Gerald Almy: Fly fishing for overlooked gamefish appealing

Bring up the subject of fly fishing and most people picture images of clear mountain streams and vest-clad anglers casting delicate flies to mayfly-sipping trout. But the world of fly fishing has expanded dramatically in recent years. Now anglers use this classic form of fishing to challenge a wide variety of gamefish, not just brookies, browns and rainbow trout.

Over the next few columns we’ll look at some of the exciting species you can catch other than trout on Virginia’s lakes, rivers and streams and the tackle, tactics and flies that work best. (Smallmouth and largemouth bass actually do have quite a few devotees who go after them with the long rod, so we won’t cover them here.)

Stripers

Virginia is blessed to have one of the few naturally-reproducing populations of freshwater stripers in the state in Buggs Island Lake and its tributaries — the Dan and Roanoke rivers. Using the fish from those runs for hatchery stock has allowed stripers to be stocked in many of our state’s lakes where they produce outstanding fishing. For the most part, drifting live bait, trolling and casting lures are the tactics used.

Since stripers often hold deep, employing one of those methods is often the most effective way to go. But when the fish move shallow — as they often do during spring runs and again in fall when feeding on points, shallow flats and coves — fly gear can produce exceptional sport. Action can also be hectic any time that you encounter the fish breaking on the surface crashing into frantic schools of shad.

Tackle: Use an 8-9½ foot rod, 8-10 weight bass or saltwater taper floating line for shallow fish and a sinking tip line for medium depths (6-12 feet). Attach a tapered leader of 5-10 feet with an 8-14 pound tippet.

Flies: bulky streamers such as the Whistler and Deceiver, and the more sparsely-dressed Clouser Minnow are good sub-surface offerings. Try elongated poppers for topwater action, sizes 1-2/0. Red and white or chartreuse are the top colors.

Retrieves: For surfacing fish use a medium to fast retrieve. Twitch poppers steadily across the surface over humps, points and shallow flats where you see shad skipping on the surface. For deeper fish, strip streamers in 12-18 inch pulls with brief pauses in between or use a steady hand-twist retrieve to imitate a slinking shad. Keep the rod tip low to the water for a solid hook set.

Walleyes

Legendary for their great taste on the table, walleyes are found in many Virginia lakes and are also native to the New River, where the state record was caught. The best time to catch walleyes on flies is late winter and early spring when the fish are feeding heavily and preparing to spawn. You’ll find them concentrated below dams in rivers and forging up tributaries in lakes. After the spawn during summer you can catch them at night and on overcast days near shorelines and points where they often feed on minnows.

Tackle: 8-9 foot rod, 6-8 weight forward full sinking or sinking-tip line, 4-6 foot tapered leader with a 6-12 pound tippet.

Flies: Matuka, Zonker, Clouser Minnow, TeQueely, Deceiver, Cone Head Wooly Bugger, sizes 1/0-4.

Presentations: walleyes don’t surface feed, so you want to work deep pools, eddies, points and tailwaters at depths of 4-18 feet. Streamers with some weight built in and a fast-sinking line are the way to go.

Let the fly sink to where you’ve located fish or bait and work it back with a slow-hand-twist retrieve. Fish it just like you would a jig on spin tackle. Being voracious minnow-eaters, walleyes should strike these flies willingly if you locate a prime holding spot in a river or structure they are using in a lake.

Pickerel

This is a unique gamefish that deserves more attention from all Virginia anglers, but especially fly fishermen. The lean, green feeding machine stalks the weeds and flooded timber seeking minnows, frogs and just about anything that moves — including well-manipulated flies. What’s more, pickerel provide fantastic fishing from fall through early spring, when many gamefish are holding deep and tough to catch. The eastern third of the state is best, from the ponds of A.P. Hill Military Reservation to the tidewater lakes near Virginia Beach.

Tackle: 8-9 foot rod, 6-8 weight-forward or bass taper line with a 5-9 foot tapered leader and 6-10 pound tippet. A sink-tip line helps when fish are below 5 feet.

Flies: poppers and deer hair mice or frogs make for exciting shallow-water action. Also try Dahlberg Divers, Desperate Divers for just under the surface. Zonkers, Clouser Minnows, Woolly Buggers and Matukas work well for 5-10 foot depths, sizes 1/0-4.

Presentations: Drop hair bugs and poppers next to weed beds and log jams. Then let the ripples settle. Twitch once, pause and then begin an erratic retrieve. Strikes can be explosive. If fish won’t cooperate on top, retrieve streamers 2-6 feet deep with sharp 6-12 inch spurts and pauses in between.