Surprise...Pike!!

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has been called God’s Country- it is full of wonderful sights, sounds, fishing, hiking….the list is endless.  I am lucky enough to have a real job and fly tying which allows me more time than should be legal to fish.  This past week I chased brookies on an isolated stream, paddled around a backcountry lake and had a great surprise on a project smallie stream of mine.

Fishing the same stream is great- you get to learn its intricacies, it is like coming home and gives you a nice little comfortable feeling.  You know where the fish are, the workable patterns and great spots to ponder all things in life Ralph Waldo Emerson style.

But like all great fishing streams it throws you a loop sometimes.  The first time I fished this stream- it was full of small bass, another time a few epic sized fish and the this time….PIKE.  It was great day most the fish were not huge but they were hungry.  Crushing flies when you placed a fly in the fish’s backyard.  These fish wanted to kill, maim, and conquer the world.  Even releasing them proved problematic for those gentlemen who were not wearing a cup.  If fishing was predictable it would be boring and really not worth it.  I found myself laughing like a kid- it was like when I was young and skipping stones for hours was tremendous fun.   The fish in your back yard sometimes can be as great as those new sexy ones in exotic locales and it is much cheaper. 

As a fly tier I am always trying new patterns.  On a total whim I tied some flies what I would call guide patterns- cheap and super quick to tie.  I have been fishing them for years but have not been recently opting for instead using newer ones.  Flies are like….well they are like friends I guess insert whatever you can think of that is better my ability to articulate like a real author has failed me.  But it is great to have flies that work for many years and in lots of conditions.  Do not forget about them- there is a reason some flies have been selling for decades.