Go Deep Young Man

Go Deep Young Man......

(Apologies to Mr. Greeley: "Go West Young Man")

This last few weeks I've seen some very successful anglers. One reason was that if one technique wasn't working, they were quick to try something else. That something else was fishing deep. Down where the big ones lurk.

Normally when fly fishing I use a floating line. Recently I discovered the benefits of using a sinking tip or full sinking line.

One angler tried a deep diving crank bait. Working the schooling peacock bass chasing shad in the middle of the lake, he could get the lure down deep and was rewarded with some nice size fish.

http://www.postimage.org/Pq3lu40.jpg

We were catching more fish with the fly rods, but they were a lot smaller.

http://www.postimage.org/gx2W9o9.jpg

While fishing Morgans Point with live bait, another angler discovered that the larger peacock bass seemed to be deep. He started using a lead head jig to get his live bait quickly past the smaller fish down to the larger fish.
http://www.postimage.org/aV3m7aS.jpg

So how do you get your fly down deep? Sinking line and a short leader.
Fishing from shore at Morgans Pt., the sinking line would carry the fly swiftly to the bottom, 20 or 30 feet deep. As soon as it hit the bottom we would start stripping the fly in as quick as possable. Those big peacocks hit hard.

There are some huge peacock bass in Lake Wilson... and geting down deep might be just the place to find them.


http://www.postimage.org/aV3lcOA.jpg

Thanks Stan! Great tip! I believe that will work for the bigger white bass and hybrids ("wipers") that chase shad in our local reservoirs. I gotta give that a try!

I had the same thought this last weekend when I was out on a lake with my step Dad and Son, no one on the lake was catching much except one feller who went down deep, I thought about it later and remembered I had a sinking line in my Jeep, my Jeep wasn't there so I decided that my sinking line would be with me from now on when I go to any lake...
Oh and thanks for the tip on how to fish it...:)