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Hi people http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif
In the spring in my area jerk baits are deadly on smallies.What combination of materials do you think would best achieve a suspending charectaristic?Obviously a bait fish imatation that would dive while stripping.
Here's a beauty from last spring caught on spinning gear.
Scott
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11.../bronze4lb.jpg
[This message has been edited by Ruger (edited 15 March 2005).]
Spun deer hair or cork or foam head poppers on a sinking flyline.
The fly is pulled down on the strip and will slowly rise on the pause. The fly should only pull the leader up with it not the flyline. The sinking flyline should only allow the fly to rise up to the length of the leader. The system works best with bluegill poppers and such size flies.
Use which ever sinking flyline needed to get to the depth you want to fish.
Thank you Hikepat.
Scott
Any idea of where to start for smallmouth size baits as far as sinking line goes in water depths of 10' or less?How short of a leader can I get away with?
Ruger,
I've been testing flies for deep holding (12 - 18 ft) smallies on our Willamette river. I'm still trying to figure out a pattern match for a drop shot pumpkin zoom worm ;-).
Try this: [url=http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/swimminer.htm:9e57a]http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/swimminer.htm[/url:9e57a]
And this: [url=http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/flies-temp/floating-shad.htm:9e57a]http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/flies-temp/floating-shad.htm[/url:9e57a]
Scott I have been playing with flies like that for crappie. I sue a bead head and also some foam nderneath the body to help with floatation.
I am still playing witht he amounts of foam to make the susupend at different depths.
Rick
Ruger,
This gets used for most anything from pike to albies to bass....anything eating baitfish. It pretty well suspends but is not tied to dive....we didn't care for it to, though it can be made to. [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/leesoares:7ad66]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/leesoares[/url:7ad66]
These things get used at places where shad are a mainstay....lake or river. [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/leesoares/CIMG0199.jpg:7ad66]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/leesoares/CIMG0199.jpg[/url:7ad66]
We usually control depth with the density of our line.
........lee s.
Ruger,
It sounds like you want to fish a fly rod bait that will work like a soft jerk bait. Something that will 'sink' slowly while fishing with a floating line and let you retrieve it in errative jerks and pauses. A fly rod 'version' if you will, of the Slug-go/Bass Assassin type lures.
You want 'two' things to happen with such a bait. First, it has to slowly sink. This means a weighted fly of some kind, yet with enough 'bulk' or 'floatation' to keep it from plumeting down like a jig. That part is easy.
Next, you want the 'erratic' action, something that will dart to one side or the other when you jerk on it. Tougher, but still possible.
Easiest one I've found (I've tried over a hundred different 'prototypes' to get this done) is a weighted variation of the Wigglebug (you can find the basic tie in the archives here on FAOL).
To get it to 'sink', I add lead dumbbell eyes to the underside of the hook shank prior to wrapping the plastic chenile. You may need one, two, or three of the dumbbells, depending on the size of foam you use, the size of the hook, and the weight of the eyes you have.
Shorten the 'lip' a bit, use a wider piece of foam, and make the tail longer (use bucktail with some flash in it, the finished bait on a #2 (Mustad 3366 or 'worm style') hook should be at least 5 inches long).
This will give you an erratic wobbling/darting action on a ROD TIP JERK. Jerk HARD, and you will get pretty close to what you can do with a soft plastic jerkbait (If you just strip it, and it will act like a crankbait).
You can use a floating version of the same bait with a sinking line. I still weight them, it helps keep them running right, just use less weight. Same retrieve.
Another one that works pretty well, but requires spinning some hair. Tie a simple deer hair diver then add enough split shot a foot above the hook to sink it down. When you trim the head, try to make it triangular. This will add some to the erratic action when you jerk it. Use bucktail with some flash in it (or any suitable synthetic material) for the tail here as well. You want to extend the length of the bait and you don't want any 'flare' on the tail.
You can also do pretty with a with a Crease Fly on a sinking line (or with split shot).
For a sinking line for bass fishing at ANY depth where depth control is what you want, get the fastest sinking line you can throw with your rod. You can control the depth by counting down and by the speed of your retrieve. Some of the slower sinking lines have small niche applications, but a basic floating and a fast sink line will cover everything you really 'need' to do. If you are hitting bottom, speed up, start the retrieve sooner, or switch to the floating line and a weighted fly...
For a leader on a sinking line, 3 feet of level mono is plenty of leader. 2 feet is okay, but I tend to fish clear water and like a bit more distance between the fly line and the fly (probably doesn't matter to the fish, but since I 'think' about it, it matters to me...). Longer is up to you, play with it and find what works for you.
Good Luck!
Buddy
P.S., if you try tinkering with this and come up with something that you like, please share it here....BS.
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Scott,
The first pic that didn't work (my fault!) was just a single of the bug in the upper left corner of the mess'o'bugs. An embellished deceiver.
Another tactic some have been doing around here is to "rear weight" a bug like that one and it will nose-up and dart on the stall. Looks interesting in use.
Rear weight by extending the hook shank with heavy mono or wire and wrap that with lead. This extension is inside the tail of the bug when done.
......lee s.
Thanks for all the spot on information.
I greatly appreciate it.
One fly I have found that swims very much like a sluggo. It is a red and white hackle fly, like a sea-ducer, but I tie it upside down. I don't think a bass would hang on to it for long, but it is primarily a sight bait.
To get it to swim upside down, there are two tricks. One, the hackle tail is tied on the inside of the hook shank, tilting towards the hook point. Two, trim the hackle collar flat across the top of the hook shank (since it will swim upside down, the top of the hook shank is the bottom of the fly). Flies with material on the inside of the shank will ride upside down, weighted on not.
This fly darts from side to side (though not quite as much as a sluggo) I think because the hackle collar is trimmed. It sinks very slowly when wet (it floats when dry) and is pretty weedless. You can let it sink to the bottom without too much risk of it hanging up.
I tie this on a mustad short shank bait saver hook. I usually add a bit of flash. It casts very well; I can through one 4 inches long on my 3 weight with no problem. I think my next will have red crystal chenille on the shank, with a white hackle palmered on top of it.
I hope the above directions makes some sense.
Russ
Russ,
Have you tried experimenting with the EC413 60* jig hook? They seem to get a bit of promotion around here by guys who are trying to "turn over" their bugs. They seem to have great success with clousers and other weighted patterns especially.
We use your trim method and add a weedless wire (not EC413) for tossing together some of our bass bugs that we toss into the slop and poop. Hook point up is a great advantage for that. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif
......lee s.
I haven't tried those hooks yet, but I have been meaning to. I have been too lazy to look for them, to be honest--the local fly shop doesn't carry them.
I started using the mustad hook for gurglers a few years back, and my hooked fish ratio went way up. It especially does a good job on those small river sunfish that tend to get foul hooked a lot. The offset shank sometimes is a problem, but I like them a lot otherwise. I will give the jig hooks a try as well.
Russ