Through the Looking Glass
Hi Folks,
Lake Moultrie waters are clearer this
spring than I have ever seen them in over
30 seasons of fishing here. Perhaps at
least partially as a result of last years
big grass carp fish kill when about 75,000
of the big muck raking kritters went belly
up.
Yesterday, I was in a shallow bay that
contained large quantities of bluegills,
red eared sunfish and bass. I was able to
watch the fishes reaction to my casts as
well as how they reacted to various flies.
It was a most illuminating experience.
First, the largemouth bass were all
aggressive and did not hesitate in any
respect once the fly was sighted. I was
fishing black leeches that Rick Z had tied
for me. Once the bass sighted the fly, they
charged it without hesitation from distances
up to about 10 feet. It was exciting to
watch. I had sighted 5 bass of 1 1/2 to 2
pounds swimming in the bay and I hooked and
released each of them in a short period of
time. Killer bass fly Rick.*G* Now I know
Rick and others catch bluegills and redears
on the leach, but none of them approached
the fly and when I dropped it in thier
immediate area, they actually shied away
from it. I have no idea why but file it
away for future reference.
I switched to a soft hackle that McSteff had
sent me. He had added some very fine grey
fuzzy fur I had sent him to the body of the
fly. The bluegills could not seem to resist
the fly. They would charge it repeatedly,
mouthing the fly, and then spitting it out.
Yes, I could see them close thier mouth on
fly and hold it for a brief second and spit
it back out. But I could not see a line
twitch or feel them through the rod. For
giggles, I added a small foam indicator and
tried again with the same results. The
indicator would not twitch in spite of
numerous takes on each cast. None of the
red ears was approaching closer than about
a foot of the fly, but the bluegills were
charging as if they were going to smash it,
and at the last second would slow and mouth
it quickly before spitting it. There were
of course a few exceptions, mostly the
smaller fish that grabbed the fly and tried
to make a run for it. They were quickly
released.
I then tied on one of Leonards Roo scud
patterns in about a 16. This time, the
red eared sunfish joined in the mouthing
of the fly, but still, the takes were so
very subtle that if I had not been able to
see the fish, I would not have known the
fly had been mouthed and then released.
I returned today and continued to watch
thier reactions to my flies. Results were
pretty much a carbon copy of yesterdays,
only the bass were not in attendance. I
had however gone by the anglers shop and
picked up a spray can of Bang crawfish
flavor attractant. After seeing that they
were reacting the same as yesterday and
quickly spitting the fly after the take, I
applied a small spritz of the attractant to
a scud. Out of the next 15 casts, I hooked
and released 8 bluegills and 3 red eared
sunfish. For the entire experiment, I only
did a hookset when I could see the line or
indicator twitch from the take or feel it
through the rod. The take with the fish
attractant did not appear any more
aggressive but it appeared that the fish
simple held on a bit longer and gave me an
indication of a take other than visual.
Next I replaced the wet fly with one of my
Jelly Beans, a floating minnow pattern of
about an inch and a quarter in length with
a number 8 hook. I was not surprised that
the strikes were not as plentiful as water
temps were 54 degrees. They were however
very agressive. I was getting a strike on
it about every third cast, and hooking up
about half the time. The bluegills were
smashing the fly much as the bass had the
leech pattern.
I have gotten more wordy here than I
intended but I plan to return tomorrow to
allow these kritters an opportunity to
help educate me.*G* Tomorrow I plan to fish
nymphs and thread midges, two patterns that
have been effective for me here. I am not
trying to promote fish attractants by the
way. I am just offering my experiences in
this unusually clear setting as I experience
them. Not scientific but I find it very
interesting. Curious if anyone else has
experienced these fish in clear fishbowl
conditions and how your experiences might
compare to mine. Warm regards, Jim
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