My dad and brother were in town yesterday, so we went out to the lake to see if the whites are in close yet. In about four hours of fishing my favorite stretch of riprap we had 8 fish between us. Still a bit too soon, but definitely time to start getting ready. I’ll be tying clousers and Puglisi minnows like crazy for a while.
Anybody else have any patterns they’ve discovered lately that I ought to be trying on these guys?
Last summer I had a lot of success with a fly called a fishmaker, originated by a Cape Cod angler by the name of David Townsend, for Stripers. I tied them a bit smaller than he calls for, but it was very effective for the white bass and wipers.
Hook: #4 clouser/saltwater
Tail: white ostrich herl(12) and flat pearl tinsel(8-12 strands)
Body: two palmered white marabou plumes
Head: plamered white crosscut rabbit (tight touching wraps)
Eyes: 3-D dome adhesive (best applied with automotive Goop)
What lake are you hitting? I might have to come up and fish with you sometime. Have you ever heard of Flatland Fly Fishers, Wichita, or Free State Fly Fishers, Lawrence? I’m a contributing editor for Flatland. It would be cool to do an article on white bass. We try to hit the whites at Fall River in the spring, but usually hit it too early, or worse, too late!
Whites are a LOT of fun!
We were catching them on poppers on top. They were chasing shad, we were tossing out Walmart poppers and strippnig them in as fast as we could.
ROR-EYE–
I don’t know much about the Flatlanders except that they exist, but I know a lot of the Freestaters, since I work pretty close to Lawrence and I plan on focussing a bit more on Clinton this Fall (we had a great Spring there for wipers and I want to see if they come back in along the dam in the Fall as well). I also fish Tuttle Creek, Pomona, Redmond, Melvern. I’ve been tossing around the idea of a mini-fish-in on one of those lakes either in the Fall or maybe this Spring. The fishing isn’t as action-packed in the Fall for whites and wipers, but it’s more consistent and lasts longer.
That fly looks like it might be just what the doctor ordered! any chance you might have a picture you could post?
quivera–
yep, they sure are!! Fast becoming my favorite fly rod target, though they’ll never quite replace those scrappy bluegills!
BG222,
I have a pic of it on my pc at home. I will try to post in a photo bucket this evening. This fall, myself and a few others have been traveling around Kansas, mostly north and east, in pursuit of new fishing spots. So far we have laid down Butler, got rained out, Moline Old City Lake, well worth fishing, and Lake Wabaunsee, northwest of Emporia. Of all of them, I liked Wabaunsee the best. We, two of us, caught 18 bass, of which only two were LM. The rest were Smallies! They weren’t too big, but being as beautiful and scarce in our state, who cares? We also caught BGs, a ton of crappies, and I even got two yellow perch, another scarce population in Kansas. In spite of the heavy wind that day, I couldn’t put my new 4wt Vapor away, though I got a little worried when I hooked an 18" drum. I think a mini fish in would be a great idea! Alot of the guys I fish with have pwc, (pontoons and kayaks), do you? It’s pretty cool to get a bunch of us on a decent sized body of water, with everyone else looking at us all confused, and wondering why we are catching more fish than they are! Maybe we should set something up in the next few weeks. Our annual club banquet is this Saturday, but Sunday’s open. Next weekend, I am going to Taneycomo to chase the Browns. After that I am free. I know a few guys that will go at a moments notice, so we should look into this. Do you ever fish Shawnee for rainbows during the season? I hear they get some pretty nice fish up there.
Tight lines!
ROR-EYE–
I have a float tube, but I don’t use it much on the big lakes, but I can usually find fish off rocky points and bridge riprap within casting distance from the shore, especially if I can get a good breeze blowing in towards the shore. The wind makes the casting a little tough, but often times it brings the fish right in to your feet. I’ve looked at Waubansee on the map and thought “you know…” but I’ve never made it down there to fish it.
My days off are pretty erratic and almost never on the weekends, but I’ll let you know what things look like for the next couple of weeks and we’ll see what happens. If Mr. Hyde is paying attention to this thread maybe we can get him involved, too. Joe, are you out there?
Ready when you are!
ROR EYE,
If you do a mini fish in, in the spring count me and my toon in. Going for the Wipers sounds great to me.
If ya’ll don’t mind.
Carl
Crappiecat,
The way I hear it told, you’ve got some prime striper and wiper in your neighborhood!?!?!?
Maybe we should try a bit of both worlds this spring eh?
Just need someone to come show me how to catch 'em.
Carl