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Rumsey Lake Minnow
Tied by Warren Dobson |
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Tail: 2 light Badger Hackle tips extending 2/3 length of shank past the bend
Body: Light grey chenille
Hook: Mustad 79580 size 8 (or similar 3x streamer hook)
Rib: Oval silver tinsel
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| Tying Instructions |
Tie in tail over barb. Tie in rib material and chenille. Take thread to head. Wrap chenille forward and secure with thread. Follow with tinsel rib and tie off. Whip finish and cement.
The fly is very quick to tie and durable to boot. I got 2 more Rainbows that day, and 5 more the following week. Olive chenille also works. I troll the margins of the lake at a medium fast speed and cast 90 degrees from the direction of travel towards shore, letting the momentum of the canoe pull the fly in an arc from the shallows into the deeper water. I let the flyline trail directly behind for a bit, then pick up and cast again to a likely spot. |
| Fishing Tips |
Here's a story about the Rumsey Lake Minnow - the pattern I tied for the Simple Fly Swap. Hope you enjoy it...
Rumsey Lake, spring-fed and shaped like a figure-eight, is nestled on the top of North Mountain in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. It is stocked with 12 to 13-inch yearling Rainbows annually and receives a fair bit of angling pressure during late spring and early summer. What makes this such a challenging spot is the unusual water clarity and the relatively large surface area - maybe a half-mile long by a quarter-mile wide. I have fished it about 6 times, since my first visit in '95, but only in the months of August or September.
This October, following a long drought, rivers were low and my annual pilgrimage to the River Phillip and the Wallace River for Atlantic Salmon kept getting postponed until conditions improved. Every weekday at work, I prayed for rain that never came, dreamed of the 20+ lb. salmon that would fill the rivers, and each weekend I blunted my disappointment by spending one day on Rumsey Lake. Nor could I find a friend to go with me - despite repeated
invitations, my fishing partners were either too busy or not interested.
The first Saturday I caught one 13' trout; the next weekend - none, although I hooked and lost two larger fish. The following weekend, however, things got interesting... I left home at 4:30 am in pitch darkness and arrived at the lake
about 6:30 am just as the sun was streaking the horizon. It was cold, bright and calm. The colorful foliage of the hillsides were reflected in the perfect mirror of the lake.
I was using 'Jackwhacker', a custom-built Sage (8ft-5wt) rod, in a 14-foot square-back canoe. I trolled a Muddler for a while and saw signs of fish - rises, finning, subtle vees on the surface, but always out-of-reach. Had one strike, but no hook-up. I tried slow-drifting with a weighted Chironomid with no success.
In the early afternoon, cloud drifted in on a NE wind and I moved to the SW end of the lake. My experience had told me that these Rainbows were cruisers, constantly on the look-out for dragonfly nymphs, surface flies and small minnows. The lake has two species of topminnows - the two or three-inch Banded Killifish, and the smaller one-inch Stickleback. I wanted a fly to represent the Stickleback and as I scanned the flybox, my eyes fell upon an unfamiliar
pattern.
I remembered, suddenly, that it was actually a remnant of a fly that had been given to me years ago by a German fisherman I once met on the Medway River. We had exchanged Salmon and Trout patterns and this was what was left of one of his favorite trout flies after being chewed by several enthusiastic Brook trout. The details of the original fly remain dim, but it had a pair of yellowish duck flank feathers tied in as cheeks on each side at the head extending past the bend of the hook to embrace a chenille body. After the side feathers had been chewed off, I had tossed it in the box, intending to retie it someday.
I tied it on my 2 lb tippet wondering if it would be about the right size shape and color, and in a few minutes, I had a 15-inch reply. A few minutes later, I felt a heavy strike that almost stalled the 2HP Evinrude. I quickly shut it off and dropped anchor against the brisk wind, then noticed I was perilously close to a bed of lily pads. As I hauled anchor with one hand, the fish headed straight for the canoe and I had to snug the rope quickly in the cleat, then reel furiously to keep the line tight. The fish passed directly under the canoe and I followed with the rod from left-to-right across the bow. Horrors! The rod wouldn't come across the bow - it was hung up on something.
The reel was singing, the fish streaking for the middle of the lake, and the rod bent nearly double before I realized what was up. My anchor drops from a pulley in a hardwood board that extends about a foot beyond the bow of the
canoe. The line had slipped in its cleat and my rod tip was now trapped between the bow and the taut anchor line. I started to sweat. The rod was going to break. God,no! Not this rod! Not 'Jackwhacker', my favorite rod who had
earned her name in glory on Labrador's Pinware River (another story).
I put the rod between my knees and hauled the anchor with both hands, secured the rope in the cleat, and freed the rod in time to see the last of the flyline pass through the guides. I started the motor and followed the fish, reeling in the backing and then, with relief, some 5-weight line. When the canoe was safely away from the weeds, I killed the motor, anchored and rose to do battle.
The 2 lb tippet was holding, so I put as much strain on it as I could and soon got a glimpse of the fish - BIG! a beautifully-colored male - hookbill, gold belly and scarlet flanks. When I got him in close, I slipped the net in the
water and drew him near, but he took off like a wet cat from a bathtub - no way would he come near that net! Two minutes more ticked by and I knew I would have to net him or be defeated - too much could go wrong. There were several anxious moments when he was just out of reach, but oh, so close. Every time I put the net in the water, he would find some reserve of strength and turn away.
Finally, I got his head up, towed him over the net, lifted, and the battle was won! Four lbs, 22 inches qualified this Rainbow as my favorite fish of '97.
Now, for the fly pattern...[see above]
Coda:
I tied up a couple dozen RLM's this winter and wondered if they would work for Brook trout as well... The verdict is in! I've released over 70 trout this spring and more than half of them fell to the RLM! I've used it with success in
lakes, brooks, meadow stillwaters and big rivers. The best technique is to use an Intermediate(I)Uniform Sink or floating line and retrieve with slow short strips.
Good Luck and Good Fishin'! |
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