B
Saturday, May 8, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
T IPS F OR
T EMPTING
T HE T ROUT
■ Adding a bit of flash to a fly can transform
a frustrating day into a bout with fiesty trout
E
arly in the year — Janu-
ary and February — my
dad was fi shing a couple of
our few lakes that had open water
and he was frustrated. His friends
were catching more and bigger fi sh
than he was, by two to one.
A person can chock that up to
luck and say, “That’s just fi shing,”
but a person can also do something
about it.
I asked him, “Dad, do you want to
catch more fi sh than your friends?”
To which he said he did.
“Then you need to put an Action
Disc in front of your fl y.”
Dad immediately placed an order
from Wigglefi n.com, fi gured out
how to rig the disc and barely a
week later, he sent me a picture of
a 23-inch rainbow he caught out of
Prineville Reservoir. He was catch-
ing more and bigger fi sh than his
buddies and last time I checked, he
hadn’t told them about the Action
Disc either.
That gave me an idea. One of our
local lakes kicks out big fi sh in Feb-
ruary and March and I knew there
had to be a good one there for me.
I thought if I could get there early
enough on a Saturday, I might catch
a fi sh at the inlet. When we pulled
into the parking area, another guy
was walking down to the water
ahead of us. As it turned out, he
walked to the wrong spot.
Dad and I crawled down the cliff
and perched on a narrow ledge
ON THE
TRAIL
GARY LEWIS
above the fast water where it emp-
ties into the lake.
I knotted on a Mack’s Lure
Smile Blade Fly, in rusty orange.
The Smile Blade is a small mylar
spinner at the head of the fl y, which
gives the fl y action and fl ash. To
up the ante, I dressed the fl y with
Pro-Cure crawfi sh gel scent. I fed
line into the current and wham! It
broke my leader with one grab and
a headshake.
I cut the 4X tippet off, trimmed
it back to about 8-pound test and
tied on another Smile Blade Fly,
dressed it with crawfi sh scent and
three casts later, had another grab.
It came to the surface so fast, it
was dancing just off my rod tip a
moment later and then it headed
toward the bottom, where it tried
to saw the line in the boulders then
started a long run out into the lake.
Dad was so excited, I thought he
was going to fall off the cliff. Eventu-
ally, I was able to calm the fi sh and
dad enough that he was able to net
the gnarly 21-inch broodstock trout
for me.
There are times when trout will
follow our fl ies and peck at the tails
or otherwise short-strike. Some-
Gary Lewis/Submitted Photo
This trout took a slow-trolled white beadhead leech pattern behind
an Action Disc.
Gary Lewis/Submitted Photo
Don Lewis caught this 23-inch rainbow on a bluebird day in March.
“Dad was so excited, I thought
he was going to fall off the cliff.
Eventually, I was able to calm
the fi sh and dad enough that he
was able to net the gnarly 21-
inch broodstock trout for me.”
times trout follow out of curiosity
and don’t bite at all. That little bit of
chaos that an Action Disc or a Smile
Blade imparts to the fl y is some-
times the difference.
In places like Wallowa Lake,
Phillips Reservoir or Willow Creek
Reservoir, where the fi sh can run a
little bigger, the Mack’s Smile Blade
Fly is a great trolling option. Where
the fi sh are 8- to 12-inch legals, a
better choice might be a white, olive
or black beadhead Woolly Bug-
ger. Other good leech patterns for
casting and trolling include blood
red, black and olive tungsten or
beadhead Mohair Buggers. Leeches
should be weighted at the head so
that they sink or wobble when the
fl y isn’t moving. If you have to catch
more and bigger fi sh than your
buddy, rig with an Action Disc.
The fi sh-catching principle at
play here is that as the fl y is drawn
through the water, pressure builds
on the concave front surface. When
the pressure builds, the disc turns
and releases it, which turns the tube
into a lever, bending the line in the
opposite direction, kicking the fl y
with it. The fl y, representing a leech
or baitfi sh appears to be wounded
or injured. And that makes it hard
Gary Lewis/Submitted Photo
Lewis hooked and lost the fi rst one when it broke the line. Cutting
back to heavier leader material paid off. The trout measured 21
inches and weighed 4 pounds.
to resist for a curious predator like a
big rainbow or brown trout.
Slide the Action Disc up the
leader with the concave side pointed
toward the reel. Next, slide on a
small bead or stopper to protect
the knot from abrasion. Dad’s little
extra trick involves a blood knot and
a short tippet section of six to eight
inches, which results in a slower
action and wider swim path.
Last night we fi shed another of
our local lakes and dad’s new favor-
ite lake rig defi nitely outperformed
the standard fl y on leader. Finally
I took my own advice and caught a
nice trout at sunset.
There. A little trick to put a limit
of trout in the boat. Just don’t tell
any of my dad’s friends.
Gary Lewis is the author of “Bob Nosler
Born Ballistic” and “Fishing Central
Oregon” and other titles. To contact
Gary, visit www.garylewisoutdoors.
com.
Wrapping up air gun series with an overview of options
This week we’re
going to wrap up the
four-part series on air
guns. This article will
be a wrap-up/summary
on air guns.
If you need further convinc-
ing that air guns have hit the
modern shooting world with
a big splash and are not just
a fi zzling fad among a group
of old senile bald-headed men
looking for a new source of
entertainment, check out the
offerings at your favorite out-
door store. Or go online and
of the air guns companies
out there but I learn of a new
BASE CAMP
company every time I open
TOM CLAYCOMB
a catalog. If air guns weren’t
popular, then why would so
many companies be jumping
look at all of the air gun offer- on the air gun bandwagon?
ings. Or check out Pyramid
So let’s get started. We’ve
Air, which is a large online air learned that there are three
gun store.
good platforms to choose
Or check the true litmus
from.
paper — the free market. I
• CO 2
• PCP (Pre-charged Pneu-
test a lot of air guns, spon-
matics)
sored on hunts and conduct
• Break barrel (BB)
seminars by air gun compa-
They are divided down into
nies. You’d think I knew all
these three classifi cations due
to their power source. You’ll
have to choose which one
works best for your desired
application.
To help you make a deci-
sion here are my thoughts.
What I am about to say is not
totally true but generally is.
• CO 2 ’s — good to train
kids. They’re not as powerful
so you can set up a shooting
range in your garage with the
proper backstop and targets.
• Break barrels — These
are the most economical, the
most powerful and a great
option for hunting. If you
get a mid-priced BB like the
Umarex Synergis (yes, it is an
under lever but I’m putting it
in the break barrel category)
you will have a shooter that
is accurate and powerful
enough for small game hunt-
ing. If you buy a BB with a
magazine then you’re not dig-
ging pellets out of your pocket
every shot. But, over time you
will have malfunctions with
the plastic magazines so you
preppers may want to go with
the single-shot BB. Although
you can still slip in a pellet by
hand.
• PCP’s — are the most
expensive to shoot due to the
fact that you’ll need auxiliary
air tanks, pay to fi ll them, etc.
I’d suggest buying a Umarex
Readyair air gun compressor.
It’s the most economical air
compressor that I’ve found.
I have no doubt, in due time
if you really get into air guns
that you’ll end up buying a
PCP.
See Air Guns/Page 6B