| Equipment & Check List for Bailey
Creek Lodge
- Rods:
Recommending “the” rod for Bailey Creek Ranch can open
the proverbial can of worms. There is much disagreement on what
rod one should use for any kind of fishing. Here are some thoughts
on selecting a rod for Bailey Creek fishing. Using a nine foot
or even a 91/2 foot rod makes sense, since it makes casting easier
when sitting in a float tube on the lake, while a shorter rod of 8 1/2 to 9 feet is ideal for the stream fishing.
- What wt of rod is another
issue altogether. Many anglers feel you should use a 5
or 6 wt rod when fishing for large fish which you
will most certainly encounter in the lake at Twin Creeks Ranch. They feel you can
bring those heavy fish to hand much faster when using the heavier
rods. This is certainly true when your tippet strength is in the
6 lb or heavier range. However, when using tippets of 6 or 7x
an argument can be made for selecting lighter rods to tame those
large fish faster. The thinking is that you can put much more
pressure on the fish with the lighter rod before the tippet will
fail. We have experienced this many times while using 3 to 4 wt
rods and 6x tippets on Bailey Creek fish. Landing fish of several
pounds usually takes no more than 5 minutes or so. Whatever your
choice please be aware that if you take much more than10 minutes
to land any fish you stand a good chance of killing it. It may
seem fine after reviving it, but chances are the lactic acid build
up will be too great and it will die the next day. Always try to land fish as quickly as possible.
- Reels: Most of the reels
made today are fine for Bailey Creek. A good, smooth drag
system can be found on reels in almost any price range. If you
are buying a reel the most important thing to remember is to buy
at a reputable fly shop and trust what the salesman is telling
you. They will try to match you with a reel in your price range
and matched to the type of fishing you will usually do. They aren’t
about to put you into any inferior product. In fact, that shop
won’t even have any inferior products, and if does, it is
not the quality shop you should be patronizing.. Other than that,
just be sure the reel can hold at least 50 yards of backing with
the fly line you will be using (see next paragraph).
- Fly Lines: Most
of the fishing at any of our private waters is done with floating
fly lines, however the variety of these lines available today
can be confusing. Once again, the best course of action, if you
are in the market to buy a line, is trust your chosen fly shop
to give you good advice. If your budget can handle it you might
give consideration to the new high priced floating lines. They
do float higher than the less expensive ones and this just makes
your fishing day so much more enjoyable. You will find it much
easier to lift your line off the water for a back cast and, when
in a float tube, this is a blessing. Weight forward versus double
taper is no longer much of an issue these days. Most shops carry
very few double tapers, since almost every angler wants to use
a weight forward line.
- Fly Lines (continued): For fishing in the lake, an intermediate or full sinking line (up to Type 3) can be beneficial, especially for fishing streamers or damselfly nymph imitations.
- Leaders: If picking
out a fly line can be confusing, picking out a leader can be down
right frustrating. Again- trust your fly shop. Otherwise
here are some things to consider in choosing leaders for lake
fishing. Buy 10 or 12 foot leaders tapered to 4x if you will be
using dry flies or emergers or anything suspended in the top foot
or so of the water. Now have tippet material on hand of 4x to
6x and make sure this is fluorocarbon. The tapered leader can
be nylon or fluorocarbon but the tippets should all be fluorocarbon.
Attach 2 to 3 feet of tippet material to the leader and you are
ready to go. If you are fishing nymphs at deeper levels you can
use shorter leaders (7 ft or so) and longer tippets. The tippet
length to the first nymph depends on how deep you want that nymph
to be. If you are retrieving streamer type flies or nymphs at
shallow depths (2-3 feet) use fluorocarbon leaders and tippets.
You want the leader and tippet to be under the water.
- Leaders for fishing the
stream at Bailey Creek could be from 7 1/2 to 9 ft long. You
can then added a short section of the appropriate tippet material
for the size of fly or flies you are using. The bigger StoneFly
dries mean a tippet of at least 4x, but you can added a piece
of 5x underneath that and put on a smaller nymph as a dropper. Remember in
high water conditions you can use heavier tippet material than
you can later on in the season when the water is lower and
clearer.
Miscellaneous Tackle
The only other tackle needs one might have
for lake fishing is some type of indicator,
if you use such things. Many anglers shun indicators and will use
a dry fly instead, suspending nymphs beneath the dry fly. If you
are fishing at depth much greater than 2 or 3 feet you will find
this method unwieldy. You will need an indicator to hold up those
nymphs, since most of the time you will be using 2 of them along
with split shot weights. The type of indicator is really not important,
but the size is. We would suggest using the smallest size possible
that can hold up those nymphs. Tiny split shot can be a help, especially
if you are fishing with tiny nymphs such as midges, etc. You may
not need shot when using the larger nymphs. When fishing the stream
the information for indicators on lakes holds true, however using
that dry fly for the indicator is really a great way to go.
Other items to consider bringing
*Hat *Sunscreen *Polarized Sun Glasses *
Clippers *Hemostats *Camera
Flies for Bailey Creek Lodge
As is the case for almost any fishery the
most productive flies for Bailey Creek can change throughout the
season, and sometimes what works one year doesn’t seem
to produce as well the next. The patterns listed below are ones
that have proven themselves over the course of time. These are not
the only flies that one can ply the waters of Bailey Creek with,
but the chances are if you have those listed you can catch fish
on any lake or freestone stream anywhere. For the most up-to-date fly suggestions, give
us a call at The Fly Shop at (800) 669-3474.
STREAMERS
Richard’s Seal Bugger, #8
Crystal Buggers, (olive,blk,olive), #8-12
Beaded Micro Bugger, (blk,brn,olive), #12
Zacks Zugger Bugger, (all colars), #8
NYMPHS
Zack Attack Damsel, (olive), #14
TFS Damsel, #14
Stillwater Nymph, (olive), #12
Zacks Zallibaetis, #14
Poxyback Callibaetis, #16
PT Nymphs, #14-20
CB Micro Mayfly, (blk), #18-20
Red Copper John, #14-18
GB Frostbite Midge, #16-18
Chromie, #16
Mercer’s Gidget, (olive,brn), #18
Mercer’s Zebra Midgeling, #18-20
Mercer’s Poxyback Golden Stonefly #12-14
DRIES
Parachute Adams, #16-20
Callibaetis Cripple, #16
Pop Top Midge Emerger, (olive,blk), #20
Griffith Gnat, #20
Quigley's Spider Midge, #20
TFS Foam Beetle, #14-18
Oswald’s Parafoam Ant, #16
Black Flying Ant, #14
Chernobyl Ant, #10
Stimulators (yellow), #10-12
Yellow Humpy, #12-14
Elk Hair Caddis, tan #12-14
To make a reservation,
please give us a call at 800-669-3474 during business hours
any day of the week. We can give you the answers you need or the
detailed explanations to questions you might have, or check on guide
availability and confirm your guide reservation in minutes.
If you prefer to correspond
on-line simply e-mail us at info@adventuresinflyfishing.com
and we will respond promptly.
|
