More on top.

Heading out

If you've been following this blog long enough you will know..........I like big fish. Thats usually what I fish for. They are what I hunt. However, this isn't through snobbery, or disdain for smaller fish/species. One of the other things I've mentioned throughout this blog is that it's got to be easy. That is, due to my health issues, I have to try and find the best possible fishing, with the least amount of effort. For the record, not putting out the effort is hardly the recommended course of action. Effort is often rewarded in this sport. However, my circumstances require a somewhat different approach.

I prefer catching to fishing. Over the past couple of evenings, despite some effort, I couldn't find any pigs to play with. There was other games to be had. Specifically, smaller bass have been feeding on top in the evenings. One night witnessed a tremendous hatch ( which I didn't identify ), with all sorts of fish breaking the surface, taking emergers. The other nights have been very sporadic surface activity, though the fish would still respond to a caddis or stimulator. I have been catching a lot of fish on the 3 wt and its been a lot of fun.

a look back at home

We have an insane amount of caddis up here. They're are also a ton of bugs I am not familiar with. Mayflies? Well, working on that. Saw my first Hex on the lake I live on. That was cool, but I'm not sure in the numbers that will come off. Not sure any exact identification is needed as far as fishing goes. The fish respond well well to anything small, and floaty. I've thrown a number of different flies that are very different, but produce very much the same results. I prefer throwing caddis. The resulting takes ( and hook sets )are exactly like you'd expect with trout. A nice throwback as I haven't done that kind of fishing in a few years now.

Vid Clip.

Haven't been shooting a lot of video lately.........though I did take the camera out for a few days this week. The trend continues of having to fish deep for good fish. As much as I would like to be throwing my floater, it's just not getting the job done at the moment. I've taken good fish at almost 40'.

For the past week all I have been throwing is a Wooly Bugger. Always impressed at how consistently well this old fly produces.

Scene's from the Lake.

Things a flyfisher sees.

boom.

Down Deep.

Splish splash, I was catching this bass.........

So, last time I talked about talking a note from the Bassmaster pro's in regards to fighting bass. There is more they can show us about flyfishing for bass.

Conventional writing on the subject tends to tell us that when fishing for bass with a fly, it can mostly be done on a floating line. There are occasions when they note an intermediate sink might be required if the fish are 'deep'. Deep being 20' according to some authors. For the most part, they may be right. However, if you've watched the guys on TV gearing fish.........there are times when the are pulling fish out of weeds more than 20'. Substantially more.

........from the depths..........

I can tell you from my own experience, there are days that have been saved by dragging the bottom. The fish in the last post was caught in close to 30' of water that way. The fish in this post was caught the next day in the same spot. Often. I will use a fly with some buoyancy ( GFC, Muddler, etc......) to keep it suspended off the bottom, and hopefully away from snagging up on rocks or weeds.

Now, I'm not trying to sell you a full sink. Just trying to offer a bit of perspective. Just because a technique may not be popular, does not mean its not effective. I do not carry intermediate sinks anymore. For myself I find I am much better suited with a floating and full sink rig. Mind you, this choice is also affected greatly by the lakes and conditions I encounter. Other anglers experience may dictate they never fish anything other than a floater. Mileage varies by driver. You can be guaranteed that the guy fishing largemouth in Texa's encounters a different experience to the fisherman in Northern Ontario.

Fightin' words.

Straight outta Dunlop.

Bass are not trout. I say this because I have seen many fly fisherman who don't adapt their game to match the species. Specifically I want to talk about how to fight bass. I'll tell you now, you are far better off emulating the Bassmaster pro's than you are some flyfishing T.V. hosts.

With trout, we often fish light tippets. With large fish on light tippets, there are all sorts of ways to pooch it up. A 20+" fish on 6x is going keep an angler on there toes. Too much pressure your poing to pop the leader, to little and the fish will take forever to tire. Got to find that happy medium.

Bass? Well, we're not talking light tippets are we? My standard rigging is 10lb monofilament. No tippet material needed. No way on earth is any smallmouth going to break that..................assuming it has been nicked. Even the largest bass can be absolutely manhandled. The only time your going to want to let it tire is when you get it by the boat. Then all your going to do is basically hold it in place. It will try to dive, and you may have to feed it a couple of feet of line, but I do this as I'm more concerned about my rod tip than I am the leader.

Beat the crap out of those fish! Don't ever let a bass dictate the fight to you. You beat the drum. On of the best pieces of advice I received from a fellow angler was from my buddy Pete. he told me " If your scared of losing a big fish, your never going to land one." Although he was talking about big browns at the time, this advice has always held true.

Caddis.

As soon as I saw the first fish rise, I knew what it was taking. Caddis. It's not that the splashy rise those flies elicit is solely their domain, but I had some a couple struggling about on the surface previously in the evening.

At first I thought to ignore them. My thinking being, were the rises were taking place, the fish were likely Rock Bass. However, as they kept splashing about, I became more intrigued and decided to tie on size 10 Elk Hair, It didn't take long to get results.

Pleasantly I discovered that the fish smacking the caddis weren't Rocks, but Smallies in the 6-10" range. For around 45 minutes, the fish were consistently taking bugs, and I was taking fish. Given the size of the fish, the fly being chucked, and the hookup rate, I couldn't help but be reminded of days fishing on the Grand River, mucking about with the stockers.

While I did see a rise that was produced by a better fish, I never did touch anything over 10". Wasn't disappointed though. It was a lot of fun and a break from my standard popper/streamer routine. I look forward to the next time I can catch this sort of action..............though in the meantime I'll be given some thought to tying a up a caddis that will suit my purposes a bit more.

........lately.

Truth be told, my fishing has taken back seat to getting wood cut for the winter. I have what seems to be a never ending supply of timber from the development of my property. If I even get half with through it before the fall, I will have a couple of winters worth of wood. I am nowhere near half way. While I'd like to be relating fishing tales to you..........those will be sporadic.

I've been heading out in the evenings recently for the duel purpose of recreation, and food for the table. It's been good for a good number of smaller bass, but more importantly, it also produces a few good Rock Bass for the plate. Unlike some other panfish, I rarely half to downsize my fly in order to hookup. The same size 4 streamer I'm throwing for smallies will also hook the rock bass. By the time I head home after a couple of hours, I usually have a few largish specimens that will make terrific table fare.

One of my favourite ways to enjoy these fillets is Hank Shaws 'Simple Fish sandwich.' 2-3 fillets make for a hearty sandwich.. Actually, Hank Shaw's recipes are fantastic. You really should check out his recipes if your a hunter or angler...........................or just like good food.