Quote Originally Posted by rrhyne56
Another good fly is the shoe lace fly. Tie a shoe lace onto a hook, then tie a small piece of closed cell foam on the tail end. This causes the tail to float as its hopped across the bottom. Oh, weight the nose end so it sits nose down on the bottom, just like a plastic worm Texas-rigged.
I like that idea. Unconventional. Although I'm likely to use all my shoelaces and not have any shoes to wear if it works, heh. All of my ceilling fans are stuck on high because I used all the bead chain for dragon nymphs (i blame the bluegills)


Thanks for the advice guys.

to Cheli, I know I am comparing apples to oranges, but you have to understand that my family is the kind that gets in fights over Candyland. Ive seen many a chutes and ladders game get 'palmed', heh. we are extremely competitive. oh, and also we never seem to get many bass on topwater for some reason. *shrug*


Quote Originally Posted by Bluegill222
You're getting a lot of good advice here on flies, but I would add that technique is also going to be a consideration here. I think you were dead on when you said you needed to slow down and fish lighter weighted flies. Whatever fly you choose, it should fall slowly, move as much as possible on the fall (marabou, rabbit fur, etc. moves a lot even when the fly is stationary or falling) and you should be able to retrieve it slooooowlly. These don't sound like fish that are used to chasing their food. That you are catching big cats, but not bass, is interesting. Bass are on the menu for big cats so your bass may be holding on ambush points towards the bottom trying to stay out of the way of cruising catfish. Just my thoughts on a few possibilities.
You are probably right about the cats. These lakes are strange because they are full of big alligators, alligator gars and choupique(bowfin to the non-cajuns)



i couldnt find a good picture of it but they have loads of sharp teeth. ours tend to be in the 12lb range.

between those big predators, the snapping turtles, herons, kingfishers, and cormorants, bass are pretty far down on the food chain. they tend to be really spooky.

in any case, thanks for the replies guys, I've got some tying to do before my trip to the lake today. Ill try some of everything mentioned here and see what happens. I may even fish plastic on the fly