I think that most of us should probably be just about in full swing on the bass targets in our areas, so I thought I'd pose this question.

When fishing for bass in stillwater (ponds, lakes etc) what do you find to be the most effective fly retrieval methods for your area? Do you strip your flies faster (we're talking either top water or streamers here)? Do you strip them in slower, in a specific pattern, randomly...

Personally, I tend to strip on the slow side as I'm almost always attempting to imitate a wounded prey; however, I recently noticed a spin fisherman at my lunchtime pond absolutely ripping something through the water so fast I couldn't believe it. He would probably cast and retrieve 5 or 6 times to my one time. Also, he was catching a ton of fish and I was catching nothing. We were both using baitfish imitations.

Further, I've read that slow movement is the key in some places. I've also read that a faster, fleeing movement is key. I realize that this is very subjective and has a lot variables (i.e fly, fly size, water temp, weather, fish etc) but I'm wondering if those of you who are consistently successfuly catching LMB have a tried and true method that works for you.

Thanks for your thoughts.