Formerly wading the banks of blue ribbon water, J.P. decided one day to seek a challenge of the unknown, and pursue a quarry of which very little is known about, the roughfish. Countless hours were spent on the water studying these magnificent and under appreciated fish. The roughfisher astutely monitored and studied their feeding habits and diets, painstakingly developing fly patterns and the techniques necessary to convince a subterminally-mouthed fish to take an artificial fly. It was an arduous task but the roughfisher persevered and managed to take some of the most notoriously difficult species, like the quillback or greater redhorse, on a fly.
Still not satisfied with his accomplishments, J.P. wanted to be able to catch these elusive fish on a consistent basis, a feat even for a baitfisherman. Realizing the limitations of a singlehanded rod, the roughfisher began utilizing long rods and two handed casting techniques to reach water previously out of the reach of most anglers. Many roughfish species are wary and easily spooked. After catching a few fish in an area, these fish tend to move out and school up in these hard to reach areas, knowing that they are safely out of the reach of anglers. That is where the sheer effectiveness of spey/skagit style of casting comes in; no areas are out of reach for the two handed rod wielding roughfisherman. Fish beware.
Jean-Paul Lipton resides in Detroit Lakes, MN with his family, where he performs fisheries management work for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. When he is not busy working on stream habitat restoration projects for the DNR, he spends much of his free time on the Otter Tail river, pursuing roughfish on the fly. J.P. is a member of the Federation of Fly Fishers and the FFF Guides Association, and is involved with many environmental causes, including the fight against the spread of invasive species. Take the Clean Angling Pledge today.
