So I flew home yesterday for Thanksgiving Break to see my family and the house they are living in for the moment. My family moved to Kalamazoo Michigan a few months ago and I hadn't seen the area at all so I took the day to explore the area and check out the fishing opportunities that I'll be experiencing this summer.
First and foremost, Gull Lake is only about five minutes north of our house. It's an early stage mesotrophic lake, which means that it is deep and clear - over a hundred feet deep, with a visibility of over 20 feet. It has smallmouth and largemouth, walleye, pike, rainbow trout, brown trout, and lake trout. The pike and the lake trout both can get over twenty pounds, which are truly large fish. I'm very excited to try and chase a 20 lb pike or fly fish for the lakers.
There are a number of nearby streams that are either stocked or have naturally occurring brown trout. The best of these are Spring Brook and Augusta Creek, which are fifteen and five minutes away. These give me classic small stream trout fly fishing opportunities.
The Kalamazoo River is a great warmwater river fishery with pike, walleye, and even lake sturgeon. However, the stretch near to me is best for smallmouth bass. The Kzoo is about ten minutes away.
An hour south of my house is the St. Joseph River, which has lake-run brown trout, steelhead, and salmon. These fish can get upwards of twenty pounds and the river is one of the top ten steelhead rivers in the midwest.
And finally, of course, there are numerous ponds around with largemouth bass. There's even one about two hundred yards in front of the house that will be perfect for the canoe in the summer.
I'm very satisfied with the Kalamazoo area. I have excellent fishing for lake and brown trout, huge pike, and smallmouths. There's also possible walleye fishing, rainbow trout, sturgeon, and largemouths. Should be a good summer.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Winterizing
I went out for an hour today on Valentine and noticed that parts of the lake that I used to fish is being covered by a thin skin of ice. This, of course, makes it quite impossible to fly fish. Although it will probably melt again, I decided that it's time to winterize the fly fishing gear for the year. The bass mostly shut down for the year a few weeks ago anyway, and I'm running low on wire leaders for the pike.
It's important to take good care of your gear for the winter. Remember that your gear will sit stationary and unused for months. I'll go through it item by item.
Rod: not much needed here. I usually give it a quick wipe down to get any weeds or dirt off it. I also like to wipe down the cork handle to get it a little cleaner. Make sure the female ends of the ferrules are clear of obstructions.
Reel: Most modern fly reels are self-lubricating, which means that applying oil or grease will usually do more harm than good. Again, wipe down for dirt on the inside and outside of the reel and spool arbor. Not much needed here either.
Flies: Make sure your flies are spaced out. If they are stored closely together, then their form can get bent and deformed. Make sure they aren't put away wet in an enclosed space where the hooks will rust or grow mold. I have an anti-rust patch in my fly box.
Line: This is the most important part. Remember that line is susceptible to damage from light, dirt, and chemicals. Clean it by soaking and then running it through a cloth until it doesn't leave dirt in the paper towel. Don't put it back on the spool - wrap it LOOSELY around another object with a large radius like a coat hanger. This minimizes memory and coils. Store it in a dark place out of the light.
A little depressing but there's always next season. Time for ice fishing soon.
It's important to take good care of your gear for the winter. Remember that your gear will sit stationary and unused for months. I'll go through it item by item.
Rod: not much needed here. I usually give it a quick wipe down to get any weeds or dirt off it. I also like to wipe down the cork handle to get it a little cleaner. Make sure the female ends of the ferrules are clear of obstructions.
Reel: Most modern fly reels are self-lubricating, which means that applying oil or grease will usually do more harm than good. Again, wipe down for dirt on the inside and outside of the reel and spool arbor. Not much needed here either.
Flies: Make sure your flies are spaced out. If they are stored closely together, then their form can get bent and deformed. Make sure they aren't put away wet in an enclosed space where the hooks will rust or grow mold. I have an anti-rust patch in my fly box.
Line: This is the most important part. Remember that line is susceptible to damage from light, dirt, and chemicals. Clean it by soaking and then running it through a cloth until it doesn't leave dirt in the paper towel. Don't put it back on the spool - wrap it LOOSELY around another object with a large radius like a coat hanger. This minimizes memory and coils. Store it in a dark place out of the light.
A little depressing but there's always next season. Time for ice fishing soon.
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