A Bigger Ghost Minnow

Rebel's 2 1/2-inch TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow has long been one of my absolute favorite lures, especially for trout streams, but also smallmouth streams, ponds and assorted other settings. It casts crazily far, offers super versatility in terms of how it can be worked and has a narrow profile that matches a minnow and looks like an easy meal. It's pretty small, though, so it's limited to settings where I'm content with a fairly small offering.

Last year, Rebel delivered a bigger version of the Tracdown Ghost Minnow. Everything about the TD57 matches its little brother, including the six colors it comes in, but this Ghost Minnow is 4 1/2 inches long. I snatched some up as soon as I could get my hands on them, and have been using them ever since. So far, I've been delighted and have used the bigger Ghost Minnows to catch a lot of fish in wade range of situations. They cast great, even on baitcasting gear, and the weighting allows them to manage current extremely well.

I'm actually the most excited about throwing one of these dudes during high flows in a big cold-water tailwater that's home to big brown trout. I haven't gotten to do that yet, but I have caught a couple of bass on them from the tailwaters of Wilson and Kentucky dams, so I've seen how nicely they perform in the big water.

Either size of Tracdown has a tight wiggle with a straight retrieve but gets very erratic when you jerk it, so the possibilities for presentations are virtually limitless.

I leave today for a trip that will include several days of fishing, and you can bet that I'll have plenty of TD47s and TD57 in the car!

Little Red Trout Stop

Remnants from overnight rains and an approaching bigger system caused me to question my idea of a travel detour to the Little Red River on the way home from Fort Smith last week. However, a window of only sprinkles appeared that it would last through the morning, and the swing wasn't that far off my travel path.

Upon arriving, I found completely low water. That makes for easy wading it but can make the fishing tougher, especially with artificial lures. A bit more flow definitely makes tailwater trout more aggressive and causes them to hold in predictable positions. The low flows eliminated ideas I'd had about throwing large minnow bait for the Little Red's famous big browns, but I remained hopeful that stocker rainbows (and maybe a brown or two) would show interest in smaller hard-bait offerings.

Story shortened, they did. It took a bit of looking to find the best spot, and I experimented a bit with lures and colors before finding what they wanted most on that morning, but once I figured it out, the action was good. I lost count, but I'd guess I ended up catching between 15 and 20 trout in a few hours before beginning my travel toward home. All except one were rainbows. Most were fresh stocker size. A few were a bit longer and stouter and looked like they'd been in the river longer. I also caught one brown trout and had one slightly bigger brown (maybe 16 inches) roll on top and throw the hook.

My best lure, by far, was a Rebel TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow in a Brown Trout color pattern, worked steadily with just an occasional twitch to trigger strikes. That's not surprising. The Ghost Minnow has a slender profile creates a subtlety that's good for fussy fish and it can be swam close to the bottom. The Brown Trout color and tends to produce well on dark days.

It was a fun few hours in the stream, and the 2018 fish list is officially underway, with rainbow trout and brown trout being the first two listings. I'd actually done a bit fishing in bass waters the day before I visited the Little Red, but I didn't catch anything that day. My next stop is also to a trout stream, so maybe I can add brook trout!

Smokies Trout Run

Asher and I made a run for the higher hills a couple of days ago to see if the trout wanted to play. To our delight, the wild fish in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park seem to be digging this winter's high water, and they were pretty active. We didn't catch oodles of fish, but be we had a nice amount of activity and caught some really pretty wild brown trout.

Naturally, the big one got away. I hooked a surprisingly big rainbow in park waters and had it on the surface and within a few inches of hand's reach when the hook came free. It was a rouge-banded, 15- or 16-inch, thick bodied male that even had somewhat of a hook jaw.

Because of a mix of photos I wanted to get, it was somewhat of a sampler day. We briefly hit a couple of sections of the Tuckasegee River, including a new delayed harvest stretch I hadn't looked at yet, and two different streams in the national park. That kept us from fishing anywhere as long as would have been ideal, but at least we were fishing.

I say "we" caught fish, but in truth Asher did most of the catching. I caught one fish, which took a Rebel Hellgrammite. Asher caught all his fish on a Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow. All our lures were rigged with single barbless hooks.

2 Favorite Catches from 2015

I tried to pick a single favorite fish from 2015, but the best I could do was to narrow it to two. Each had unique appeals, and I can't  quite decide. Both were big trout that I caught and released, but that's pretty much where the similarities end.

The first, a brown trout that grabbed a Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow, came early this summer from North Carolina's Linville River. I was on my way to a writer trip farther north in the North Carolina mountains and had time for a quick detour. I actually wanted to explore Linville Gorge, but the river was high from recent rain, and I decided that hiking down into the gorge alone would neither be prudent nor productive. Instead I settled to fish around a single river bend in a section of easily accessible hatchery supported waters on Blue Ridge Parkway land. I expected there might be a few stocker-sized rainbows around (which there were). What I didn't expect was to feel a crushing strike and then see a thick band of yellow at the end of my line. I was alone, with no net, so you can guess that I was a bit tense until I managed to land the fish. Next trick, of course, was trying to get a photo. I took a few quick close-ups to make sure I got something and then set up a single self-timer photo with the camera on a rock before I let the fish go, hung my lure back on my rod and continued on my journey.

The other, which is pictured at the top, occurred later in the summer, while Asher and I were on our Rebel Trout Trek out West. I think it was a Snake River cutthroat, although it might have been a rainbow. I wish I could say for sure. Whatever it was, it was a good one, and it hit a Rebel Wee Crawfish while Asher and I were wade fishing in the Delaney Butte Lakes in Colorado. Big trout are no surprise in those waters, but summer doldrums had hit when we were there, and it was the only bite we had in probably six hours of fishing. That catch had some landing drama of it's own. We had a net, but the first time Asher tried to net it, he realized it didn't fit very well. "The net isn't big enough!" he yelled as the fish flopped out and surged again. When I got it close again, he had to carefully scoop it tail-first so it went into the hoop tail-to-nose instead of being across it. He did a fine job getting it in the net and getting photos before we let it go.

A Few More Favorite Things

Yesterday, I blogged about a few of my favorite things from the Rebel Trout Trek. Specifically, I shared my favorite wildlife sighting, forest, mountain range and fish from the trip. I'd like to jump in where I left off and continue with trip favorites for one more day.

Favorite Fish I Caught
Although my favorite fish of the trip were a couple of fat rainbows that Asher caught, I also had a clear favorite fish of my own. Oddly, I'm not positive what species it was. I initially dubbed the big trout I caught from one of the Delaney Butte Lakes as a rainbow, but from closer examination of the colors and looking at reference photos, I sort of think it was Snake River cutthroat. Whatever the species, it was a whopper that hammered a Rebel Wee-Craw, fought hard, and barely fit in the net.

Favorite Landscape

In terms of overall scenery in a single place, nowhere comes close to Yosemite Valley in my mind. From El Capitan (highest sheer cliff in the world) to Half Dome to all of the waterfalls, everything is just so grand. In truth, everything towers so far above the valley that it's hard to grasp how big any of it is. Our visit was too brief, and visiting such a popular national park during a weekend probably wasn't the best strategy. Nevertheless, seeing the valley again and fishing between the cliffs still ranked as one of my favorite overall trip experiences.

Favorite River
I should say "favorite rivers," I suppose, because this one remains a tie in my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed fishing the Madison River in Montana and the Provo River in Utah, and both left me longing to have more days to explore other river sections. Both produced really good action from quality trout and offered outstanding public access. Also, at both rivers, Asher and I were pretty much the only anglers who were not fly fishing, which to me spells opportunity for showing the trout something different.


Favorite Lure
Asher and I caught fish on a bunch of different Rebel Lures and at times stream size or conditions dictates using some specific lure. Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnows were the top producers, though, and the lures we ended up using the most frequently. A Ghost Minnow's slender profile makes it look like an easy meal to most fish, and reeling steadily causes a tight wiggle that's fairly subtle. That said, the weighting of this bait helps it handle fairly strong currents nicely, and twitching the rod tip makes the action much more erratic and prompts reaction strikes.
 

Favorite Fishing Accessory
Asher and I were repeatedly impressed by the design of the Cabela's Burl-Handle Landing Net that we used throughout the trip. The handle itself is comfortable in hand and doesn't slip when it's wet. Plus, the netting is rubberized, which make it easier on fish, and makes the hooks less likely to get caught in the net. The best feature, though, is a stretchy lanyard with a magnetized break-away design. I could hang the net out of my way from a vest or pack loop, but it was still in easy reach, and if Asher needed it or I wanted to go beyond the stretch range to land a fish or hold it in the water for photos, we could simply separate the magnet from the metal.

Surprise Brown

I'll admit it. I mostly stopped at the Linville River to look at the falls, with thought that I might hike down into the gorge to fish a bit just below the falls. The river was pushy from recent afternoon storms, so I wasn't convinced I could get around enough or that it would be worth hiking down into the gorge.

 

So I checked out the falls from a couple of vantages and was on my way toward the next stop when I noticed a little spot with easy access to hatchery supported waters and thought I might be able to fool a stocker rainbow or two. Sure enough in the second spot I cast to from the bank I had one on for a moment. That convinced me to grab my waders and hit it a little harder.

 

I basically fished through one big bend for a half hour or so and had missed three rainbows and was coming up on a spot where I planned to get out when something hit my Rebel Tracdown Minnow hard. After a couple of minutes I got a glimpse, and several tense minutes later I managed to land a beautiful brown trout. It was just me there so pictures are limited to a few bad close ups and a self-timer shot, but I'm thankful to have gotten those.

 

After taking a few photos, I measured the trout against my rod, let it go in good condition and stepped out of the stream to continue in my travels.

 

My kind if side trip!

Exploring New Water

Yesterday's biggest trout, a pretty Wilson Creek rainbow. Photo by Asher Samsel

Exploration often involves more than wading up a new creek. It typically begins with web research and a big of map study and often involves things like making wrong turns and learning that a road that looks like the rest of the roads on the map turns to dirt, climbs a pretty substantial mountain and gets scarily soft and slick for Ford Fiesta travel after a morning rain. It also involves discovering spots where a road beside a river truly provides access and where the road is actually 50 feet above the stream, the banks are wooded and the river is deep enough float your hat from bank to bank.

Asher and I did a little of all that yesterday as we explored the delayed harvest section of Wilson Creek in Western North Carolina. We also learned more about the river's character and how it varies through that stretch, where it can be accessed and how the fish use the river (or at least how they used it given yesterday's conditions). I learned a lot that will aid my approach next time And there definitely will be a next time. While the river is a pretty good trek from here for a day trip (nearly four hours, each way), I was sufficiently impressed with what I saw that I'll definitely return.

While learning and discovering, we also managed to catch some brook trout and rainbows, including one dandy rainbow that nabbed a Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow at the head of a long run. I had 2-pound-test, and the net was in the car, well up a steep bank, so landing the fish was almost as intense as navigating the slippery parts of the road.

As anticipated, it definitely was good practice for Asher and me for this summer's Rebel Trout Trek. Asher kept a camera with him and did a good job with it, and he stayed enthusiastic all day, despite the long drive at each end. I'm looking forward to discovering all sorts of things together this summer, and understand that some of those discoveries will begin with wrong turns.

#RebelTroutTrek

Taneycomo Troutfest

Guide Bill Babler with a pretty Taneycomo brown trout, one of
many browns and rainbows that couldn't resists a Rebel Tracdown
Ghost Minnow today.

Yesterday I talked about my excitement about the return of the Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow and mentioned that I had one tied on for today's fishing. Well, when I got off the water this afternoon, the same bait was tied to the same rod (as was a larger Tracdown Minnow I had tied on another rod). I fished those two rods and two baits exclusively today and caught rainbows and browns all day. No giants, but plenty of stout pretty fish like the brown in the photo, which is being held by guide Bill Babler.

Babler, who has been guiding in this area for more than three decades, definitely knew where to take Lawrence Taylor of Rebel Lures and where we needed to aim our casts. We covered a lot of water today, but he took us to very specific stretches of bank that Babler considered right for our jerkbait approach or where he felt like we had a better-than-average big fish opportunity. I fished the Tracdown Ghost Minnow exclusively after lunch and was thrilled with the way it darts and with the way the small barbless trebles hook and hold trout. Ironically, the one best fish I lost today was on the larger Tracdown Minnow, which has regular barbed trebles. A 17- or 18-inch brown did two big jumps and on the second jump we had a parting of ways.

I've really enjoyed a couple of days of fishing at Lake Taneycomo and my stay at Lilleys' Landing Resort & Marina. Taneycomo is a special trout fishery, with tremendous numbers of fish, good overall quality, and the ever-present possibility of a genuine giant. It's somewhere I hope to get to know far better over time.

Ghost Minnow Return

I have to tell you that I'm pretty excited about the return of the Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow. There may not be another single lure that I've caught more trout on than a Ghost Minnow in its original form, and it has been out of production for several years. The returned version is slightly modified and has enhanced new colors.

Most notably, though, it comes with barbless hooks, like some of the other lures Rebel has come out with lately. That means I can use it in barbless hook/artificial lure streams, which is important because my 10-year-old and I are making a huge western swing, the #RebelTroutTrek, this summer, and many of the best streams in much of the West allow only barbless hooks.

I admittedly got caught up in the Taneycomo jig craze today and was enjoying learning the proper technique, so I waited too long to tie on my new Ghost Minnow. I did get to see it in the water, though, and it looks great, and you can bet it's in tomorrow's starting line-up. The Ghost Minnow is a slow sinker with a tight wiggle that darts erratically when you twitch it, and it's an absolute gem for catching trout!

Fly-Fishing Alternative for Special-Regs Trout

For starters I should say that I do enjoy fly-fishing, and sometime when I go trout fishing or fish for other species, I tote a long rod. I do not, however, consider a fly-fishing a better, more sporting or purer way to fish for trout. It's simply a different style of fishing and one that can be exceptionally effective when the trout are keying on some kind of hatch or eating a specific type of tiny invertebrate farther down in the water column.

I believe when people see "single hook artificial lures only"in a stream's regulations they tend to read that as "fly-fishing only," and that idea is re-enforced by the fact that fly anglers generally make up the bulk of the crowd on these waters. In truth, various lures you can throw with a spinning rod sometimes do extremely well in these waters. The fish see a tremendous number of Hare's Ears, Pheasant Tails and Woolly Buggers, but they don't really see many lures of other kinds.

When spin-fishermen do visit these types of waters, most of them clip two of three points from the treble of a small in-line spinner, which can work really well. My preferred baits, though, are small jigs such as Lindy Watsit Grubs and Fuzz-E Grubs, Road Runner Marabous and small plugs. The video above talks about the Road Runner Marabou. A very recent blog told of the whopper brown trout that took a liking to Nathaniel's Tracdown Minnow.

Few anglers use minnow- or crawfish-imitating hard baits because the lures come equipped with twin treble hooks and the hooks are too small to trim to a single point as is done with in-line spinners. I remove both trebles and replace the back one with a little larger single hook. For Rebel Teeny-Wee Crawfish or Tracdown Minnows, which are about 2 inches long, I like a No. 4 or 6 Daiichi Bleeding Bait Octopus Hook.

Try these offerings next time you see "single hook artificial lures" in the regs and see how they work for you!

Coffee, Flies & Close Encounters

We had to make one quick stop on the way to the creek. Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in Mountain Home has an attached coffee shop with a mountain trout trout theme. How cool is that?

Nathaniel has had several hits in the first few minutes at Dry Run and has already been hooked up with a brown that he estimated at 5 pounds. Most on a Rebel Tracdown Minnow with the hooks changed out. Single barbless hooks are challenging.

Oh he has one on now!

Dry Run Creek a Gem

Nathaniel and I just left Dry Run Creek - an amazing special regs stream in Arkansas that is managed for youngsters and fully handicapped anglers. It's all catch-and-release with barbless single hook artificial lures, and Nathaniel caught and released 31 trout (by my best count) in a few hours of fishing. Lots of quality fish in the mix, including the big, hook-jawed rainbow in the photo above. He also lost a GIANT brown, which rolled on the surface and threw his lure -- and an even bigger brown tried to eat one rainbow he was fighting. What a wonderful opportunity for young anglers! He caught most of his fish on Rebel Tracdown Minnows and Teeny Wee Craws.

New Water Important During Trout Outing

Jim Bedford and I were surprised and disappointed to find another car at the bridge where we planned to slip into one of Jim's favorite Michigan trout streams. It's a small river where he very rarely has company, and we knew that fishing in other anglers' tracks might not be good. We didn't know if the other anglers had waded upstream or down, though, and we could remain hopeful that they wouldn't travel far.

An unusually slow first hour or so on a normally productive river suggested that we might indeed be fishing behind the other anglers, and eventually a group of three appeared on a streamside "fisherman's trail," hiking back downstream to their car. Jim queried them a bit about their methods and success and about how far they had traveled and learned that they were using minnow baits and spinners (same as us) and had caught several trout, and that they had gone about as far as Jim had been planning to wade.

Not long after they continued down the path, Jim determined that it would make sense for us to cut losses by hiking back out ourselves and then walking one bridge crossing downstream and fishing back to the car. He likes the waters we were fishing best, but following three anglers throwing the same types of lures at the same targets didn't seem to be working.

It didn't take long after we got to the "Plan B" waters to confirm that Jim's decision had been a good one. We landed four trout in the first five minutes, which was more than we'd even seen in the other section. The fish were still a little off, relative to what they can be, and we didn't hook any big browns. However we ended up landing several trout, and the difference between the new water and the waters that had been fished was very noteworthy.

We caught most of our fish on Rebel Minnows, with most of mine coming on a 2 1/2-inch Tracdown Minnow in the Slick Brown Trout color pattern.