The North Country Slam

The 7wt and 10wt ready for action.

In my late teenage years my grandfather passed away from cancer.  He was someone I looked up to and his pride and work ethic was contagious.  He taught me to be tough, work hard, be proud, and walk my own walk.  When he was sick, and under the care of my family,  he instructed my then-together parents to, after he passes, receive money he'd saved up and take a vacation... some place nice.  And, when that time came and our grieving process wound down we scheduled a trip to Key West for some fishing--as requested by grandpa.  

The trip helped take our minds off things and it became an exciting time for me... getting to talk to top guides in the lower Keys such as the late Jose Wejebe, Bill Oliver, the Delphs, Jeffrey Cardinas and a slew of others.  These guys would become my fishing role models in the years to come and I dreamed of their lifestyle.  I was hooked.  Soon, I was chasing the ever elusive "Grand Slam" on the flats:  tarpon, permit and bonefish on fly all in the same day.  But, despite sight casting relentlessly to tarpon over 100 pounds I never did land one on fly (I did manage to catch a tagged 40 pounder late in the trip on bait in the Key West Harbor).  The permit, well they narrowly eluded me... as two giant permit rushed my tarpon fly on the edge of a flat they butted heads over the presentation; but, they never took.  The way they both tipped on the fly haunts me to this day, "How could they not have eaten it?".  And, the bonefish... they were shadows of fish moving across the flat laughing at my untrained eye.  In the end, I never did get the "Grand Slam" other than the one that was on my Guy Harvey t-shirt.  But, the experience was amazing and will stick with me forever.

Returning to the North Country, the land of my late grandfather, we too have a "slam".  Depending on the lake it will be a different mix of fish.  And, the lake I chose for Memorial Day weekend was the lake my grandfather lived on.  I got to know it well over the years.  The "slam" pursuit on this trip would consist of pike, smallmouth bass, and walleyes.  

The day started blind casting to post-spawn northern pike holding on shallow flats located in the back of mucky bays.  Using the 10 wt., I fired out a large white and red streamer I concocted many years ago.  The pattern was tied on a 2/0 Tiemco tarpon hook.  It didn't take long before there was action... within an hour and half I would catch, photo, and release pike of the following sizes:   38", 36", 38", and 40".

First fish of the day... 38 inches.

Second fish... 36 inches.

Third fish... 38 inches.

Last pike of the day... 40 inches. I could feel this fish actually had a turtle in it's gut!  

40-incher going home... you can see the turtle shape in its belly.

Content with pike fishing, I neatly reeled in my line so that it would lay on the reel in even rows.  I put the 10 wt down and pointed the boat toward smallie-ville.  We headed out of the weedy back bays and motored toward some large shallow flats made up of broken rock.  The water temperatures were a bit cool yet (52-55 degrees F.) but our bet was that prespawn smallies were starting to move shallow.  And, once we arrived it didn't take more than a few casts with the 7 wt to confirm our hunch.  We enjoyed some quick action on 17-19 inch smallies.  At this time of year it is extremely important, for the future of the smallmouth population, to fight the fish quickly and not have the fish out of the water for more than 30 seconds.  The fish pictured below were out of the water just seconds... with the camera already out and ready while they were being landed.       

Dad in on the action...  with one pushing 5 pounds.

    

After just a few hours, two of the three "North Country Slam" candidates had been boated and released.  And, fine specimens of fish they were.  We decided to float off the spot, eat our lunches, and reflect on the fishing a bit.  As we chomped on deli sandwiches the wind shifted strong out of the east-southeast.  The clouds blew out and the sun became intense.  A good chop was developing.  A walleye chop.  With lunches down we headed for a shallow flat where we had observed walleyes chasing flies in the past.  This spot also contains smallies so it was a win-win decision.  We fan-casted as we drifted over the flat.  Concern began to grow onboard.  Nothing was biting.  We made a couple passes.  Nothing.  Then, reaping the reward of fisherman's patience and persistence a fish stopped the fly half way in on its retrieve.  The fish stayed deep and had some weight.  But, it didn't fight like a bass... nor a pike.  It stayed deep and bent the 7 wt nicely.  In time, I saw color and the tell tale white spot on the caudal fin identifying it as a walleye.  The "North Country Slam" had been completed.

A nice 20 inch walleye on fly.