I had not had that much fun since I was a kid playing in the creek by my parent’s house swinging wet flies to little creek chubs and pretending I was a well known river keeper and they were Atlantic salmon. Thus the conception of the Walter Mitty Fly Fishing Contest.

For all you beauty school dropouts…Walter Mitty was a character who would have routine heroic daydreams while going about his rather mundane life in a famous 1939 James Thurber short story entitled “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” . Google it or something…

Warmwater Action!

The warm water fly fishing is getting going again! If you haven't been bitten by the bug yet...don't be squeamish, give it a try! There are few better ways to work off the winter kinks than to pop down to the nearest pond or city park and have a go at the inhabitants (no...not the kids and afternoon dog-walkers). I always have a rod in the truck now that we have a few hours of daylight left after work. The last trip out was great! I landed several catfish and a nice two-pound bass in a lake behind one of our local high schools! There were a couple kids taking pot shots at me with a home made potato gun...but I proved to be a hard target...and they were slow to reload. Amateurs...

Fly Fishing for Catfish

Catfish are the forgotten game fish amongst us die-hard fly fishers. I have fond childhood memories of my dad taking me down to the boat basin back in Huron, Ohio to catch bullhead and channel cats...my job was to have plenty of worms dug from the garden before he got home from work.
I still catch a few every year. Often accidentally while I am carp or bass fishing. The flies that work the best for me have usually been a #6 Leech Backstabber or a black or natural Mini-Sculpin.

Watch Fly Fishing for Catfish video:

New potential state record!

The current Colorado record channel catfish is 33 1/2 pounds...but that may soon be topped! Check out this monster taken on a fly from a local pond. It may be just a tad short of the record, but maybe next year!