Selective feeding of warm water fish

[Bill*]

How selective are warm water fish?

Does the type of fly make as much difference as we might think?

If properly presented in front of a willing fish, does it matter if we are using a Woolly Bugger, Clouser Minnow, Zonker, Goldie, Boa Yarn Leach or any other similar fly? Will any of these similar dressings draw the same reaction from a fish if presented to them?

I have only about 18 months experience, but I have been wondering about this. It is my guess that the type of fly is not that important. That location (including depth), the activity level of the fish and presentation are the critical factors.

What do you think?

Regardless of the answer, I find tying to be a very enjoyable pastime and enjoy learning and tying new dressings. I would hate to spend the rest of my years tying Woolly Buggers only. But...does the fish really care as much as we do?

Thank you for your thoughts.

[James Smith]

I would have to say that I do believe that the fly pattern and color used often make big a difference. There are times of course when fish are almost in a feeding frenzy (especially warmwater species) and it seems that anything you chuck at them gets taken. Then there are other times when switching to another fly of the same size and pattern in a different color has resulted in suddenly catching fish where before I was striking out. If you're fishing top water for bass or bream, I suspect that color makes very little difference. It's the action and the size of the prey that they're keying on. All that said, I admit that about 90% of the time I fish for bass and bream, I use black patterns, mainly leeches and they seem to work in almost any given situation.

Jim Smith

[sagefisher]

Bill,

Yes, the vast majority of the time, the fly makes the difference. Based on my experiences in times with two of us fishing out of the same boat and/or changing flies then getting hits, yes the fly makes the difference. There are rarer times when they will hit on almost anything. Naturally this is based on presenting the fly the way the fish wants it (depth/strip/etc). If the fly isn't presented properly then nothing will hardly work.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Linecaster]

I believe that the "fly" must represent a food form the fish recognizes, sometimes the right color for that food form.
Other times an attractor fly that is totally different from any food form. Thats fishing, sometimes it works sometimes not.
The wooly bugger is a good generic for various food forms that is why it is so good.

[Tig]

My experience has been that as long as you are using anything that remotely resembles something they (warm water predator fish) eat then presentation is the key. For bass I like any colour of popper during the day but usually go darker (black) as it gets darker. If the bass are eating then clousers work all the time. Colour can be a factor.

[Bill*]

Thank you for the responses. I like the responses that the dressing matters, because now I can feel justified in learning all the new dressings that I want to learn.
This week I will try tying my first Clouser...wish me luck. I will need it!

Cheers to all and good luck on the water.

[Buddy Sanders]

Bill,

I look at flies as tools. I was a bass fisherman long before I ever picked up a fly rod, and I learned that different lures are suitable for different situations. I use different flies for different presentations. Finding (or tying/inventing) a suitable fly for a particular situation is what makes fly tying fun for me.

What I've actually found in my fly fishing for Bass (Smallmouth and Largemouth) and bluegills is that presentation is by far the most important aspect of successful fly fishing for these species. Depth, action, and speed control are the critical factors. Color is secondary at best. 'Which' fly pattern is unimportant as long as what you are using fits with the presentation.

For opportunistic predators like these, matching the food source isn't even close to important in my fishing. A bass will usually eat several different prey species in any given day. And, given that bass in particular spend so little time actively 'feeding', a fly that 'provokes' a strike by it's speed and action is usually more effective over the course of a fishing day.

All that being what works for me, I still believe that angler confidence is so important that I really feel that if it, whatever 'it' is, matters to you, then it matters. This is just fishing, and there are no hard and fast rules here. It's never a waste of time to learn new patterns or to fish with different flies in different ways. Have fun, catch fish. What works for me may not be what works for you.

Buddy

[James Smith]

Buddy brings up an important point that I fully agree with but it is difficult to prove scientifically. That is, if the fisherman has confidence in the pattern he or she is using, they quite often (almost always) have more success with that pattern. It is difficult to explain how this could be true, but after years of fly fishing, it has happened way too many times for me to not completely believe in this phenomenom. There have been many times when I am catching fish but my fishing buddy is not having any luck so I give him some of the pattern I am using and tell him how I am fishing it. He's a good fisherman (probably much better than I am) uses the same pattern fished the same way, but because he lacks the confidence in the pattern, he is not as successful as I am. Hard to explain, but it sure seems to be true.

Jim Smith