Bubble and Fly rig

[trophytrout89]

I wasn't sure if I should post this in the fly fishing forums, But has anyone tried the fly and bubble rig. I've done it a few times in the past on a river but never had any luck with it. I know a lot of people that love using it on lakes and ponds. But my question is when your fishing it on still water, such as a lake or a pond, is there a specific technique to moving the fly. Or should it just sit there?
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[albinotrout]

For lakes and ponds a nice slow retrieve to swim it through the water is what works well. Do the same for rivers and streams.
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[trophytrout89]

Thanks for the advice. Do you use it often? Do the fish actually have to be top feeding for it to work?
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[davetclown]

either place or both including your regeonal state board is a good place to ask, you can expect to get different answers on the different boards. "more shared experience is better"

the way I was taught when I wer no bigger than knee high to a grass hopper,

use a nice fat dry fuzzy bug, Camp Dry works well if you dont have any Dry Fly stuff. use a four pound leader, your main line can be anything. a bigenuff bubble to cast.

the reason you want to use a fuzzy bug is because the fuzzies on the fly are large enuff to keep the hook from setting in to things.. AKA lilly pads... Yep we are talking fishing lilly pads..

you want your fly to runn across the tops of those pads, it drives the bass crazy... "six foot leaders a must or the bass will hit your bubble"

Yellow and Black bumbly bees are dinomite on pads as are the dirt brown and black spiders good runner ups. If you ever get the time to watch lilly pads with a binoculars you will see the water spiders and bees that almost spend their whole lives on those pads. when the pads are in bloom the bumbly bee is instant death to bass...

any way you can see how the bugs move, short quick darts, meaning you almost want to just do a single quick crank then let it sit and drift for a few seconds up to a minut then do it again. switch it up, in life it is never the same from one bug to the next minute.

Out on the open water when I use the bubble fly method is when I am targeting gills, they will hit the top of the water in early spring "pre during and post spawn" This is where I will use a yellow peice of foam rubber, just big enuff to make the hook float. this drives the gills crazy. the yellow and floating thing. They hit it almost as fast it hits the water.

at this time you want to keep the fly fresh. meaning you dont want it there to long to make the gills think its a floater and just get used to it being there. so dont cast in the same spot cast after cast unless you are taking a fish, then you can cuz you have a frenzy going on and the fish will race to hit your fly...

now comes the wet fly on a bubble or floating fly line. I will use no weights over top of a drop off or near weed beds. This method the life of your movement is much the sam as on the river, from the time the fly hits the water to the time it slowly floats down to the bottom. and at that time you make a lift pole action moving the bubble closer to you about six feet, "the lenth of your leader" This will bring your fly near the top of the water again.

to know how long it takes for your fly to get to the bottom is to drop it over the edge of the boat or dock and count the seconds down.

when the wind is blowing you will have a differend presentation, the wind will blow your bubble and keep your fly live under the water...

now going to the river, using the bubble and fly method, you want at least a 6 foot leader, and split shot a foot or so above the fly.

you are going to cast up river and let the bubble float down retreiving and releasing line as needed.

mind you that your leader or lead may need to be ajusted to maintain proper depth to the bottom of the river, you want to keep your fly up off the bottom but down far enuff to be desireable to the salmon.

I know its a lot to digest at one time, but lol, when fishing is your passion, and you got the time to spend, you pick up a lot of things that work...

there are others tricks that work as well as mine and some times better, so dont be afraid to ask again elswhere, you can even ask about the methods I have mentioned, you may get more tips to make these even more presentable to the species you are targeting.
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[trophytrout89]

Wow that really is a lot of information lol. But thank you none the less. I'm going to be targeting mostly trout with this rig. I'll be considering the things you said next time I'm out. My fish and game club is stocking next weekend. So I plan on using this rig on Sundays when I'm not pheasant hunting. All the flies I have are wet flies. I think I'm going to go pick up some dry flies. Do you have a favorite for trout? I was told small black flies work best. Thanks again.
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[davetclown]

for trout, my favorite is the wooly bugger. yellow or green.

the green tailed ones made with deer hear work for me on salmon and crome.
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[trophytrout89]

Awesome. Thanks I'll check some of those out at the sporting goods store later this week. Hopefully they do well for me.
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[albinotrout]

For me an olive woolly bugger behind the bubble filled with water. I use 8 lb test on my reel and then take 6 lb test spool pull it out to where the line is finger tip to finger tip holding your arms straight out from your side. Cut then tie onto a swivel with the bubble above it. Then tie the bug below at the end. This is an awesome set up for trout works all the time for me. The swivel acts as a stopper for the bubble and can keep line twist to a minimum.
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[trophytrout89]

That olive woolly bugger seems like a favorite to tons of people. I don't think I have much of a choice but to get one lol. Thanks for the advice.
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[albinotrout]

No problem, I find that the fish here can't leave it alone.[cool]
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[trophytrout89]

What type of fish have you caught on it?
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[albinotrout]

Rainbows and Cutthroats. I tied up a bunch in colors for bass (chartreuse, orange, and yellow) and I haven't been able to try them out yet. I have also caught trout on black and brown buggers and all three colors in leeches too.
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[trophytrout89]

I found a chartreuse woolly bugger today that I didn't even know I had. Would that be more for bass?
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[davetclown]

thats what I call yellow or green.
some folks call it yellow and others call it green.
you have the right color discription, I just cant spell chartusce.[:p]
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[albinotrout]

I have seen pics of tiger trout taking one. But I would use it for bass, bluegill, etc... I tied some up with bead heads and without and plan on fishing it similar to a jig. I see them staying higher in the water column so it won't be on the bottom as much. I will try it out on both sinking and floating line and see what I get.[cool]
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[trophytrout89]

Alright thanks, I'll give it a shot.
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