Normally the fly-fishing season near Khabarovsk ends by November. In the end of October it is often below freezing in the morning; cold winds blow at the wide Amur River.
The water level in Amur this year is very low - about 1 meter below the conventional "zero level". Big sand spits exposed by the low water make the area look like the Sahara desert.
My friend Andrey and I were looking for Amur pike. This time of a year it is normally feeding along the shallow, sandy banks. The search requires lots of motor boat driving and hiking in the sand.
Andrey is casting a big streamer into a promisingly looking bay. That day the pikes were not cooperative at all.
On a way home we had decided to fish from a boat near one of the faster areas near the main waterway of the Amur. Such places have pebble bottom and attract different predators.
That day the fish were not active; they were holding near the bottom below the drop of a riffle. I had managed to get some bites only with a 50' fast sinking head, made of Rio T17 material. This is a skygazer.
Mongolian redfin was caught closer to the bank, where the current was not as strong. The fly which was so tasty at that day was an Antiwobbler with a foam back.
Both its upright blade and foam strip at the back help the fly to stay suspended when the heavy line moves on the bottom and pulls it down. During retrieve and in the current this fly is wiggling. Antiwobbler is the best fly to fish with a sinking line which you let sink to the bottom. In this case one is sure the fly is moving above the line, close to the bottom, but is not dragging in the mud. It is not catching snags as often as a regular streamer.
For more info on these new flies go here http://flyfishingrussia.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-fly-anti-wobbler.html
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