April 24, 2007

Flies + Suckers = Fun


I managed to get out for a couple hours this afternoon/evening on the Otter Tail River. I had an increasingly rare free couple of hours, so I grabbed my 6 weight and headed down to the river. White suckers were the target species today. Relying on the other weekends success, I tied on a prince nymph, pinched on a split shot, and proceeded to long line nymph in a patch of foam along a current seam. Flows were pretty high from last weekends rain so the fish were concentrated pretty close to shore. I fished the rocks pretty heavy, and had to fight the frequent hang ups. Eventually I hooked into a sucker and it put up a nice fight. I grabbed a quick picture and returned the fish to the water. I managed to hook up with a few fish here and there, as well as a few rocks. On one occasion I got lazy and let my fly drift a little longer than usual. At first I thought I got hung up on a rock, but rather I had a big fish on. I fought it for some where between 5 and 10 minutes. I would work the fish as close to shore as I could, then it would run into the current and we'd start all over again. I got impatient after awhile and started to horse it and the fish got off :(. Sometimes I need to be a little more patient.
These suckers were a blast to catch on the fly. Definitely an underrated fish! I can't wait until the game fish season opens so I can get the big rods out and have some fun.

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