LAHONTAN REDSIDE MINNOW, #2 Arctic Fox Trolling Fly
The Lahontan Redside Minnow is the primary bait fish in Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River drainage in the eastern Sierra Mountains of California. The minnow has an olive back, a black stripe on the side with a white belly. It has hints of red until it prepares to spawn. During spawning in small creeks, masses of these minnows can make the water look red. My pattern has red flash down the side. The olive/black/white is a classic dace color scheme.
The flies pictured are the same fly, dry and wet.
Additional Info
These flies can be rigged and trolled in a number of ways. These flies can be fished “naked”, just the fly and manipulated with your rod. The Jay Fair method and ripping are a couple of ways to fish just a fly on a sinking line. Dodgers are another popular way to animate the flies. Dodgers limit the speed range for trolling without rolling the fly. The Wiggle Fin Action Disc #1 is an excellent way to animate the fly at any depth. With the #1 disc on the nose of the fly the materials will be lifted out by the turbulence produced by the disc. At speeds of 2 mph and above, the disc on the nose of the fly will make the fly roll, to stop the roll move the disc up the line. At 4 to 12 inches above the fly the fly will have a narrower profile and a tighter vibration/wiggle. A Wiggle Fin Action Disc #2 makes the fly jump back and forth similar to a dodger. Some anglers have tied in swivels with a bead or the Slide Lock Bead to hold the disc up the line. A video with underwater shots of many of my flies rigged can be seen here: Fly Rigging Video.
Due to increasing inflation costs I have been struggling not to raise my fly prices. To maintain my fly prices, I will no longer be sending an Action Disc with each Arctic Fox Trolling Fly.