ottosmagic13

My goal in 2016 was to quit smoking: Haven't had a cigarette in 2 1/2 months. Reason I quit and goal in 2017: Raise my child (due 6/23/17) to the best of my ability. Fishing goals: 2016 - Purchase and learn to use a baitcaster - met - Set new PB in some category (three set: Largest trout on fly (1.4#), Largest SMB (2.6#), Largest LMB overall(3.0#)) 2017 - Catch something bigger than 2# on my 5wt fly rod (i'd take bass or trout tbh) current PB 1.4 brown trout. - Get better at tying my own flies and subsequently catch something on a tied fly. - Catch something on a swimbait/fluke. - Up the PB numbers in several categories

Not just zebra muscles but also quagga muscles. Here's some info from Hobart and William Smith Colleges about Seneca Lake but it has been true for most bodies of water in the region. The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) relative (same genus but different species), the quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis), has just invaded Seneca Lake during the early 2000's. First sightings were in 2000. Evidence from Lake Ontario suggests that the quagga mussel can live in deeper water and influence the ecological food web to a greater extent than the zebra mussels. Is Seneca Lake in for another plankton crash? The data suggests not, even though quagga mussels now dominate (80 to 95%) of the living mussel populations. Luckily quagga muscles don't seem to be nearly as bad a zebra muscles when it comes to affecting fisheries. I couldn't find any data from this year (early 2015 being the last published) so it's one of those time will tell things. I know the fishing at my parents house on Seneca Lake has rebounded in the past few years.

I would love to but unless I'm wading through creeks I'm usually bank bound and don't get a lot of shots at pike and musky. My "gamefish" fly rod is a 5/6 weight 8 foot and creek smallies and pond largemouth are a blast to catch on it; I can only imagine what a pike would be like. There are some carp and catfish in the canal and I could probably target some of them with the fly rod

I am a fly fisherman at heart. While that does mean I'll target bass with some poppers or streamers some days it's usually about the trout for me. One creek has some smallies in it that always put up a good fight! I'll reel in whatever takes my fly/nymph and be happy about it. Wooly Buggers tend to catch a variety over the course of the day; not limited to trout, bluegill, rock bass and smallies. Trout being the only fish I'll keep to eat occasionally. Just started to get into bass fishing on regular tackle and found that I enjoy it. Bought my first 6'8" MH-F casting rod and matching 6:1 reel as a all purpose stick to go with the Medium-Medium 7' spinning gear. Topwater lures are blast to fish and get hit on. Most recent catch: Smallie on a Chartreuse and Silver Spinner out of the Erie Canal

Lettuce - Catching Huge Smallmouth Bass on Lettuce..... But in seriousness try the small tubes that have been mentioned above or a 3-4" wacky rigged senko. If you have access to a fly pole, wholly buggers work wonders on smallies.

I'm sure your tournament has come and gone but I have a house on Winnipesaukee and usually target several places. My house is in a small cove just off Meredith Bay, we have two sand bars that run out from shore, each with drop from 3-6' to 20' and I have luck there. Also fishing the windblown points off of some of the smaller islands (even some of the bigger ones like Governor's) produces some good fish. Take all this with a grain of salt as I am only up there in late June to late July.

Fly fishing does have a "world cup" so to speak with events for accuracy and distance casting. That would be the only SLIMMEST chance of any fishing ever being in the Olympics. EDIT: Realized that might have sounded like I specifically meant fly fishing instead of skills contests as being the only way in to the Olympics With that said I wouldn't ever want to watch fishing in the Olympics. Even as an avid angler I think fishing competitions aren't that fun to watch. I really only watch fishing videos for the educational content.

I wonder what would happen if you used some thicker mono for those legs instead. Spider/Waterstrider look seems like it would be deadly.

I'll have to keep an eye out. February is usually the about the time I go stir crazy, hopefully tying will help some of that. I found that B & E tackle in Ontario has some stuff and there is a Bass Pro in Auburn; where do you usually get your materials? Synthetics I have no problem finding but things like masks and peacock. I recently learned to tie a beaded Hare's Ear Nymph that incorporates some peacock for a flashback design but can't find peacock, order online or use synthetic flash? I definitely need to get better at dubbing loops.

When and where is this event? I'm only 35 minutes away from Rochester (Newark) and would love something like that. I just started tying my own flies this year. Saving up for a decent fly tying setup, right now i have some old locking pliers being held in a table vice.

Mine is a vintage cane rod with a older Martin auto-reel, got it from my father-in-law. You would be generous to call it medium power and medium action. He used it for Bream and Crappie, I use it on occasion for trout and bream.

I was targeting trout in a small creek with a hopper (John's Green Hopper) and dropper (Hare's Ear Nymph) with a 3wt rod with only a 7x leader and a good sized smallie (14") took the Hopper and took off into the current channel. Man that was a fun fight, most things in this creek are under 12" and not nearly as crazy as that smallie.

I use a tapered leader purely out of convenience. I've used furled (uni) leaders before and liked them but they were not that different for bass/crappie and they are harder to aquire around here and I've never learned to make them myself. I did like the built in indicator aspect of the ones I had. Tapered work just fine. @Turkey sandwich It really depends on the water quality and fishing pressure, sometimes a short leader works (~5') and can be easier in the wind too; other times landing the fly line too close or a heavy fly/streamer to hard turns off the bite, especially with river/creek smallies (forget it with trout). My default is 7.5ft 3x tapered on a 5/6wt with 1-2ft of matched tippet. I recently started using leader rings and it makes the leaders last pretty long.

Clicking is perfectly normal, if you look inside it is a series of springs pressing teeth into a gear. Clicks on wind and provides drag when pulling out line. The type of fly determines the action. Poppers are common with bass, they are stripped with small jerky strips that pop just like their bigger counterparts. Streamers and Woolly Buggers are also effective and imitate small baitfish when stripped 6"-12" at a time, varying the length of the strip and pausing erratically produces a 'wounded' action great for reaction strikes. Dries are meant to be fished on top and usually represent insects and terrestrials, bass this time of year seem to like grasshopper imitations (hoppers). Some dries need floatant; a coating that helps them float otherwise they'll sink and not be effective. As for Leader/Tippet: I run 2x-4x leaders for bass. Usually in the 7-9ft range. Tippet I usually match to the leader and attach 2-3' to preserve the length and taper of the leader. Changing the tippet every session and the leader as necessary.

Depends on the reel, some have click and drag systems others are free-spinning on the wind. I have several vintage automatic reels that don't click as much as they buzz as they take in line but those are definitely an exception. As for the topic, I love fly fishing for any species. Smallies are extremely fun to catch on 3,4 and 5wt rods. I have a 5/6wt rod that handles most of my non-trout fresh water fishing. Wading up a small creek throwing Woolly Buggers or streamers at the tails of ripples and swinging them through pools is so much fun.