What Are Your Favorite LMB Flies

[Greg Hunsicker]

Looking for favorite ones or top threes. When and were do they work the best? How do you fish them?

I've been targeting Bluegill and Red Ear but I do pick up the ocasional LMB and I think that I'd like to start targetting them when the opertunites present themselves. Include pictures if you can but not nessarry.

What has got me started is that a couple bait casters were fishing about 30 yards down the bank from me last Sunday and poth picked up five LMB each. One was using minnows and the other a soft plastic crawdad. I threw the fly box at them and the only take(I think, night have been a rock) was on a crawdad fly. I can't help it but I took it as a personal insult and I need revenge!

Greg

[Jed]

I just had a blast with deceivers the other day. Using a 1/0 hook made it minnow sized and the bass were fooled. I also like Hornbergs as a goto fly for almost anything in freshwater.

jed

[Big Bad Wulff]

I've been having success on woolley buggers with eyes in olive and black. Size 6 and 8 streamer hook.

[cheli38]

Dont forget large poppers. My experience is the size and action of the popper is more important than color, but Im sure many will disagree. If I can sight fish a larger LMB, I will thow a popper to match...i.e. the bigger the better. Off-hand Im guessing a size 2. Big fish want a big meal. However, if your seeing more typical 12" one pounders more than the big guys, I will thow a medium size popper ( to better represent a small frog vs a damsel fly, for instance) Id guess size 6. When I have sight fished, it seemed the LESS action the better. Letting the popper sit, counting down from 5 or even 10, small twitch, counting down again...worked better than making a huge commotion on the surface. They didnt scare away, but they didnt rush it either. This was early spring, so that may have had something to do with it.

Then for a hoot throwing size 12 poppers and making the panfish go bzerk is almost more fun

Im heading to a private pond tomorrow where the bass have been caught at over 10lbs. Im going to try some divers with a small amount of split shot in front of them. I havent had any luck with clouser style flies yet, but will continue to experiment. In the end, I always revert back to poppers and land fish.

Good luck!!

[otter]

Top 5:

1. Poppers & hair bugs
2. Clouser, chart/wht, size 4
3. Black or olive size 6 Wolly Bugger w/ bead head
4. Bead head squirm worm - check out the patterns on www.laflyfish.com for pics
5. Lefty's deciever size 4 - all white with red thread head

Honorable Mention:

Calcasieu Pig boat (this would be top 5 if I fished it enough)
Fluff butts - size 8-10

[FK]

Think PRESENTATION not exact fly pattern.

LM are not especially match the hatch type of fish.

I also belive you will have a very difficult time trying to outcatch live bait.

Regards,
FK

[ohiotuber]

I use a very simple bunny strip (6" or so) tied on a circle hook with 3 turns of lead wire. It almost suspends, & I just twitch the rod tip to make it undulate with an infrequent strip to bring it in & up a little. That's been most effective for me.
Mike

[Coach Robb]

1, Chartruese Beadhead wooly bugger
2, Black wooly worm
3, Dumbell eye weighted black bunny leach.
4, Cactus chenille worm in purple or chartruese. 4-6"
5. Weedless foam body popper later in season when weeds are up.

[northjerseyflyguy]

1. olive and brown woolly buggers with split tails (aka crawdads)
2. chartreuse woolly buggers
3. poppers with red, yellow or white in them
4. any shimmery minnow tied like decievers, clausers, or Rangely Lakes streamers
5. gurglers

Since LMB aren't as picky about the subtle points of fly tying, I do some things to make my warmwater flies more durable.
1. a quick wrap of durable mylar or wire
2. a little extra cement here and there
3. palmer my large buggers a little farther down the feather where the quill is thicker and more durable

[Gigmaster]

No question.
1. Richard Komar's incredible Hard-Hackle Worm. Any color works as long as it's purple. Let it sit on top, then twitch it slightly. As it slowly sinks, twitch it gently, and hang on!
2. Clouser Minnow in OD and white, with a black lateral line. Fish it as a regular streamer.
3. Richard Komars Texas Bullfrog in 3/4" size. Twitch it gently near cover and be ready for explosive hits.

My runner-ups would be
1. Wooley Bugger in OD. Fish it like a crawfish.
2. Puglisi style Shad Minnow.
3. Poppers, usually black.

Semper Fi!