Posts: 730
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2003
Reputation:
0
Howdy all,
I have been thinking about why I have been able to catch white bass on flies when I drop shot them with my spinning rig, but not with my fly-rod setup using the exact same fly pattern.
The only conclusion I can come up with is the difference in presentation that drop-shot provides vs. the flyline. My theory is that drop-shoting flies gives the fly a more horizontal presentation to the fish, while stripping in the fly on a fly-line causes the fly to be at an angle (angling up on retrieve and then floating back down at an angle as well).
I've been toying with the idea of putting a split ring on the eye of the hook, using jig hooks to tie my patterns on (as the jig hook has the eye of the hook oriented vertically rather than horizontally on a traditional fly hook). Or even using a surgeon's knot to tie onto the fly as it may give the fly a better chance to be retreived horizontally.
What do you all think????
[signature]
Posts: 35,760
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[cool][#0000ff]I think you have been off the water too long and you are getting desperate. Breathe through your nose and don't get too complicated. You can catch plenty of white bass on your fly rod...when they are in and when they are active. Right now, nobody is doing much on them with anything...lures, jigs, bait or whatever. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It looks like there will be a bit more depth to the water in Utah Lake this year. That will hopefully make flyroddin' more productive. I look forward to joining you in some "in depth" research.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]My most successful fly flingin' for whites came while using a 5 weight, sink tip line, a 7 - 8 foot leader and a tandem fly rig...the top fly being about two feet from the bottom. Keep alternating dark, light, bright and shiny flies until you find the fish and find what they want. When you find them and they turn on, it is more difficult to find something they will NOT hit.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Don't beat yourself up by getting too creative. White bass are too gullible to be worth all that effort. Those all white patterns you used last year should be as good as anything you could throw. Make up some blacks and some purples, in the same patterns, and you shouldn't have to use anything else. The one major difference would be to have some with red head, chartreuse body and white marabou tail. Those work great as the top (attractor) fly, with a solid color on the point fly.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Another problem many folks have when fishing white bass from a float tube or pontoon is that they try to cast too far. You can work right up next to the fish and make shorter, more controlled casts from a tube or toon. That means more control in working the flies and better feel for the takes. It also means fewer snagged rocks. Those rocks at Lincoln Beach even eat flies if you let them get too deep. Often the active white bass are a foot or more off the bottom.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When are you going to break loose for a shot at them?[/#0000ff]
[signature]
Posts: 730
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2003
Reputation:
0
Desperate? Yes. Off the water too long? Unquestionably. I think I'm starting to get delusional from lack of fishing. With the water up again, I may float the Provo out to Utah Lake and see what I can find (downstream from the center street bridge of course, I don't want a ticket). I'll have to get back with you on a time I can hit LB.
Thanks for the reality check!
[signature]
Posts: 1,646
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2003
Reputation:
0
[green][size 2]You can drop shot flies. I do it ice fishing all the time. Some bass guys make their own flies and drop shot them. I really wouldn't recommend it at LB(too many weight sucking rocks). Drop shotting is mainly a clear deep water technique, but it can be adapted to most places(and all kinds of fish).
[/size][/green]
[signature]
Posts: 35,760
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[cool][#0000ff]Hey TG, I think that is what Nate was referring to in his first post...dropshotting flies. I turned him on to that a couple of years ago. I have drop shotted flies in both Willard and Utah Lake, going back into the mid 70's. It can be deadly for all species. I got lots of walleyes, crappies and even channel cats on that rig in Willard. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I fished the drop shot with tandem flies a lot around Lincoln Beach, too, but mostly out on the less rocky flats. You are right. It can be murder if you fish close to the rocks. The thing I did to minimize loss was to just pinch a split shot on the end of the line. If I got hung in the rocks, a steady pull would slip the split shot off the end of the line and I would still have my flies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Here's a pic of a few whites and a nice walleye I caught on the same flies one evening just before dark at Lincoln beach.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
Posts: 1,646
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2003
Reputation:
0
[green][size 2]I started with split shots as drop shotting weights, myownself. I still use them. Keep your line sizes between 4-8lbs. I used 10lb at Bear Lake last fall.
[/size][/green]
[signature]
Posts: 730
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2003
Reputation:
0
Thanks tomegun, and tubedude! My main question is how to present flies so they stay horizontal in the strike zone with my flyrod equipment.
I'm curious as to what flies the pro bassers use . . .
[signature]
Posts: 35,760
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[cool][#0000ff]I'm sure Mr. Gun will affirm this, but pro bassers seldom if ever use flies. I am pretty sure he was referring to his use of plastics on a dropshot rig.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That being said, there are a lot of bass chasers who use the fly rod almost exclusively. The patterns and styles of their offerings change over the months and through the seasons, depending on what the bass are doing. In early months, when the water is still cold and murky, they usually put on the sinking lines and lob big buggers or crawdad imitations, and fish them slowly along the bottom. As the temps climb and the bass begin cruising the shallows during prespawn, they throw streamers to imitate shad, shiners or other forage species, stripping them in at mid depth, usually on either a floating or sink tip line. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]After the spawn, and while the bass are still shallow, before hot summer temps send them deeper, bass are susceptible to topwater stuff...like poppers, chuggers, hair frogs and the like. These take larger rods and heavier weight forward floating lines to cast and work properly. In some shallow lakes, like Utah Lake, the fish are shallow enough for topwater almost all year, but during the hot summer they tend to be more active after dark. Fly rodding poppers after dark is not a sport for the weak hearted.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In Utah, you can wave the fairy wand at bass using the same big buggers and streamers you would use for big browns and rainbows...in all the same colors. While whites, yellows and chartreuses are good during cold temps and murky water, much of the year will find you more successful with basic black, purple, browns, olive and other natural bait colors.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The good news is that bass are seldom as selective as trout when it comes to fly patterns. Present almost anything that looks semi edible and they will often smack it. They are big on reaction bites, even when they are not actively feeding. That is, when they are not in a neutral or negative mode and not opening their mouths for anything. And, they do have their moody moments.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I am attaching some pics of the flies I use both for fly rodding and for drop shotting flies...mostly for warm water species. Some of them, like the big black buggers and the ones with metallic in them, are great for big trout too.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
Posts: 730
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2003
Reputation:
0
Posts: 1,646
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2003
Reputation:
0
[green][size 2]TD, you would be surprized what bassfishermen use. Streamers and woolley buggers are used by those that are just as artistic as Tudedude or just looking for an edge. Bass folks will try anything for an edge.
[/size][/green]
[signature]
Posts: 6,126
Threads: 3
Joined: Jan 2005
Reputation:
1
I fish for bass all the time an I use flys at times.(don't tell anybody OK)
[signature]
Posts: 35,760
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[cool][#0000ff]I can agree. Most bass fishermen are pretty "edgy".[/#0000ff]
[signature]
|
