Am I Ready for Trout Opener?

[young_one]

Can't wait till the Trout Opener, such a hot day out there, I just took a picture of my stuff for Saturday.

 

Am I ready? Am I missing anything?

 

- Fenwick HMX 10'6 XL rod

- Daiwa Regal Reel (8lb Trilene Sensation)

- float

- extra float rubber, swival, #12 hook, split shot

- Krystal & Wooly Bugger

- Montana Prince

- pink and red worm

- Salmon roe bag

- 4lb leader

- hemostat

 

[Headhunter]

Looks like yer ready to go... the only things I might add are "double padded head gear and some shoulder pads"

HH

[Stoty]

Looks pretty good to me.

Might want to take more than 2 floats though...

[John]

You might want to try not showering for a few days, usually helps in getting that extra bit of shoulder room.

[Bly]

Looks good Young one and I wish you luck!!

 

If it were me, I would add

 

some steelhead jigs (I like the Riverwood ones)

some of those little white worms, think they are called wax worms??

pack all the terminal tackle and floats you think you will need and then add some more (never ceases to amaze me how many times I break off when I only have a few with me )

line snips or scissors if you haven't included them.

 

Oh and do not forget the camera!! Hope you have a great time!

[Casey123]

Looks good dude. May want to dig up some pinkies in the compost. If the water is ultra clear and low they may be the ticket. (small red worms not night crawlers)

[bigreddog]

Don't forget your license!

 

Tight lines.

[MJL]

My first opener was spent bottom bouncing pocket water of the Ganaraska with a short fiberglass rod, a reel with a sticky drag, a split shot crimped up the line and a roe bag impaled on a size 10 hook. You have a great list of equipment and tackle that you will no doubt enjoy using. Everything you have will help towards catching steelhead and trout. Actually it doesn’t look very different from what I carry in my wading jacket.

 

You don’t need tackle in the quantity that I have them in. I’ve accumulated a lot of gear over the years and have done a good deal of tackle scrounging in a couple of rivers during the summer when the water was low.

 

Floats – I usually stock up on floats because I know in one way or another, at least some will end up in trees and shrubs either behind me or on the far bank. I prefer balsa ones like you have but also have a few clear plastic ones as well for clear water.

 

Terminal tackle and other bits and bobs of stuff

- Left – Egg sucking jigs I tied myself…Riverwood makes commercially available ones in a variety of colours and sizes…I think Raven does as well. Often times jigs catch when nothing else does.

- Center – Soft plastic tubes; tinsel jigs my friend made for me; spinner blades in size 1-3, clevises and brass, gold and silver beads. The spinner parts are for swinging un-weighted spinners down and across pools and in front of log jams and snags. I got the parts from Angling Specialties.

- Right – Split shot and hooks in a few sizes

 

Additional soft plastics

 

Leader material

I carry an assortment. I have them from 3.4lb all the way up to 20lb. I fly fish so I need heavier ones to create leaders which can turn over heavy split shot. 4-6lb is a good all round leader strength for clear water

 

Hardware

 

A few banana baits - They work great for teasing steelhead out of logjams.

 

Spinners in size 1-4, spin-n-glows, more un-weighted spinner parts and nifty fishy looking spinners (TBH I haven't used these fishy spinners before...They just look so neat)

 

A few flies I just finished – I swing the bushy and fury ones (left) on my fly rod, I fish the small bugs (right) under the float. Mostly woolly buggers, stoneflies, caddis larvae (or pupae…I’m not exactly sure), prince nymphs, egg patterns in this box…I’ll still tie a few more before the opener.

 

 

There’s a wide variety of baits, lures and techniques you can try. I always have a bottle of roe in my pocket and I always carry a few small trout worms in a small container. Definitely bring the camera and your licence.

 

Hope this has helped.

 

Like you I'm pumped

Edited April 25, 2008 by MJL

[fish_finder]

Looks like yer ready to go... the only things I might add are "double padded head gear and some shoulder pads"

HH

 

I'll second that....steer clear of any popular areas......

[douG]

MJL, that was a clinic, and I'm still at home! Great info, and nice baits.

 

Thanks.

[solopaddler]

Water will be very clear, so tiny roe bags tied in white would be useful..

Most importantly bring a bait box full of worms. Real ones, not the plastic ones .

This time of year they'll outproduce most other baits. If you have large dew worms

don't use the entire worm, break off a piece and thread it on your hook.

[jdmls]

loose the 4lb....especially being new to fighting steelhead....not worth the anount of fish you are going to break off tomorrow especially with the shorter rod.....do yourself a favour and go pick up some drennan 6lb fluro leader and only tie up with that.... I don't even bother with the 4lb anymore...just not worth the breakoffs and lose of fish you work so hard to hook

Edited April 25, 2008 by jdmls

[kemper]

Looks good to me!

 

I agree with the 4lb test though, lose it!

 

I never use less than 6 lb on my 11.5 foot rod and never less than 5lb on my 13.5 footer. The 4 lb just really is not needed as long as you buy good quality 6lb. Ive caught alot of fish this year...more than ever before and it is the first year I ditched the 4lb test, and I have onll had one breakoff so far (and it was driver error...forgot I was pinning for a second and kept the hand on the reel handle when the fish was running..oops no drag)

 

The key to catching fish tomorrow is going to be thinking different. If you know where the fish are it will not be a problem locating them (even if you dont look for the 98 guys fishing the same pool) the tough part will be getting them to bite in this crystal clear water. Stay out of their sight as much as you can...I tend to fish BELOW the pool that I want to drift when the water is like this...not really the optimum place to fish from (especially with a pin) but standing beside or in front of them just doesnt seem to do.

 

Stay low, stay quiet and keep the presentations small and unique.

 

Most of all DO NOT get frustrated if you arent catching anything and you can see lots of fish. It takes lots of experience to catch them in these conditions and opener is not a great time to learn. Get there early, stick it out and think unique!

[The Urban Fisherman]

My first opener was spent bottom bouncing pocket water of the Ganaraska with a short fiberglass rod, a reel with a sticky drag, a split shot crimped up the line and a roe bag impaled on a size 10 hook. You have a great list of equipment and tackle that you will no doubt enjoy using. Everything you have will help towards catching steelhead and trout. Actually it doesn’t look very different from what I carry in my wading jacket.

 

You don’t need tackle in the quantity that I have them in. I’ve accumulated a lot of gear over the years and have done a good deal of tackle scrounging in a couple of rivers during the summer when the water was low.

 

Floats – I usually stock up on floats because I know in one way or another, at least some will end up in trees and shrubs either behind me or on the far bank. I prefer balsa ones like you have but also have a few clear plastic ones as well for clear water.

 

Terminal tackle and other bits and bobs of stuff

- Left – Egg sucking jigs I tied myself…Riverwood makes commercially available ones in a variety of colours and sizes…I think Raven does as well. Often times jigs catch when nothing else does.

- Center – Soft plastic tubes; tinsel jigs my friend made for me; spinner blades in size 1-3, clevises and brass, gold and silver beads. The spinner parts are for swinging un-weighted spinners down and across pools and in front of log jams and snags. I got the parts from Angling Specialties.

- Right – Split shot and hooks in a few sizes

 

Additional soft plastics

 

Leader material

I carry an assortment. I have them from 3.4lb all the way up to 20lb. I fly fish so I need heavier ones to create leaders which can turn over heavy split shot. 4-6lb is a good all round leader strength for clear water

 

Hardware

 

A few banana baits - They work great for teasing steelhead out of logjams.

 

Spinners in size 1-4, spin-n-glows, more un-weighted spinner parts and nifty fishy looking spinners (TBH I haven't used these fishy spinners before...They just look so neat)

 

A few flies I just finished – I swing the bushy and fury ones (left) on my fly rod, I fish the small bugs (right) under the float. Mostly woolly buggers, stoneflies, caddis larvae (or pupae…I’m not exactly sure), prince nymphs, egg patterns in this box…I’ll still tie a few more before the opener.

 

 

There’s a wide variety of baits, lures and techniques you can try. I always have a bottle of roe in my pocket and I always carry a few small trout worms in a small container. Definitely bring the camera and your licence.

 

Hope this has helped.

 

Like you I'm pumped

 

MJL My Fiance would kick my butt if I showed up with all that gear! haha Great tips for sure!

 

good luck Young One - You've got more gear than I do going into tomorrow so I'm sure you'll be fine!

 

Cheers,

UF

Edited April 25, 2008 by The Urban Fisherman