Home > Features > You are here: Fly fishing, it's not just for trout anymore

Fly fishing, it’s not just for trout anymore
By Keith Dewars*

As a youngster growing up in Minnesota I couldn’t wait for Friday evening.  Our family would pack the suitcases and hurry to become part of the never-ending (so it seemed) procession of cars and boats winding their way on Highway 10 towards the fabled lakes of the north.  Our destination was a little cabin that had been in our family for decades.  This little piece of heaven on earth was where my father taught me how to fish, where walleyes, northern pike, and crappies all fell prey to the worms we dug out of the swampy black soil at the bottom of our hill.  The hot summer evenings though, were a different story.  Dad would walk out on the dock with his long old fly rod and start the hypnotic casting motion that I would soon learn to love.  Now, I suppose most of you are thinking “there must have been some good little trout in that lake”.  Nope.  Not a one.  Bluegills were the focus on these nights.  When the weather was right, calm with a slight ripple on the water, and the insects were hatching, those fish couldn’t get enough of the little beetles and poppers that Dad hand-made in his basement workshop back home.

Soon enough I was deemed old enough to test my fly-casting prowess.  It took a little practice for a small boy of ten or so but I soon got the hang of things.  If you’ve never tried bluegill fishing with a fly rod you don’t know what you’re missing!  Bluegills are fighters; if you ever get into a school of jumbos they’ll put all other pan fish to shame.  Not to mention they taste awful good too.  Dad didn’t know what he was creating when he taught me to use that fly rod, it’s been many years and I still remember those evenings like they were yesterday.

Bluegills are plentiful and common all over North America and you shouldn’t have to go far to locate a good population.  Basic fly fishing tackle is all that is needed.  The lures that we used most often were hand made by Dad, tiny wet-fly copper beetles with a little buck tail tied on, or small cork and buck tail poppers that the fish would hammer on the surface.  Do a little experimenting, as different things will work in differing areas of the country depending on insect types and water conditions.

If you ever get the chance, go out and try a little pan fishing with your fly rod.  And take a kid with, you’ll be glad you did.

*Keith Dewars is a freelance writer, avid outdoorsman and owner/webmaster of Malum Internet Properties. He can be contacted at keithd@maluminternet.com.

Home > Features > You are here: Fly fishing, it's not just for trout anymore