Bear Treks

Nice Walleye

Here is a picture of one of those nice walleyes I have been posting about. This one was over 28 inches long and a little over 9#. This boat also landed a 7, two 6s, a 3 and numerous nice ones. It is not like that every day but this section of the Susquehanna consistently produces limit catches of 15-20 inch fish, just the right size for the pan. I have a fish cleaning station at the house that would make the Gortons Fisherman jealous. If you don’t have one then get yourself  an electric fillet knife and make it a Mister Twister. I have tried several and that one is far superior. I am getting reports that there is ice fishing going on on Oneida Lake with good ice reported on big bay at around 8 inches. I am anticipating a fantastic last month of the walleye season in all the river systems and any rain is just going to accelerate the amount of fish going into the pre-spawn mode. Take advantage of this potential bonanza of walleye fishing this spring.

No Ice!!! I love the boat!!!

As much as I love ice fishing I would much rather be out in the boat and what a year it is here in the northeast. I have ice fished one day this year and never put the boat away and I am loving it. Last year the river froze in late November and never thawed till April. I am here at my winter time command bunker here in the mid state of NY near Binghamton on the Susquehanna River. The walleye fishing in this river system is awesome and the region around here is a major spawning destination for many fish. Our DEC has wisely installed many new boat launches in recent year and has made this great fishery so much more accessible. I have enjoyed this river for many years and some of my best inventions were hatched and tested here. I enjoy being able to row around down here for the exercise even on very high water such as this. HUGE fish can be had and limit catches of nice walleyes and smallmouths are the norm. If you are looking for a new spot to try for walleyes then the this should be on your list. The final weeks of the season, which closes here in mid March, can be especially productive with many spawning females moving up.  When the ice is breaking up and the river is high is one of my favorite big fish times. How would you like to live on the island? Someone does and the whole thing is an engineering feat to keep it from washing away. Let alone having your own tramway to get out there. Here is an example of a fair day on the river. These are all males in the 17-20 inch range and all were caught on a specialized jig I manufacture. I can,t wait to get my little company fully launched and bring to you some of the cutting edge technologies I have invented and perfected. I think your going to like them!!!!

Views from the Vice – Yuk Bug

Truth be told, the Yuk Bug is a relatively new addition to my fly box. But after seeing the immense size and prolific nature of various types of stonefly insects at Papa Bear’s Outdoors a couple of seasons ago… I made sure I had plenty of the biggest buggiest, stonefly patterns available the next time I met up with Wayne to fish his beautiful property.

Nearly every rock in the 750 acres of freestone wilderness at Papa Bear’s Outdoors contains remnants of a critter that resembles these Yuk Bugs, both Golden and Black varieties.

No two flys accounted for more or larger trout for me last season than the Olive Yuk Bug shown above, tied in tandem with my own Black Tic Tac pattern which is basically a small wooly bugger made entirely of marabou and webby grizzly hackle.

Also, these nymphs/streamers are just plain fun to fish. After dead drifting the fly through a section of river, if a fish doesn’t take your presentation you can strip it in or twitch your rod tip to entice a strike. More often than not if a fish is there — they will take aggressively. Stoneflies swim toward the banks after they’ve released from their hold, and the stripping and twitching of the line creates a tremendously lifelike action on the legs of the fly, and it’s irresistible to trout.

If you’re planning a trip to PBO this spring, summer, or fall – do not leave home without a heavily weighted Yuk Bug.

Tight Lines!

Views from the Vice – Double Bunny Streamer

Much like the Meat Whistle posted earlier, I’ve been trying to go a lot bigger with my streamer presentations to entice all the trophy wild brown trout Papa Bear has on his property. One very popular trend I see a lot of these days is the Double Bunny streamer, which is two pieces of rabbit strip, usually Olive and White, tied together on a weighted hook to provide the ultimate action and undulation as soon as the fly hits the water.

I’ve tied several variations of this pattern up recently, not only for trout but for Smallmouth and Striped Bass and here in my local waters. And this pattern shown above is actually a slight departure from the straight Double Bunny, or for that matter Kelly Galloup’s Barely Legal streamer which uses Marabou instead of rabbit strips. I’ve added in some golden flash dub, rainbow tinsel, and some marabou around the collar. Without a doubt I have high expectations for this pattern.

Tight Lines!