First Fish Of 2011 Jan 5th fishing with the Admiral
Captain Midnight
Smelt Fly Patterns
Selections and their use on Lake Champlain
By Randy Colomb
January 8, 2008
I use smelt fly patterns in the fall to pursue salmonoids in Lake Champlain. These patterns both traditional and my own imitate smelt and other baitfish.
The Captain Midnight was inspired by the Governor Aiken and was developed for late season trolling on Lake Champlain. I fish from mid-November until freeze-up, usually into mid-January. I fish both sides of the lake from the Champlain Bridge north and take salmon, browns, rainbows, and lake trout on this pattern. I have found that a very sparse fly like the Captain Midnight works best in the fall. I like the hook-up design as I believe it is less likely to be thrown when a fish jumps. I also believe that tying the head of the rear hook with fluorescent thread gives the fish a strike point, as would the use of jungle cock eyes. Almost all fish taken on this fly are hooked on the rear hook, and I experience very few short strikes. I first tied the Captain Midnight in 1984 and settled on this recipe about 1990. It’s a winner!
We finally have in place a sustained lamphrey treatment program. This fall and winter we had very few lamphrey hit fish. The fish caught were much heavier for their length than those caught during the absence of the lamphrey treatment. Hopefully with this program returning to an active state we can return to the world class fishing experiences that we had in the early to mid 90’s.
Hooks: Mustad 79580 size 4 and Mustad 9671 size 6
Thread: Fluorescent orange, white, and black
Body: Silver braided mylar
Wing: White bucktail, lavender bucktail, fucsia krystal flash kf053, peacock krystal flash kf17.
Throat: red calftail
To tie the Captain Midnight start with the size 6 rear hook. Wrap the hook shank with 10 to 15 wraps of white thread to give the wire a good base. Insert the wire through the eye and tie it in even with the hook point. Coat the thread with head cement and slide a 5/8 inch long piece of mylar tubing over the wire and tie it in even with the hook point using white thread. Tie in the head of the mylar tubing with the fluorescent thread, making a good sized head, and coat everything with clear head cement. Set aside to dry. Mount the size four hook in the vice and wrap the hook shank as before. Position the rear hook point up and wrap in the wire, making a tandem set of hooks about 2 ¾” long. I sometimes use a 6mm fluorescent bead between the two hooks and this makes the setup slightly longer. Coat the thread with cement. Cut a 1 ¼” piece of mylar tubing and slide it over the front hook. Tie it in with white thread and coat the mylar body with cement. Set aside to dry. I usually do a number of these ahead. To complete the fly, mount the front hook in the vice and use black thread to tie in a small bunch of white bucktail, over which is tied a small bunch of lavender bucktail. Remember keep this fly sparse. Top with 14-15 threads of fuscia krystal flash and top with 14-15 threads of peacock krystal flash. Tie in a small bunch of red calftail at the throat, extending to the hook point. Whip finish the head and coat with head cement.
I troll this fly with a full fly line plus about 25 feet of backing. I use about 5 or 6 feet of 6 lb monofilament for a leader and one small splitshot 18 inches up from the fly. This keeps the fly clean of trash and gives other action to the fly. Friends use mono lines on spinning rods with side planners. Troll at varying speeds while making S turns, or pump a hand held fly rod. Be ready for a smashing strike on the drop or rise!
Look for this fly and others in a book by author Don Wilson titled Smelt Fly Patterns published by Frank Amato Publications Inc. ISBN 1-57188-071-2
This book has 16 pages of beautiful color plate photographs of flies and a large text of tying instructions.
Other books: Trolling Flies for Salmon and Trout by Dick Stewart, Streamers and Bucktails by Joseph D. Bates Jr.
The trolling of tied baitfish flies for Landlock salmon and trout is a unique heritage of our region.
For fish reports or flys:
From November on Randy is usually on the lake with call sign Surprise, or call 802-877-3851 h 802-388-7727 w , email rcolomb@juno.com
Lake safety: don’t let an accident ruin your day or your next! Don’t fish alone. Let someone know where you are and when you expect to return.
The weather on the lake in the fall changes rapidly. Keep track of subtle changes that can build into danger. The lake at this time of year goes from 50* to a low of about 35* at freeze-up. Not a pleasant place to be swimming unless you are a fish. Carry all required safety equipment, plus a hand held VHF radio can be handy to contact other fishermen on channel 68 or the US Coast Guard on channel 16. USE COMMON SENSE and have FUN!
New Trolling Streamer Bible
I have 14 patterns in this book. For anyone wishing to tie, patterns of New England and New York with recipes and history are well documented by the author and friend Don Wilson.
http://www.amatobooks.com/mm5/merchant. ... gory_Code=
Dressing for Blue Meanie
Head: Black front, trailer fluorescent red
Body: Silver mylar tubing, with or without a 6mm fluorescent red bead.
Throat: red calftail
Wing: Sparse white bucktail over which is sparse #24 Midnight Purple Sparkle Flash.
Dressing for Champlain Shiner
Head: Black, Trailer, fluorescent red
Body: Gold mylar tubing, 6mm Chartreuse bead on connecting wire.
Throat: Orange Calftail
Wing: small bunch of UV white bucktail over which is a small bunch of DNA Holo Fusion tan over which is a small bunch of Olive bucktail.
Dressing for Christmas Lights
Head: Black front, fluorescent red rear
Body : silver braid mylar with or without a 6mm fluorescent red bead.
Throat: Red calftail
Wing: Sparse white bucktail over which is sparse #20 Mulberry Sparkleflash
Dressing for Christmas Wish
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent red
Body, Green, gold, red nylon metallic cord for plastic canvas on front hook, gold braid on rear
Throat: Red calftail
Wing: Sparse blend yellow & olive bucktail.
Dressing for Code Blue
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent red
Body: Silver mylar tubing with or without 6mm fluorescent bead.
Throat: small bunch red calftail
Wing: small bunch of white bucktail over which is a small bunch of cerulean blue bucktail over which is a small bunch of smolt blue Krystal Flash over which are a few strands of peacock Krystal Flash
Note: Named after my longtime fishing friend Dr. David Henderson.
Quite effective as a casting streamer when tied on a #2 hook. Has taken many Lake trout at the mouth of Big Otter floating and casting in shallow water when the smelt are spawning in April.
Dressing for Cop Car
Hook: Mustad 79580#4 front, Mustad 9672#6 rear
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent red
Body: silver mylar tubing with a faceted blue 6mm bead on connecting wire.
Throat: Small bunch red calftail
Wing: UV white Bucktail over which is a small bunch of black bucktail
Dressing for Instigator Perch
Head: Black, trailer Fluorescent orange
Body: silver mylar braid
Throat: fluorescent orange bucktail
Wing: Sparse white bucktail over which a small bunch yellow bucktail over which is a small bunch of olive bucktail. Use a black permanent marker to make 3 vertical bars on both sides.
Named for the Infamous Instigator, Reggie Swenor who shamed us in 2009 with great catches taken on a perch Speedy Shiner...
Dressing for Kaleidoscope
Hook: Mustad 79580 #4 front, Mustad 9672 # 6 rear
Head: Black front, fluorescent red rear.
Body: Silver mylar tubing with or without a fluorescent red 6mm bead.
Throat: Small bunch of fluorescent red calftail
Wing: Small bunch of white bucktail over which is Rainbow Krystal Flash over which is sparse Black Krystal Flash
Dressing for Kathy's Tickled Pink
Hook: Mustad 79580 #4 front, Mustad 9672 #6 rear
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent orange
Body: Gold or brass mylar tubing, with or without 6mm fluorescent red bead
Throat: Fluorescent orange calftail
Wing : Sparse UV White bucktail over which is small bunch of Glo in Dark Pink Flashbou over which is small bunch of lavender bucktail.
Originally tied in fall 2009 and named after my Wife Kathy. It like her has been a "Winner" from the start.
Dressing for Lightning Bolt
Hook: Mustad 79580 #4 front, Mustad 9672 #6 rear
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent red
Body: Gold braid mylar tubing & 2, 3mm fluorescent red beads on connecting wire.
Throat: Red calftail
Wing:Sparse red bucktail over which is sparse yellow bucktail, over which is sparse red bucktail.
Dressing for Marvin's Way
Head: Black, Trailer hook fluorescent orange
Body: Brass, or gold mylar tubing, With or without a fluorescent 6mm bead
Throat: Small bunch of orange calftail
Wing: Small bunch of white bucktail over which is a small bunch of Copper Krystal Flash over which is a small bunch of burnt orange bucktail.
Named after my longtime and now gone fishing friend Marvin Way of Essex Jct and Georgia Shore, Vt. One of my favorite producers.
Dressing for Nuclear Waste
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent red
Body: Gold braid mylar
Throat: fluorescent orange calftail
Wing: Sparse UV White bucktail over which is small bunch of Glo in Dark Chartreuse Flashabou over which is sparse peacock Flashabou
Dressing for Patriot
Hook: Mustad 79580 #4 front, Mustad 9672 #6 rear
Head: Black front, fluorescent red trailer
Body: Silver braid mylar
Throat: Red calftail
Wing:Sparse UV White bucktail over which is a small bunch of electric blue mylar FishHair
Dressing for Sparksanator
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent orange
Body: Gold braid mylar, with or without 6mm fluorescent bead.
Throat: Fluorescent orange bucktail
Wing: Sparse UV White bucktail over which a small bunch of gold KrystalFlash over which is sparse Emerald Flashabou.
Tied for my now gone fishing pal Kimberly Sparks.
Kim and Fly caught Rainbow at Split Rock in my old open boat
Dressing for Surprise
Head: Black, trailer fluorescent red
Body: Gold or brass braid mylar
Throat: Red calftail
Wing: Sparse UV White bucktail over which is sparse red/white blend bucktail.
A favorite of my friend Julius Larrow "FishFinder" for fishing in Memphremagog.
Dressing for Wine-O
Head: Black front, fluorescent red rear
Body: Silver braid mylar with or without 6mm fluorescent bead.
Throat: Red calftail
Wing: Sparse white bucktail over wihich is a small bunch of #32 Claret Sparkleflash over which is sparse black bucktail
Dressing for Nut'n Much
Head: Black, trailer Chartreuse
Body: Silver mylar braid, 6mm chartreuse bead
Throat: Fluorescent Orange calftail
Wing: Sparse UV White bucktail over which is sparse UV Blue KrystalFlash over which is small bunch of Chartreuse Bucktail
Dressing for Yellow Jacket
I've been at the bench waiting for the season
with alewives being in the bait mix I had this inspiration .....now to fish e'm and see what the fish think
11 Days from trying this
Stay Tuned , Fish On!
A collection of recipes and slides from Authors Dick Stewart & Bob Leeman
Found this on Global Fly Fisher
http://globalflyfisher.com/streamers/gu ... rt_leeman/
