Bill,
I 'finger twist' or use little 1 to 2 inch strips, and drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of Christmas candy between movements.
It's hard to stress how important 'slow' really is.
That should also indicate how important 'where' you fish is.
Spending fifteen to twenty minutes on a single cast that's in the wrong place.....
Good Luck!
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
RG is correct about trying the north end first. I have a number of good winter ponds and all of them have shallow north ends. In Oklahoma, it seems like the wind is always blowing from the south which means you have a lot of wave action on the north end which not only increases the oxygen in that part of the pond, but combined with the shallowness, warms the water up quicker. You don't have to take the water temperature, it's just a fact of nature that the water is warmer and that's where the bass will be early.
As for retrieve, during the transition times to spring, I use a slow motion finger twist retrieve most of the time. At this time of year, it's not unusual to have a big channel cat take a swipe at your woolly bugger or streamer, so I wouldn't recommend a delicate rod for this fishing. I'd go with a good 5 or 6 wt. at the lightest.
Edit: Hmm, somehow my post ended up in the wrong thread. . . too many windows open I guess.
I went "gear fishing" on Mcgee Creek lake in Oklahoma 2 weeks ago and we were drop shotting bass on points and humps in 25 to 30 ft of water. They go deep in the winter and you've got to give them a slow, "in your face" presentation. Your best bet, as Buddy says is in a shallow small pond with a fly rod. That's where I've had my best, and only, luck in the Winter with a fly rod. I guess you could catch them on the deep, big lakes with a weighted line, but man that would be slow.
Robert
Robert is BACK!!!...That, to me, is the most exciting part of this post!!!
I like white, combined with chartreuse or hot pink...hot pink head with a white tail has been DEADLY for crappie, at least for me. I like my early season flies unweighted or very lightly weighted. Again, SLOW!
Mike
FAOL..All about caring, sharing, & good friends!!
Amen on Robert! Buddy is back, too. Wow, like all I wanted for Christmas was my two bass beasts! Anyway, striper fishing near Boston a couple of years ago we were casting 9 wts with sand eel imitations. We'd cast, then place the rod under our arm and pinch the line in a half inch at a time. Reeeeeeeeaaaaaaal slow. Up here, one of the techniques for crappies and gills while ice fishing is to do a quick, jerk lift and allow the jig to settle back down near the bottom, an inch or two above the bottom. Then let it sit. Right after ice out, again hitting the north bays of the lakes up here, you adapt by casting a weighted nymph and letting it sink. Take some time to commune with nature. Then use a very slow, almost imperceptible retrieve. That hand twist technique is great, but it has to be slow. Deep. Slow. Fun. JGW
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