Getting
You Started Fly Fishing the
If you
are local to the
People getting started fly fishing this area would fall into 2 categories:
1. Folks who have fished this area but with conventional gear.
2. Folks who have been fly fishing for a while but are new to the river.
Either way you have some adjustments to make.
As a conventional bank fisher you will now be looking for the fish rather than waiting till the fish come to you. With fly fishing we don’t have the scent of dead bait, the fear pheromones of live minnows or the lateral line attraction qualities of crank baits.
The fly fisher will have one major thing to get used to; water clarity or, more accurately, the complete lack thereof. The Red (like many rivers and streams in the area) is usually the colour of coffee with cream. Most fly fishers who encounter trout or bass rivers in this condition go home and wait for the river to ‘get back to normal’. Well that would be a long wait in this case. If the water levels drop and the rain holds off then the water can be less murky but it is never clear.
The
Fish
What
species can you expect fly fishing this area? Well it is a real mix for sure.
The #1 fly fishing quarry is the Channel Cat. Arguably the #1 quarry for
conventional fishers is walleye. Also available are Carp, Drum, Sauger,
Goldeye, Big or Small Mouth Buffalo, Northern Pike, Quill Back and White Bass.
The
Equipment
The smallest rod you are using here is a 9’ 8wt these have been the standard for years but recently there has been a move to larger rods in the 9-10 weight range. As well some fly fishers have made the move over to two handed rods (aka ‘spey rods’).
For a reel a balanced quality large arbor reel with an infinite drag is appropriate. The Channel Cats and Carp are large and strong and relying on ‘palming’ the reel trout style could have you ending up with sore hands if a 38” Cat goes for a run.
For lines you should be prepared to put your flies in all the levels of the water column. Sometimes you are dredging bottom, other times you are just below the surface and everything in between.
For leaders nothing to fancy is needed. Level leaders (a fancy term for a single length of line) are the norm. The water clarity is in your favour here as there is no need to be shy about leader thickness but its breaking strength should not exceed the breaking strength of your fly line.
The
Flies
Recently there seems to be some sort of attempt to make fly choice more complex or more exotic but for many years the flies for the Red River had a couple of elements, displacing water and visibility. The displacing of water quality comes in the form of large headed or bodied flies. Visibility comes, most often in the form of light colours and flash. Nymphs in light colours and large sizes and streamers are tops. Streamers tied Crazy Charlie or Clouser style using the colour and flash method will work well. One point about using nymphs, they will get you more fish but the goldeye, white bass and sauger are not much sport on a 9wt but if you scale your rod down to a 5 wt then a cat or carp ill make short work of that.
Tactics
Can you cast 60-80 comfortably? You might not need to all the time but there are times on The Red when it is needed. Can you cast and modify your casts in strong head, tail or cross winds? It is almost never calm on this body of water and often the winds are quite strong. I mention these things first because if you put everything together if you can’t put the fly where the fish are you won’t have much fun. Remember this is fly fishing we aren’t ‘luring’ the fish to us we are bringing it (the fly) to them.
To do that you need to enter the river. This can seem very dicey to experience waders because you can’t see the bottom even if you are standing in 4” of water. The wading technique needed is known as “The Red River Shuffle” but it is more like a creep. Once you start getting to deeper water to move you need to creep your toes forward feeling the bottom. If there is a drop you don’t go there. Once you have seen the river over the course of a season (high and low water) you will get an idea as to where the shoals and shallow bits are. I think a wading staff is a required bit of equipment in this case
Where
to Fish
Basic river reading tactics are employed. This is a big river so there are plenty challenges and you have to fish the river as it presents itself day to day. In simple terms when the water is high and fast the fish get blown out to the sides when the river is low the fish can be found in the pocket water, riffles and pools. The in between stages can be a real challenge.
There are 2 basic areas to fish; the dam and the floodway. The floodway outlet is best when there is some water coming out but can be fished anytime. The dam is usually fished during medium and low flows. You can fish the outlet from either side but the north side tends to be more fly fishing friendly. The dam is usually fly fished from the east side as there is more shoreline and wadeable areas. The west side has a deep channel cut for the locks and the more fly fishing friendly areas are fewer and farther downstream.
The
Upside and the Downside
This
area is close for
This is a heavily fished area and, unfortunately, this means there is a lot of litter. A lot of serious dedicated fishers of all stripes have sworn off this area because of the unpleasant conditions there. Many wading anglers report getting tangled in discarded fishing line and have found it quite dangerous. They are in the middle of a big fast flowing river with their feet tied up in 50lb mono or braided line that they can’t break or reach down and cut. The shoreline can be very crowded and the conventional fishers are not very aware of fly fishers and our back cast needs. If you wade further out you will be amazed at how many motor boat anglers scream past you a little too close for comfort.
So there you have a basic outline on fly rodding ‘The Red’. Big fish close to civilization is very hard to beat. I hope I have prepared you a little for the experience.