Island Lake Res. smallies fishing report

[driftboat]

Went to Island Lake this past week looking for eyes and smallies. Gave up on the eyes pretty quick and went looking for some smallies. All I have to say is WOW!

We first began searching for them with hardware to locate spots where they were. Once we found them, out came the fly rod

I was using 3"-4" streamer flies, had some bright colors with some white. But I'm pretty sure if looks like something to bite, they would hit it.

Most fish were 14"+, with a few pushing 20". Fishing should be good with a fly rod for the next few weeks, with certain areas turning on and off as the season goes on.

Please release the bigger 16"+ fish, as it takes awhile to reach that size.

tight lines

[wormburner]

How low was the water, were you on the east or west side? Not looking for your spots, just wondering which launch you went out from?

Oh by the way, nice fish - they sure are fun to catch!

[driftboat]

To me the water was just a tad lower than normal.

We launched out the dam side (west side). We caught them on both sides of the lake.

And they are fun to catch. Nice to have some great smallmouth action so close to Duluth. The SLR should be heating up right now as well. I'll be doing that this weekend, river smallies are brutes.

[tie flyer]

Nice fish, Driftboat! And welcome to the fly fishing forum!

[tree]

Tried Island last Monday after those two big storms. One in th morning one in the afternoon. Still managed to get 6 smallies one 18 incher and 3 notherns all flyfishing. Never had been on the lake before but can not wait to get back under better conditions. Thanx Forrest

[driftboat]

Thanks for the update tree. Looks like you had a good time on those smallies. An 18" fish is a nice battle on a fly rod , the northerns give a good tussle to.

You right about the weather conditions, they were really messed up on Monday with the 2 quick passing storms.

Remember to C&R whenever you can on Island. Hopefully when my son gets old enough to flyfish, I can take him there to catch some smallies

[onthefly]

Hi guys, just wondering what type of flies you use and what kinds of presentation work... Also what do you use for a rod and line combo? I have a 5/6 wt rod with 5/6 wt floating line that I use for trout - could I get a 6lb leader and a 3X tippet and be okay?

I don't have any plans to fish Island - so don't worry about all the smallies disappearing. I know how long it takes for smallies to get over 16", too, and how much fun they are to catch, so I usually only keep a couple to eat and nothing over 14 or 15".

[tree]

Driftboat, I pratice catch and release totally would never kill a smallie far to noble of a fighting sportfish. Anyway returned to the lake Sunday evening and had 20 mile an hour northeast winds. I don't know about you but I find the northeast winds the worst conditions for a bite around here. Did not get a sniff from smallies but got a ton of action from the northerns in the shallow weeds. Nothing big but I hear there are some monsters in the lake. I fish with a 14 year old boy who I have been teaching since he was 12 years old and he is quite the flyfisherman. So good luck with your child later on. It is a great way to spend time together. Thanx Forrest

[tree]

tieflier, Your rod is fine. I prefer to overload the rod with line a step heavier than what the rod calls for, I also use weight forward line. This will load the rod faster and you can throw heavier flies. You can not go wrong using a clouser minnow 3 inches long tied on a 6 hook. White and chartruse gold flashbou with red or yellow eyes. White and blue silver flash and white eyes same size. Sometimes I will use even longer bodied flies. I use a nine foot leader but I always tie a 6 to 8 inch 5# test metal shock tippet on the end. You will lose tons of flies to northerns if you do not and besides they are fun to catch also. Tyger wire is a good brand to use. Surface fishing is also fun with poppers if you see fish boiling. Hope this helps if you want more info just post questions on this thread. Thanx Forrest

[onthefly]

I'm pretty new to fly fishing, which might be obvious. What is weight forward line? Actually - what are the different types of line? Can I find one that would work for trout in rivers and bass in lakes?

The St. Croix River is 20 minutes from my house, so I plan to try some smallie action there. I'll let you know how it goes.