Fish-Hawk.Net

Relativly new to fly fishing and looking for some advise on the setup (ie: rod weight, line type, leader length) I should be using for the trout lakes in and around Calabogie and Renfrew County area.

Also, advise for different types of flies that I should have in my fly box when fishing the lakes in these areas.

Any sort of advise would be greatly appreciated.

I am quite new to fly fishing, but have found that woolly buggers, gray ghosts, and black ghosts have been successful for me in the Eastern Ontario trout ponds. My 6 wt with a weight forward line is a little more than necessary for fighting the fish, but good for fighting the wind on the lakes as a newer fly fisher. it is pretty good to handle larger bass too.

I am sure that you will get some responses from more experienced fly fishers on the board.

B.

mell_chri:

There are no trout in the Ottawa Valley. However, if you decide to follow through on this futile pursuit, let me suggest....

A 8 to 9 foot long fly rod under a 5-wt is more than enough for Ottawa Valley trout (not that there are any) - a 3-wt is probably ideal. I'd recommend floating, sink-tip, and full sink lines as each body of water has its own distinct character and conditions vary throughout the year.

4X or 5X, 9 foot tapered leaders and about 18 inches 5X tippet or lighter usually does the trick. Regular mono tippet works best for dries while flourocarbon is best for wets and streamers.

Flies that work are those that Beeman mentioned and virtually any streamer or nymph pattern in size #8 or smaller. Many people fish 2 or 3 flies in tandem or dropper style. Surface action is limited to certain waters and at specific times of year (and because there are no trout).

Presentation is key and you might want to speak to some of the guys in the Ottawa Flyfishers Society or the Algonkian Fly Fishers Club about that. Also, a canoe or float tube is a must to fish lakes since shore fishing is really limited.

Good luck this spring and post some pics (you can Photoshop fish into your pictures because there are no trout).

For a good selection of flies that are used for those trout that don't exist in the Ottawa Valley, check out the pics and recipes in the "Fish-Hawk Fly Swap" at the top of the Float & Fly Fishing section (see http://www.fish-hawk.net/hawktalk/viewforum.php?f=129).

I use a 5wt with lines and tippets that Fishboy has already mentioned. I'm going to add a 3wt or (and?) 4wt setup to the arsenal come spring. I also have an 8wt for pike and largemouth bass (and hopefully carp or catfish someday).

If you want a rod that can also handle the smallmouth bass that are prevalent in the rivers running through Ottawa, a 5 wt will have enough backbone to get the average sized smallie to hand without tiring the fish out too much.

Doug

Fishboy,
What do you mean by saying "There are no trout in the Ottawa Valley"? No naturally reproducing trout or no trout at all? Just curious...
Actually the original question was more specific: "Calabogie/Renfrew County Trout".

mosquito,

You obviously don't know fishboy.

can't catch = no fish

(I too, speak from experience)

Yeah, like Todd B. said about knowing Fishboy...

Guys can get a lot of info about the non-trout of the Ottawa Valley by looking back at older threads. Much of the content was provided by Fishboy.

One day a few years ago I was up there with a good guy named Peter and I met another good guy named Darwin. Darwin had a truck with fish in it. I gave him my email address and he includes me in emails about the area.

For those who have not met Darwin in the woods and given him their email address, you might look up the Pembroke Ministry of Natural Resources, either online or by phone, and inquire about publications such as stocking lists.

I also wanted to tell mell_chri that under no circumstances should he look at the Rivers in Upstate New York, and definitely not those around Malone, such as the Salmon or the Chateaugay. Don't google "New York DEC" and poke around until you find links to fishing, fish stocking, and public access rights.

Nuthin there. No siree...

Whats a trout?

I've really got to get out more.....

Rybren - I prefer to think of it as "Won't admit to catching any fish".

Sorry mosquito and mell_chri, just having a little fun. However, the advice beachburger & I gave regarding catching "the trout that don't exist" is still pretty good. Manfred knows whereof he speaks, too.

Mitch24 - a trout is one of those things you see swimming in the tank at the fish counter in Lablaws....

is that the fish that looks like it has chicken pox and a look of despair in it's eyes.?