Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say…makes my day! 
Yeah…so…I’ll go back and edit those pictures with what kind of sunfish I believe they are. They are beautiful!
Thanks John!
Carp are pretty interesting in their omnivorous ways…I’ve seen them corral schools of shad against the shore and charge them like…well maybe not like tuna…but anyway they can certainly be baitfish predators at times. And I’ve seen them snatch nymphs out of the mid-water column; pluck bugs and seeds off the surface; root for worms and nymphs off the bottom; forage for crayfish from among the rocks; and feast on floating or sunken mulberries under overhanging trees when those fruits are in season. With such a wide variety of potential food sources, you’d think they’d be easier to catch! I don’t think I’ve ever had any fish take as much line off my reel as a carp (well…maybe a 20+ lb Chinook Salmon).
18.5" bass today:
That’s a good one!
nice bass, thanks for posting. Nice to see someone catching fish.
Thanks!
Took Wednesday off work to fish.
My buddy Jay actually managed to get me out of town for some flyfishing.
Turned out the fish we were targeting had lockjaw for some reason. We each caught a couple small bass.
I foul-hooked a decent pike. My best fish was this lovely creature:
Caught on a Hybrid Carp Fly variant:
Saw this other lovely creature as I was about to step down on it. She was just out enjoying the warm day like me:
The rest of the day, I visited 3 other ponds.
Pond #1:
Algae not bad, but the aquatic plants have completely chocked the edges and shallow areas of this pond. Water clarity is pretty good. Saw some big bass guarding nests, one “couple” doing the spawning dance while a bigger bass looked on. That was weird, but hey…“nature”. The big nesting/spawning bass wouldn’t hit my flies. I caught a couple smaller bass on the outside of the weedline. Saw some grass carp. One was patrolling while the other 5-6 were schooled up and resting. I put my bass topwater fly in the path of the patrolling grass carp. The first time it just swam under the fly. The second time it actually came up and nosed the fly, decided it didn’t like it, and swam away. If I’d had a smaller topwater on, it might have sucked it in… bummer.
Pond #2:
Water clarity very good, algae not bad at all. Saw a school of about 10-12 large grass carp, they swam by. Figured I’d switch flies later and target them since the water was so clear (usually I can’t see them. Its amazing how a little wind on the water makes them completely disappear)…but I never saw them again. Again I saw big bass on nests that wouldn’t strike my flies. I caught a bass or two and some crappies on the bass topwater. Then I switched to a black woolly bugger and caught a bunch more smaller bass (nothing over 15") and bluegills and crappies.
Pond #3: Water clarity not as good in this pond. Aquatic plants are growing up around the shallow edges of the pond, which extend out quite a ways. I stuck with the black woolly bugger, and caught quite a few bass (nothing over 15"), bluegills, and some crappies.
Well…part of my mediocre fishing success lately must have been the weather. I’ve been fishing on days with the least wind (easier for flyfishing). But Friday evening after the rains, the wind picked up considerably. I went fishing anyway. The water was stirred up some (not as clear). Did very well. Tried for bass with 3" Gamechangers.
Caught a number of small bass, and some nice ones too. The good ones measured (in ascending order) 16", 17", 17.5", 18", 18", 18.5", 19".
I also foul-hooked a surprise Black Bullhead, 12". It must have been going for the Gamechanger, because a few casts later I caught a 12.5" one that actually devoured the fly!
After getting skunked while flyfishing for carp during lunch, I couldn’t stand my own stench :rolleyes: …so I went flyfishing after work. Hit 2 ponds.
Pond #1:
Caught at least 4 bass and a hybrid sunfish. A couple bass were small, and the other two were a pair of 18.5-inchers, caught on a Firetiger Gamechanger.
Pond #2:
Caught a few bluegills and some bass. Bass were a range of sizes, with the biggest two measuring 17" and 17.5". One of them was caught on a sexy shad Gamechanger, and the other was caught on a Howitzer popper.
Flyfished Saturday, May 25. Visited 7 public ponds.
Drove by the first pond, somebody was fishing it already. I headed to a different pond.
Pond #1:
This pond had been very clear, but was now VERY muddy after the rains. Tried for bass. Did not catch any.
Pond #2:
Same…it had been very clear and was now VERY muddy. Tried for bass. Did not catch any.
Pond #3:
Pretty good current flowing into this pond. Tried for anything…caught a crappie, a bass, and a green sunfish.
Pond #4: Water high and stained, but not horrible. The negative from this pond was the aquatic vegetation has started getting thick around the entire shoreline, and some algae is starting to bloom as well. Had to clean it off the fly nearly every cast. Tried for bass. Caught at least one on a Gamechanger, switched to a bass popper and caught at least 3 more, and missed some good strikes. Shad were spawning.
Pond #5:
Tried for carp. Landed a 27-incher, but it was foul-hooked. Caught a couple bluegills. Tried for bass and caught one.
Pond #6:
First visit to this pond this year. Tried for bass. Caught one. Shad spawning in this pond, too.
Pond #7:
First visit to this pond this year. Tried for anything. Saw a bigmouth buffalo. Aquatic weeds and algae were both terrible. Didn’t stay long, didn’t catch anything.
Went back to Pond #2:
Fished a part of the pond I hadn’t fished earlier in the day. Tried for bass. Caught at least 4, biggest was 16". Had two other big ones ones on…one bulldogged and I never saw it before the hook pulled free. The second one was probably 18"…I got a good look at it when it jumped and threw my Gamechanger back at me.
My local fishing continues to focus on bass.
Flyfished last night from 7pm to nearly dark.
Pond was muddy.
Caught 1 green sunfish and some bass. There were around 7 that measured 16"-18". Most were caught on a Gamechanger, several were caught on a Howitzer popper, including the biggest one.
Picture quality declined as the light faded after the sun had set.
During lunch today, planned to try for carp. Caught a couple bluegills and a Channel Catfish…and had a 2nd catfish on that shook free.
Flyfished Saturday.
18.75"
With the fish above, I’ve already had my best year ever on fly-caught bass 18" or over. This makes it 14. Plus another 2 caught while icefishing.
Not bad for a guy fumbling around public ponds with a fly rod.
The rain started up, so I went to a pond I haven’t fished in years. I don’t recall ever having caught ANYTHING at this pond, but another angler told me there are good fish in it. I saw a nice bass that I spooked from the shallows. Caught some small bass, bluegills, and crappies.
Then I returned to the first pond after the rain stopped.
17.5"
16.5"
16"
Green Sunfish:
Went home and had some lunch, then headed to another pond.
18" Channel Catfish
Flyfished late Sunday evening. It was pretty calm, so I stuck with topwater.
I’ve been pursuing bass while I can, the window is about to close…we’ve had a long, cool Spring so far, but the water temps are warming up and the aquatic vegetation and algae are growing fast…and will soon make fishing very difficult here.
Caught some small bass, a couple Green Sunfish, and 5 better bass that measured 15"-17.5".
Didn’t measure or photograph the last one since it was really dark out.
17.5"
17.5"
Dave; thanks for all your posts. Just wondering what materials you are using to tie the game changers, especially smaller ones? I have links/spines, just looking for right combo of hair/hackle/reflectors.
The smallest ones…2.5"-3"…I use a small ball of yarn/dubbing near the tail end of each segment, and then small Wapsi Palmer Chenille ahead of that on each shank. The yarn/dubbing ball is just there for color and to help flare the Palmer chenille so the action at the joint is free-moving.
The next size up… 3"-4"… there are two varieties that have worked very well for me. One uses the small wapsi palmer chenille near the back end of each shank for flash, and hen saddle hackles palmered ahead of that on each shank. There are videos around that show how to select the feathers off the skin for each segment to get a natural taper in the finished fly. No trimming.
The other variety in this size simply uses Chocklett’s Gamechanger Chenille on each segment. Trimming is required to get a nice taper. I’ve also tried Chocklett’s Finesse Body Chenille, and it works very good too.
What I usually use for tails on all of these is a short but reasonably full marabou tail with some flash, or some flash under palmered shlappen or other soft feather works good too.
Thanks Dave; your flies look great, as do the results. I appreciate all the effort you go to here and on your site.
You’ve just reminded me I haven’t updated my blog in MONTHS. :rolleyes:
Flyfished from @ 7:15pm-dark. Mosquitos! Horrible! I donated a liter or two of blood to the annoying creatures last night.
Wind layed down, so I stuck with topwater again, targeting bass. Caught at least 7 good bass 16" or better, plus some smaller bass, and ones that I missed and ones that shook free. Two biggest were 17.5" each.
Flyfished Saturday morning and then again in late afternoon.
Saw some bullheads foraging in the shallow weeds, and saw some sitting on nests. One was fairly close to shore, so I dropped a mop fly next to its nest. The wind was pushing my line around, so it took quite a few tries to get the fly where I wanted it. Once I did, the bullhead hit the fly several times, each time I missed hooking it. The bullhead spooked, but would quickly return to its nest. I’d drop the fly near it again. Anyway…I finally did hook it (in the mouth). 13" Black Bullhead.
Caught some small bass, and some TINY bass. Bigger than fingerlings…but not by much. Also caught some better bass in the 15"-17.5" range, and three that all measured 18", and the biggest measured 18.5". Most were on Howitzer poppers, a few were on Gamechangers.
My buddy Jay joined me for a short spell in the morning. He caught a few bass, green sunfish, and a really nice 9.5" Bluegill on flies.
I had an opportunity to flyfish yesterday evening, but it was really late. I fished from ~8:30pm-10pm. I wore a longsleeve sun hoodie and long pants and smoked a cigar to help keep the mosquitos at bay. It had been windy earlier in the evening, but by the time I started fishing the water was dead calm.
Because it was calm, and the weeds and algae are bad…I fished topwater with a blockhead popper.
Caught 3-4 bass in the 15"-16" range, and lost a couple other good ones. Didn’t measure/photograph any bass…just this Green Sunfish:
