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Thread: Bass Tidbit .9

  1. #1

    Default Bass Tidbit .9

    Just a thought about fly rods for bass fishing.

    Not ?specific? rod weight or brand or action, (that?s subjective and my personal views are VERY different from the ?norm?) but ?rods?. How ?many? rods should you use? Not just ?have? or ?own?, but keep rigged and ready and at hand?

    If you step onto the front deck of the average conventional tackle bass fisherman?s boat, you?re apt to see several rods rigged and laying on the deck in some kind of rack, strap, or such to keep them handy but not bouncing around or out of the boat. Some guys will keep three or four rods there, others more or less. However, in the ?rod locker? someplace in that boat will be a few more than that.

    Conventional tackle bass fishermen (the ?weekend? fish for fun guys, not just the ?tournament? types) have ?specialized? to the point where one rod, or even two or three, just won?t do. There are rods for spinnerbait fishing, worm fishing , jig fishing, working jerk baits, top water rods, crankbait rods, rods for pitching, flipping, and Carolina rigging. Drops shot rods, finesse rods, rods for fishing specific situations of all kinds. Some rods can do more than one ?job? but most are pretty specific.

    Why do bass fishermen do this? They?ve found that using specialized tackle works. Rods designed with certain actions, lengths, and materials enhance the fisherman?s ability to properly execute a certain technique or work a specific type of lure. This allows them to catch more or larger fish. It?s not all just hype. It does make things ?easier?, or more efficient, or ?better? if you have the ?correct? gear (proper tool?).

    There are also some other obvious advantages to having more than one rod rigged and ready. As you fish an area, you may come upon a piece of cover or structure, or some isolated situation that would suggest a certain type of lure or technique. If the rod is already rigged and laying there, all you do is put down one rod, pick up the other, and continue fishing. If you have to completely ?re rig? in order to fish a ?situation? most efficiently, are you going to do so, or will you just use what you have in your hand rather than go to all that trouble? Especially if you can see that this is a limited application and after a few minutes you?ll just have to switch back?

    How many of us, as fly fishermen, take this (or a similar) approach to bass fishing? Is it reasonable to have a couple, or several, rods already rigged with different flies or types of lines so that we can meet any angling situation we encounter with the appropriate gear without a lot of fuss or bother?

    At a minimum, shouldn?t we have at least a rod with a top water fly and a one with a subsurface fly rigged and ready to go? It?s pretty well proven that if a bass misses a top water bait, it will often take a subsurface fly thrown in as a follow up.

    Would it be beneficial to you to have a rod with a sinking line handy? Or a ?heavy? one that has a weedless fly tied on to a strong tippet for those really heavy cover spots that will eat non weedless flies and require lots of power to get a bass out?

    Dare we even consider different line weights for different flies and situations? Can we go so far as to consider rod action a tool for use with specific techniques?

    Just something to consider.

    Good Luck!

    Buddy
    It Just Doesn't Matter....

  2. #2
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    I have not done it for bass, but I usally have four or five fly rods with me when I go out in the canoe.
    I have a variety of things on the different rods and one of them has a full sinking line I have had for along time.

    Rick

  3. #3
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    Feb 2000
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    For fishing for bass an panfish, I usually have at least two rods rigged and ready to go.

    On foot, I will have one in hand and on strapped to a pack or slung across my back and stored fully rigged in one Dan Blanton's Rigged and Ready Rod bags.

    In a float tube, on in hand and the other in fly rod holder.

    In a boat, as many as six, on in hand and the other's stored rigged and ready in the aforementioned rod bags. I'd take more rods but I have yet do fish from a craft that had room.

    The specific combination of rigs will vary on conditions but may include 6 to 10wt rods fitted with various lines. Line setups may include floaters, intermediates, sink tips, integrated lines (teeny, streamer express, etc.) and shooting heads of various densities including leadcore and tungsten heads for deep presentations. Rod lengths vary from 7.5 to 9ft. I wish there were more choices in short 8 and 9wt rods for use in tight, close quarters conditions.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
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    I've got to doing that, too. Normally you'll find my 8 with a big Stealth Bomber tied on a 1/0 and my 6 with a bunny fly of some kind tied on about a #4. The bunny dropped in behind a blow up on the surface is often well received.

    Oh, and I very seldom move without the 3wt in the boat. I *still* love them big bluegills.
    "Flyfishing is not a religion. You can make up your own rules as you go.".. Jim Hatch.. 2/27/'06

  5. #5

    Default

    I love to fish with multiple rods in the boat. Since the lake I fish tends to be active with water skiers, pleasure boaters, and other fisherman, I have no idea where the fish are going to be located. I try to cover as much water as possible and see if they will take something on the surface, on the bottom, or anywhere in between. I guess thats why they call it "fishing". I rig a 2wt for blue gill with a small nymph pattern, a 4 wt with a surface pattern and a 6wt with a streamer of some kind. As I fish the lake I have no idea what is going to work so when I move into fishable water I tend to try them all. When my boys are home I will even rig their rods as well. I have gone out in my boat with 6 differently rigged rods. The down side is having to explain to your son that you stepped and broke the tip of his favorite rod. Six rods in a small 14ft boat gets crowded.
    caribe

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