Am I jousting windmills, here, or what ?

[jeffnles1]

Mike,
I can't help you with Florida bass, but I have caught my fair share of bass in Kentucky on a fly rod. Bass can't be all that much different here and there.

First, topwater is a good thing. Popoers will catch bass. If you're not getting strikes, try a smaller fly. I've caught some good size bass on a #10 green popper. Sometimes the big lure = big fish thing is just a myth.

Wooly Buggers are also deadly on bass. I like green, black and white around here for largemouth. You don't have to get the biggest bugger in the shop to catch a big bass. I toss them along the shoreline, weed lines, around where trees overhang the lake, basically anywhere I think a hungry bass may be waiting to ambush an unsuspecting morsel. Strip it in slowly and vary the strip speeds (faster / slower/ up / down) until I get a hit and then keep doing the same thing.

I caught a 16" smallmouth (pretty decent fish for these parts) on a #14 Elk Hair Caddis last summer. There were a bunch of sunfish hitting on the surface during a hatch. I was having a lot of fun catching them and wham a bass took a #14 fly. Go figure.

Clousser Minnow (green and white work around here). It's a streamer, fish it much like you would a jigg on spinning gear. Throw it out, let it sink and bring it back in (see wooly bugger varying speed above).

Bottom line, if you know how to catch fish on spinning gear, catching them on the fly rod isn't that much different as far as "thinking like a fish" goes. Techniques are different, but a fish is a fish regardless of what kind of fishing rod you have in your hand.

We do all want pictures of the first really big bass you haul in on your fly rod.

Jeff

[MikeZRed]

Thanks for the tips, Jeff. As far as pictures of the first really big bass I haul in on a fly - does this count? (http://www.stakeout.com/mzr/MZR-WorldRecordBass.jpg)

*Note: No, I am not afraid to grab hold of a fish (though it kinda looks like that in the pic) - I was trying to keep my fat hands out of the way.

The first two bass I ever caught on fly - #1 wasn't long enough to extend over the width of my palm (maybe 4 - 4 1/2 inches?). #2 was much longer - his tail fin extended over my palm. I had pictures 'cause they were the smallest bass I'd ever seen, but apparently they were lost when my old cell phone died. Both were caught on a small MadamX when I was fishin' for brim.

Oh, just in case anyone wants to know what caught that monster in the picture, it's a yellow & white gurgler, probably tied on a #4 stinger .

[cycler68]

Mike,
With the great advice your getting here the fish will come. As for catching a big one that magic day will come when she will hit.

[dixieangler]

dixieangler: I've never been too successful topwater for bass with spinning gear, so I've not been too hopeful with the surface flies I've tried. Sounds like I might've been making a mistake, though, with as much luck as it sounds like you have - maybe I need to tie some more yellow surface flies. I'll definately give the Minnow Crease a try, too. Thanks, also, for Phil's name - as soon as I finish this thank you note I will find him and send him a PM.

Keep in mind that topwater spin gear is not fly gear. You can vary your retrieve and manipulate the fly when stripping in fly line. LMB may want it slow, medium, or fast on the retrieve but I've found here in FL that most of the time it is slow stop and starts of the fly. I know some folks think that LMB only bite large flies but they bite small ones too, just depends on what they happen to want and times of the day, weather, season, etc. can play a role. At least it does for me in what they want and how they want it presented. I like to work the shoreline around structure (surface and subsurface) and cover like lily pads, weed beds, and so on. I think its important where you are fishing for LMB and how you are fishing (presentation) even more so than what fly. There are other flies that work well for me also but it seems like those are the main ones. Phil's FAOL name is BassYakker and he would be the fellow to talk to for Orlando as LMB is one of his favorite targets on the fly.

Yes LMB like yellow foam flies, yellow poppers, MCFs and such. I just know you are going to have fun on topwater flies. 15 inch LMB from last season on a size 8 yellow Nymphomie pusher (a foam Dremel bug) at a big pond.

[Thwack]

I went bass fishing with a group of folks from the San Jose Flycasters club and set a new personal best before the day was over. Most of the day, I was only catching bluegill (and missing the set on most of those...d'oh).

I finally paid attention to what the folks who were outfishing me were using and a few casts later, I had this:



18 1/2" largemouth on an olive woolly bugger...sinking line if I'm not mistaken.

One of the guys with us did great on frog colored poppers most of the day (the pond had LOTS of small frogs around...so match the hatch...).

I had another nice bass shortly after the one in the pic. It wasn't as big but was still fun...same rig (olive bugger on sinking line).

Try different depths to see what gets the hits. Sinking lines are available in different sink rates...you can do the math to figure out how many seconds to count for however many feet down you want to fish...

Or, cast, count to twenty, retrieve...didn't work? Try counting higher (to fish deeper).

I find that keeping the line slightly taut while I count helps me notice if the fly is being hit as it falls...

I've also had reasonable luck on poppers (which are probably my favorite just because I love seeing the strike!).

And that fish you posted the pic of is huge compared to some of the LMB's I've landed...I had one so small that the guy next to me asked if it was what I caught or if it was my fly...

Check your local fly shops for books on local waters or at least a book on Florida fishing spots. I've found several for California...maybe there's one for Florida...

Good luck!

[Eight Thumbs]

Mike,

It sounds like you have had an unusually run of bad luck with your fly rod. Please keep us posted and let us know about your latest outings. I don't think that you will ever surpass the bait dunkers or even the hardware chuckers but I think you will find a rhythm and consistently that entrances everyone on this board. The fish may not come as often but the enjoyment of each one warms the soul. Hang in there and stay with it. Small changes and a little help make all the difference in world. Hang in there, nobody starts with the silver bullet. 8T

[cycler68]

Mike,
Another thing to remember is to through, systematic and accurate when you are covering water where a largemouth might be hiding in ambush.
I have found when I'm fishing lily pads or a piece of wood to put the fly within inches of cover. Always use flies with weedguards when doing this.
Another place to drop a fly is right off shore right at your feet if the water is at least a foot or two deep, some cover is present and the water is running. Be sure to be as stealthy as you can, tread lightly and don't cast a shadow on the water you want to fish if you want to try this. Why do this with running water? The sound of the water hides the sound of your footsteps and breaks up your outline to the fish hiding there.
I also recommend buying Lefty Kreh's books Fly Fishing for Bass, Longer Fly Casting and Solving Fly Casting Problems. The all gave me hints and tips to improve my fly fishing that I wouldn't have discovered on my own.
And then don't give up. Keep on banging your head against the wall until the wall cracks and crumbles.

[white43]

Before you let this de la Mancha get to you, I have a question: Do you have a cat? What do you do to entice a cat to play? Try that with your poppers and flies around the weeds and edge and you'll likely catch bass. Spin fishing relies on artifical attractants -- flash, noise, lips and all sorts of things. You cast and retrieve, basically. Of course, folks will vary the speed and twitch here and there. For us, the fly becomes an extension of the mind. How's that for a little Don Quixote mind play? I can't count the number of largemouth bass I've caught on deerhair bugs, foam poppers, etc., when I've cast and done absolutely nothing. Let it sit and twitch. Play it like you would a cat. JGW

[DShock]

Cats & Fishing? Hmmmm..http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ne-fishing.jpg
Doug

[Uncle Jesse]

May I be so bold to suggest you are missing out on a lot of fun by fishing a heavy rod when the bluegill would be lots of fun on a 5 wt. or lighter. While you are catching bream, you will also catch crappie [maybe that's specks to you] and some bass, eventually some large bass. Some of those gar around Orlando would be fun until they cut your line.

It's not what anyone would recommend but last year I had 2 LMB approaching 6 lbs. on a 3 wt. Get a decent reel with a disc drag, BPS has a couple adequate for most freshwater very reasonable [and I'm cheap.]

Do you have some kind of boat, canoe or kayak? Although I love my float tube up here around ATL, I would not recommend among the large water lizards down there. I'm not sure about a one man pontoon, my first was a 12 ft. jon boat that would fit in back of or on top of several vehicles, fly fishing from the bank can be flustrating.

Good luck, enjoy the experience, It's ceaper and more fun than a shrink.