I'll second small buggers. I tie mine with a short, bright orange tail, grizzly hackle and a black body. I usually use several wraps of lead wire to help get the fly down a bit.
TT
I'll second small buggers. I tie mine with a short, bright orange tail, grizzly hackle and a black body. I usually use several wraps of lead wire to help get the fly down a bit.
TT
Hey Dave. The dragon nymph I use is a size 8. All the rest of the flies I catch them on are 10's and 12's. I've got a new damsel nymph pattern in sizes 10 and 12 now too that I am eager to try throwing at them. I agree that around the time of the spawn is about the easiest time to catch them. When it gets hot they go down too deep to easily reach with my floating lines. However, I have also had good luck a couple years ago in the late summer early fall when temperatures moderated a bit.
Tim
I have the privilege of fishing a private pond that has a healthy population of nice-sized redears, which, during the summer, DO NOT hesitate to take small popping bugs, right along with the bluegill that call this water home. Try 'em, the redears in your waters just might like 'em!
Sorry, I think my post came off as condeming you for fishing for spawners...that was not the case.
I mentioned spawners because of the defensive poise they will be in and the little leaches really do the trick.
@ brhoff: No offense taken.)
I've seen some ponds get damaged by harvesting too many big 'gills off the spawning beds. So, I don't do that. On a bigger lake, its probably not nearly as much of a concern.
It is a decent-sized lake I plan to fish for them. Some guys I know caught a few ice-fishing there this winter, and they even caught a few redear/bluegill hybrids.
@ agedsage: That is interesting. Is the lake you fish shallow or deep? I wonder if that makes any difference?
Since Iowa is at the north edge of their range, I would expect that to mean the fish like warmer water, and should stay somewhat shallow during the summer? But from everything I've heard from guys that fish around here, redears seem to pretty much disappear after they spawn. People assume the go deep. The lakes that support decent populations of redears here typically have good weedbeds and very good snail populations.
I wonder if the redears simply feed near the base of the weeds, and so folks don't typically get their bait/lures/flies down in the weeds far enough to reach the redears? Educated conjecture, perhaps, but still just conjecture.
David Merical
St. Louis, MO
David:
The pond I reference is located in Central Texas, near Waco, so I would expect it to get, and stay, warmer than your waters. The area of the pond where they are most abundant averages about three feet in depth, but it has holes that are at least 12 feet deep near the other end. Also, typically the water is very clear. There are some very large, as adults, African snails in it, but in the 18 years that I have been fishing it, I have yet to see a small one. The adult shells are up to about 2.5 inches long! Clearly too big for redears to be eating. However, they have to be reproducing as the population has remained healthy all of these years. The adults seem to be strictly bottom dwellers, as you never see them anywhere else. If the young are also bottom dwellers, it would be a rare occasion that you would seem them as they blend into the substrate so well. I have yet to ever see an adult on any of the vegetation, including the cattails.
Frank
@ Greg
Chartruse Micro Jigs: I usually fish them deep and around structure. Swimming them very slow.
Greg
It's been great to here everyone's experiences. I hereby commit myself to research this subject further.
Now if I can just finish working on my house so that I can wet a line, all will be good.
Tim
A buddy that often fly-fishes caught one this weekend using spinning gear. He said he was just slowly dragging a crappie-sized tube jig across the bottom.
David Merical
St. Louis, MO
My best luck with shellcrackers has been with yuk bugs in size 6 or 8. I catch most of them deep, either on an intermediate sinking line or with floating line and a very long leader and tippet. The fly has also enticed my two largest bass, so you never know what's going to grab one.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote