Newbie question

[ironbyron]

How often does anyone catch a large bass, say 3lbs or more on a panfish size fly? I'm just curious as I just starting on my fly fishing journey and don't know what to expect.
I myself don't see any reason a 5lb bass wouldn't eat up a spider floating on topwater.

Byron in Kentucky

[Eric-WD]

Byron, I don't fish waters with big bass so am not able to answer your question other than to say that from my reading it happens just often enough to make it a good possibility but not often enough that it becomes common.

Welcome to FAOL, always nice to have someone new to talk with.

Eric

[scubatim]

All I can say is you better hold on tight to that rod...... And have fun

[wayneb]

Hi Byron;

I caught at least a dozen bass over 2 1/2lbs. last year on a size 10 Gurgle pop. This was a lot of fun on a 5wt rod, one bent the rod completely over had to land fish by grabbing line. It was my most productive top water bass fly last summer.

Wayneb

[James Smith]

I'll catch three or four 3+ lb bass a year while fishing for bream using flies tied on size 10 or 12 hooks. My experience is that large bass generally like large baits. The two largest bass I've ever caught were justa shade over 10 lbs and they were on the same pattern, an 8 inch all black minnow pattern in stained water.

Jim Smith

[ironbyron]

Thanks for the quick replies. I guess I'm not the only one itching to get on the water. To make matters worse for me I just bought a Sage outfit, a 9ft in a 6wt. I decided that I just had to tie my own flies, so I've started that already. I also sold last years boat and bought a new one. I'm still working on getting it outfitted just right.

Byron, who has an employee that caught about 20 crappie this week!

[JohnScott]

Hi Byron -

Just wanted to extend greetings and a welcome from SE Idaho.

Don't do any warmwater fishing around here, but do enjoy following the threads on the Warm Water Forum.

I guess this will serve as fair warning that some moving water trout guys / gals might be looking over your shoulder !!

Good luck getting some bigger bass on the smaller flies. And watch out for MontanaMoose, 'cause he fishes for trout, too, and steellhead, and probably other things that swim.

John

[Buddy Sanders]

Byron,

First, of course, it depends on where you fish geographically.

If there are a lot of larger bass being caught where you fish, then you are likely to get your share.

It also depends even more on how often you fish. Finding your panfish fly in the mouth of a bass in the 3 pound class is mostly luck. The more you fish, the more likely it is that it will happen to you.

Another issue, of course, is where in a particular body of water you fish. Finding 'spots' on a given lake or reservoir that hold the larger fish will up our odds.

You just need to understand that using small flies is not the best way to catch larger bass. You will get a few, though.

Some little known 'facts' about largemouth bass fishing in general:

Most largemouth bass that survive from fry are genetically incapable of reaching three pounds. The vast majority live their entire lives as 1-1 1/2 pound fish. Bass over three pounds are rare in comparison to the entire population.

The 'average' size bass caught by anglers in the United States is right around 10-14 inches and about 1-1 1/2 pounds in weight. The factor of bass caught over that size differs from location to location, but in ANY body of water there are about 100 times as many bass caught UNDER 12 inches than over it.

Most anglers report the size of bass inaccurately. Overestimation of bass weight is normal. Often the 'average' 12-14 inch bass is reported as 'two pounds' by even experienced anglers. Using a scale or tape measure regularly will help you learn to correctly judge the size of bass.

I can't count the number of tiems I've had fishermen in my boat that confidently stated that a fish was over 16 inches or weighed 'three pounds' only to find that with the scale in hand, these fish were 'average' fish that were under two pounds.

If you don't have a scale and want an 'easy' conversion from length to weight it's: Length cubed divided by 1600. (With this, you don't have to spend the time to measure the girth, and it's 'close enough' that many major tournament circuits use it).

Buddy

[brhoff]

I think Buddy pretty much nailed it, depends on the size of the Bass where you are.

When feeding or defending there area, Bass strike, period.

Plop a fly down where a Bass is staged, it'll generaly strike..., especially so if the "trespasser" is small...your fly.

[texfly]

I think its a big part of the fun of fly fishing , casting a #10 or #12 popper to panfish when your suddenly hooked up to monster bucket mouth. Just watch your drag sing and hang on.