Re: Rainy Day Tactics
Yeah, what Joe said. I seem to have more luck with bluegills and crappie in the rain than I do bass, although there are days.... Depends a lot on the rain too. A gentle rain without a lot of wind and I think Joe's right about bugs getting knocked out of the air and off branches and panfish keying on that. In these cases a small popper or a nymph fished just under the surface seems to work very well. I just had a day like that this week. When it's raining harder and the wind is blowing, I think the same applies, but the extra commotion on the surface from waves and big splashy raindrops makes the fly harder for the fish to find. Then I'll usually go to a bigger popper to make more noise and/or a weighted nymph to get below the disturbance. The fish are still out there, and often still feeding, it's just harder to present the fly effectively.
If it swims and eats, it'll eat a fly.