I don't know if your comments were directed at me, someone else, or just in general... but I will try to answer. Hopefully others will share their tips as well. I try to keep it simple with using just a few patterns that have proven effective for me. For sunfish species, I've found 1/80th oz microjigs will catch a bunch, either by slowly swinging/swimming it through a fishy area, or by suspending it under a strike indicator. Depth of suspended fly will depend on the fish and depth of water and clarity, starting about 18"-24" is a good way to begin and see how the fish respond. Slowly swimming small nymphs and attractor patterns like #10 Woolly Buggers also works well. Keep tail materials short, since sunfish mouths are usually small. They gotta be able to fit it far enough into their mouth that they also eat the hook and not just nibble the tail. Small foam topwater bugs can also work really well at times, and are fun to fish to watch the strikes. For bass, try various sizes of Chocklett's GameChangers. They really work VERY well. Howitzer Head Poppers or Blockhead Poppers also catch a LOT of bass for me, when they are willing to hit on the surface. Predators are often triggered by fast erratic fleeing movement of the fly. Sometimes much faster than you might think. Experiment with your retrieves until you find what the fish want. For other stuff...sometimes Gar will hit #10 Woolly Buggers. Other times, they might hit bigger flies on/near the surface. I've recently caught some Florida Gar on "Foam Head Tarpon Toad" patterns, which you can currently get for around $3 each at Discountflies.com .For Barramundi, I used that Foam Head Tarpon Toad (in black) for about 1/2 of them, and a brown-over-white saltwater Clouser Deep Minnow for the rest. Its $275 to fish for 3 hours at Osceola Outback Adventures (search for that online), located SSE of Orlando, FL. If you want to catch large strong fish, I totally recommend it... its so much fun! For Bowfin, sometimes folks catch them on topwater, but so far mine have all come subsurface, usually on/near the bottom. A large weighted fly like a Bass Master (I tie some of my own, but also buy good ones online from Big Y Fly Co) has caught a bunch of them for me. Big conehead woolly buggers and conehead zuddler patterns, or anything that looks like a sculpin or crayfish should work. For Grass Carp, stocked fish are tough to catch, but ones that are in streams and reproducing on their own seem MUCH more willing to hit flies. Keep your flies about the same size that you'd use for bluegills... #10 - #6. Some folks use floating patterns that look like a mulberry or cicada, or slow sinking patterns. I've caught a bunch on a greenish chartreuse microjig under an indicator...and toss it under overhanging trees. Grass Carp will often hang out there waiting for something to fall into the water. When they detect a small splash, the come to investigate and eat whatever they find. In streams, channel catfish will often hang out under those trees too. Common Carp, I recommend a small (#10-#6) nymph-y or woolly bugger pattern with dumbbell or beadchain eyes for weight and to keep the hook point up off the bottom. When you see a fish or mud cloud, cast beyond it...drag the fly near the surface over to the fish, then let it drop down into the dinner plate area near the carp's head. If the fish sees the fly fall, it will usually go eat it. Strike detection is tricky. You might see the fish's mouth open, or the line might twitch. Set the hook at whatever clue you see. You'll get better at it over time, but it still is a challenge. Good luck, Oldster! Share your successes with us!
Last edited by FishnDave; 04-28-2023 at 08:53 PM.
David Merical
St. Louis, MO
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