Tactical winter Part1

Winter fishing marks for me a whole new approach to my fishing. The weather can get pretty unpleasant here during the winter months, bitterly winds, rain and sleet are on the menu on a regular basis.

When all goes to plan! Sadly it's not always the case.

The fly rods will see less and less action over the next few months, of course if we are so lucky to get a good break in the weather i will definitely try for a winter mama on the fly!
The biggest issue with winter fly fishing is to be able to present the fly to the fish properly, depth and speed is crucial to tempt a winter pike. Water temperatures usually over around 4º to 6º and this means pikes will look for a comfortable thermocline. On my local lakes 8 to 20m are the zones to work.

Cold, freezing fog...Will they feed?

The fly will have some successful days but mainly big rubber lures are the winning combo.
Again, presentation is so important, these big winter fish will not come up the water column to hunt your lure, you need to place it at the right depth.
Speed too plays a huge part, generally the colder the temperatures, the slower the troll.
Yes you can also cast and retrieve on a drift or at anchor, but i'm a firm believer that a slow troll at a constant depth will entice a (large) fish to eat.
In recent years the idea that big fish like to follow a bait to inspect it for a long time is proven time and time again with the help of the latest technology. Cameras that you can attach in from of your lure are a real eye opener in understanding how pikes behave to our lures. And if you spend time looking at some of the footage on youtube you will see more than often large fish following the lure for quite some amount of time before they hit it. Here's an example of a very curious pike:



These are the days where i don't look for big numbers of captures, but instead i concentrate more into getting the big one. After all i have all spring and summer to catch pikes in numbers, and on the fly. So in tempting to land a big girl we have to make a selection in lures. I like to go big at this time of the year, not "stupid" big, like the 50/60cm lures, but i tend to fish lures in the region of 25/35cm. The  40cm Magdawgs from Musky innovation would be my limit.

The inline lure from Westin did not take long to get noticed!

Knowing where to fish is crucial

Its not always the big fish that like big lures in the winter..

I will get into more details on the gear i use in my next blog, so keep tuned!

Innoko/Alaska 2018

We done it again!

Back from the land of the giant pikes! Where they grow slow, old and big!! Many people think we go there to get 50lbs pikes, but this is not the case. We have pikes as big here (Europe) if not bigger than Alaska, but its the huge amount of large pikes that makes this fishery soooo special!
Over there you are only interested in fish over 40 ( 103cm) , and by the end of the week if you are lucky to find good light, descent water clarity and not too much wind, you can sight fish for pike! Like the flats in tropical waters. The guide is such an asset to catching fish. More used to spot the big girls then you, they can put you onto THE fish. You might see a smaller one (110cm) and take a cast at that fish, but maybe behind there is that elusive 50 (130cm) sitting a little deeper. If the smaller fish takes your fly it's game over. It will surely spook that 50! And this is why we make that 20 000kms round trip, to catch trophies and not numbers. This is when the guide comes into action, they spot the fish, place you at the best angle and it's up to you now...Just don't f*ck up your cast and set that hook hard!
My boat partner, Dominique had a 47 (120cm) like this right beside the boat, about 5, 6 meters away from us! To see such a monster sit there, casting that little bunny fly...The fish turns! Its showing an interest....Heart pumping at this stage, one strip and she engulfed the fly right in front of our eyes! Unforgettable moment!

This is a reason i don't mind having the guide holding the fish on the picture, he's part of the team, part of the memories on that special day. European anglers want to hold their fish at all cost for some reason...And more than often pride and big ego comes before fish welfare... Fish are dropped on the ground, in the bottom of the boat, left out in the air way too long, passed to friends (yes, i have seen it many times).
So the fact that the guide hold your fish is primarily for the fish welfare and to get a perfect photo. Sure you can have a pic with your fish, but this has to be done outside the boat, in shallow water (never over dry land!) away from a bear...or a wolf..and i see all this messing around as waste a lot of precious fishing time, i rather a quick pic with the guide, a fast release and back to casting asap! It's a short week up there 5 1/2 days fishing, every minutes count.

That short week will beat you up, and those pikes will pound you to the ground, especially those 35's ( 90cm) my god they can go! They will rip line of your fingers like you never seen it before! Powerful runs, but what makes these runs special is how long they can go before you can put a stop to it.
And your tackle will be tested! 4 out of  6 guys had broken something, rods, lines, rings, hooks opened.This is why the leaders you can use have to be approved by the guides, no swivels or clips ( i had a fastach #3 crushed and one opened up and this has never happened to me here in Ireland).
Leaders are so simple, 5ft of nylon coated 65lbs 7x1 stainless steel, straight from your fly line to your hook. Flies are tied directly to the wire ( I do this often here, resulting in less problems and headaches).

This time was different that 5 years ago, colder, water a lot lower. Fast changeable weather, and a large pink salmon run.You could see pinks everywhere, swimming like zombies in the last leg of their lives. Even the air stank of rotten fish in some places. So the pikes were very well fed, resulting is so many frustrating follows of monster fish. I was getting an average of at least 20 follows a days of fish over 45s (110cm+). On the plus side the ones that we got were soooo heavy!!! Big bulging bellies full of pinkies!

As for numbers, we had so many fish, around 30 fish a day for the worse days for me and Dom and 60+ fish each on the best ones! Include a good dozen over 40, two three over 45 and you have the makings for a fantastic week! But it's average for up there, with such a massive body of water that's frozen for 7/8 months and only six rods a week, the fish are wild, untamed and in massive numbers.
This is why I'm already planning my next group to go up there... Alaska the last frontier, has a weird but beautiful grip on us.
A usual,  i try to film a bit as well, it's not easy combining fishing and filming, but i do enjoy both, hope you do too!
And while i have you on Youtube, give the video a like and give a subscribe to help this channel grow, many thanks!

Update, Janvier.

Des eaux encore basses, des jours froids, des journées douces, le thermomètre continue sa mode "yo-yo". Mais vu les conditions présentes, le frai risque d'être précoce cette année...
Voici le drone de Janvier, comme chaque mois, on part pour deux minutes d'evasion.
On a la chance d'avoir 365 lacs et rivières dans la region, mais l'Irlande ce n'est pas que la pêche, les paysages ne sont pas trop mal aussi...

Le sommet est a gauche du plateau, dans les nuages.

A seulement 50 minutes de voiture du lodge se trouve le burren de Cavan, un park national classé par Unesco. Cuilcagh mountain domine ce geopark , avec une altitude de 666 metres les vues sont impressionnantes! D'un coté le sud, avec le comté de Cavan et ses lacs, d'un autre, le nord avec une vue splendide sur le lough Mac Nean et upper lough Erne et ses multitudes îles. Puis sur l'Ouest, on peu voir Sligo et l'ocean Atlantique. ( Si vous avez la chance d'avoir une journée ensoleillée.)

Le chemin du retour

Petit lac de montagne, certains possèdent un peu de fario, elles sont en general très noires et petites dans ces lacs.

Marée basse au sommet?

Il faut une bonne petite condition physique pour arriver au sommet, mais la marche se fait sur un chemin de gravier pour environ 5 kilometres puis on arrive sur le "boardwalk". Ce decking et mis en place pour protéger l'écosystème. Un plus c'est qu'on a pas a s'enfoncer jusqu'au cou dans la tourbe pour arriver a destination. A partir du deck il reste environ 3kms de grimpe pour arriver au sommet.
Le temps change très rapidement, ici, et encore plus en altitude. Il faut quelques préparatifs avant de partir pour assurer une journée confortable ( habits appropriés, nourriture, eau ect..).
Il faut compter environ 4 a 6 heures de marche pour arriver au sommet et retourner au parking, une distance totale d'environ  15 kilometres, avec une elevation de 500m.

Le sommet est un "Cairn", ancienne tombe.

Et je pêche aussi.. ;)

Update.

Mon premier fish de 2017! 109cm...Ca commence pas trop mal ;)

Periode "yo-yo"....Il fait doux, il fait froid...Il fait sec les niveaux tombent, il pleut, tout remonte...
Une seule chose ne change pas, la temperature de l'eau ( 4ºc) .
Les poissons se tiennent profond et il sont très léthargiques. Pêche lente et profonde en ce moment donne de bons résultats. Pas encore bien bon pour la mouche...Il faut encore bien patienter.
Alors quand la météo est difficile, je monte des streamers pour la bonne époque.
   Une bonne série de T-Bones!

Prêt pour big mama, tout est a porté de main, pinces, camera, épuisette...ect...

Bien se couvrir est essentiel!