Help me choose a fly for tight lipped bass...

Fishing Warm water Forum
1

Hi All,

Well, some long walks along my local river have paid off. I’ve found a number of excellent stretches holding BIG smallmouth. There are a number of 15"-18" bass, and a friend (using spinning gear) landed and measured a 20" monster :shock: ! It’s not unusual to see half a dozen big bass in one area, and another half dozen 40 yards downstream.

Here’s my problem…they don’t seem to want to bite :frowning: . I’ve used Sparkle Grubs, Murray’s Hellgramites, black woolly buggers, olive woolly buggers, clousers, half-and-halfs, gurgle-pops, Michigan wigglers, etc… and I can’t get the big boys to move. I’ll catch a number of little guys in the 12"-14" range, but I want those big boys to turn on. The best “look” I got from a bass yesterday was on a white sparkle grub.

Water temp. is about 80 - 82 degrees. The area is a rocky stretch about 50 meters long between two deep holes. The depth through this stretch varies, but is probably 3 - 3.5 feet on average. The current is fairly slow, and the water is gin clear. This is sight fishing at its finest. I’m using 6 wt. floating line with a leader and tippet about 10 feet in length. I’m usually fishing through the afternoon (which, on this river, is usually a great time for the big guys to feed). I’ve fished this river for years, and have never been so frustrated!!!

Do any of you have fly choices or tactics that you think might work :? ? If you do, please share them with before I forgo live bait and go straight to dynamite!!! :lol:

Cheers,
Andrew

2

I don’t know about helping you choose a fly but do they see you? In those conditions (clear water, mid day, water not deep) the smallies are sometimes skittish. If they see or feel you first you may have a tough time. Our conditions are currently clear, low water, I fish at midday and the physical approach is very important. I have had a number of good size fish head toward my surface pattern, but if they see me first, I am done. May as well move on to the next fish. So, if you are wading try going upstream with as little disruption as possible.

Also during these conditions a natural color and not too big are also important. Since you can see them you have probably already done this.

3

As for flies you seem to be using many I use already, may I suggest while the warm water is here using a much faster retrieve of your fly. In warmer water fish want fast retrieves, also fish eat more when the water is warmer, so I’m sure the fish are not locked jawed.

4

Most of my large fish have come on poppers.Just keep it moving.If you want to fish subsurface,go with a bunny strip fly and keep it moving fast.Fish in clear water get too good of a look at your fly and that usually kills it.Thats why I prefer poppers like a Sneak Pete or a deer hair bug.They never get a good look at it and it holds their interest longer.As said before just make sure they dont get a look at you first.

5

ive started trying to look at getting picky bass to bite by using psychology. :shock: amazing right? well ive noticed that bass really like something moving fast because when i strip something throuh the water very fast, the bass chase it but then stop when it stops. ive been trying to find out a way to get them to bite when they do that but the usually always swim away. so no advice there yet.
however, often in my favorite lake, a large school of shad will move into the shallows and hide under the docks or a pontoon boat. this is the opportune time to test youre skills. the wont bite s thing and will most often swim away if they see you. ive found 2 good tactics for going after these bass. 1. stand back (preferably on shore) and be sure that they cant see you. after you catch one, wait a couple minutes for thing to settle down again. if the fish see a fish getting caught and then something plops down again in the water, they seem to get suspicious. so just wait. 2. alot of people call it a feeding frenzy when there is a lot of bass around a school of minnows. WRONG. most often when the bass are around those minnows, they are not feeding. they are waiting for a good chance to strike. when the actaull frenzy starts is when the bass go into the school and start chasing the minnows. it usually will last 5-10 seconds but occasional will last longer. THAT IS THE TIME TO ATTACK. with the psychological part now, when they are in the true frenzy, they are no longer cautious about what they eat. they just want food. and ive found it doesnt matter where you are when they go into a frenzy. so you pretty much get them caught in the moment no pun intended. as soon as they start , to a cast into the middle of the minnows and use a fast retrieve. if that doesnt yield a fish, then on the next cast, cast to the edge of the minnows, so they see youre fly on the way out and theyre still “pumped” and they will most often attack then. ive often waited for 10 minutes for one of the frenzies with a fly they havnt seen yet, just because of how much fun they are to catch when they are in a frenzy.
so anyways, thats what ive noticed about the bass in my favorite lake. i imagine it would be the same in other lakes, but you never know, it might be different.

6

Try fishing during a different part of the day, say, early morning or in the evening.

Scott

7

Try this site out:

http://forums.riversmallies.com/forums/ … hp?act=idx

8

You mentioned that the fishing spot was “Between two deep holes” in 3 ft of gin clear water. My question is WHY?? are the big smallies in this particular stretch? Why not the two deep holes??
If you can see the fish that means they can see you and that’s not good! It sounds like your line is correct, maybe your leader, is it Fluorocarbon?? I am by far no expert on smallmouth but the behavior that I’ve seen them exhibit is their extremely competitive, so HOW are you going to select a big one out of the school?
Doug

9

The first thing I would try would be a different color clouser, but then I’m a clouserholic.

I always learn something from the fellow that owns my local fly shop. I learn something every time I go there… I should go more often. I was telling him about something that happened to me a while back. I was fishing one of his yellow foam spiders and a gil was mesmerized by it but wouldn’t strike it. I kept teasing him with it by not moving it except a slight twitch every once in a while. Suddenly a cloud went overhead. When the shadow of the cloud passed over the little gil nailed my fly. I knew it happened but didn’t know why. The fly shop owner explained it with what sounded like logic.
When the cloud goes overhead an osprey can no longer see down into the water the way they can when the sun is out. When the cloud went over the fish felt safe and he could act. If you have birds of prey up there like we do here that could be part of the problem.

                     Rusty <><
10

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the advice :slight_smile: …I think that the approach is critical, and I must admit that it was not stealthy in the least (and I know better!!!). The area was new to me, I was a little too excited, and I didn’t know what I was approaching! I’ll change my approach next time.

I’d really like to fish the area on a cloudy day but (I can’t believe I get to say this) we’ve only had two cloudy days in the last month or more! We need those clouds, and the rain they’ll bring.

I’ll mix up the fly selection, and change a few colour combos and see what I get. I may also try a late afternoon - early evening fishing trip. The area will be in shadow after 5:00 pm.

DShock - you had asked HOW I was going to pick a fish to target - well, that is a good question. But with most of the fish being in the 15"-18" range, I guess I’ll take whichever one decides to bite :lol: (not a bad position to be in :smiley: )

Keep the adivce coming…I look forward to reading it.

Cheers,
Andrew

11

Andrew,
I have only fished and caught smallmouth once and my impression is they are C R A Z Y!!! :lol:

12

The fish can probably see and hear you. You’ll have to do like we do around here. Wear cammo, and use natural cover to stalk the fish, quietly. Fish early morning or late afternoon, when the light is more indirect. Approach the fish from the down-sun side so as not to make a shadow on the water (and the bottom, and don’t forget, your fly line makes a shadow, too). Hang to the shade as much as possible. Stay as low as possible.

Good luck,

13

Here are a couple things to think about. First, smallmouth are just fish. Largemouth, bluegill, trout, it does not matter. They are predator and they eat. Fish have an IQ of about 3 even though sometimes they make the fisherman feel that humans have an IQ substantially less.

Question, what are they eating? If you don’t know, try some likely guesses.

Crayfish are candy for smallies. I’ve found crayfish in almost every smallmouth stomach I’ve seen. Sometimes, I do keep fish to eat, especially those times when the fish is not going to survive if returned to the water.

Any crayfish pattern is worth a try and from your description, with the possible exceptoin of the olive woolie, none of what you’re throwing imitates a crayfish. Think about how crayfish move and try to imitate that.

Second, big lures equal big fish is very frequently just a myth. I’ve caught 6lb bass on a 1/32 oz jig while those around me were throwing crank baits the size of an aircraft carrier. If they’re not hitting what you’re throwing, go a size or two smaller. Heck, you may even want to tie on a size 16 oa 18 nymph as a dropper off of one of your surface lures.

What size tippet you using? go a size finer even down to 6X or 7X. Yes, one of the monsters may break it like it was a spider web, but at least you’ll know and can work from there.

You mentioned a friend hooked a pig of a smallmouth on spinning gear. What was he/she using? Do you have anything in your arsenal that looks similar?

Also, smallies like worms, leaches, and other slimy crawlie things. Try a San Juan worm.

I do think it’s a matter of looking at what they eat in that creek and trying to match that. Flip a few rocks and see what’s crawling around under them.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

14

I’ve had very good luck on nearly all species( largemouth, crappie, bluegill, trout) with a wooley bugger with beadchain eyes.

15

My instinct runs with all the guys that are saying the fish are seeing you first. The best cure for that is fishing in low light conditions (dawn, dusk, cloudy days) when their visual range will be somewhat reduced.

However, you might also need to go to a larger fly. The warmer the water, the faster the fishes metabolism, thus the fish needs more food. Bigger fish will be looking for bigger prey in these situations. I’ve found this to be true with a lot of warmwater species, but especially bass. Present the fly further upstream at let it drift to the fish if possible so the splash of the fly entering the water doesn’t spook the fish. In deep water that splash would just get their attention, but in shallow water it can make them wary.

16

It took me a while but I located the reply by DDRRednecks500. What he says about ‘Waiting’ is what I have been thinking about. BE PATIENT! My first reaction is to get the adrenaline going, but take your time!
Maybe if you let the spot rest and take breaks and do some observing. Fishing has got to be better under cloudy weather or low pressure. People have mentioned a Crawdad pattern, well I have caught a lot of fish on a size-10-12 burnt orange woolybugger, copper bead head, two copper fibers of krystal flash. This little fly is what I go to when there isn’t a hatch.
Doug

17

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all your tips.

I went back late yesterday afternoon, and was much more careful about my approach. I used a rootbeer coloured sparkle grub (a very “crayfish” lookin’ fly) approached from downstream, and used a long, flourocarbon leader.

I missed my first hookset on what felt like a decent bass, but a few cast later, I hooked and landed a nice 15" fish. As luck would have it, a larger 17" bass followed it in (you’re right, DShock, HOW do I get just the one I want to hit!?!)

I kept casting in the same area, but couldn’t move any other fish.

Later, I decided to move to a different stretch of the river to fish during a big drake hatch. On occassion, you can catch small rainbows (under 14") in some of the riffle/run sections during this hatch. Well, the bugs were there, but the trout weren’t, so I moved upstream to a rocky glide to try my luck for bass. Again, I made a careful approach and long casts…and what a great evening! Within and hour I landed and measured 5 more bass 14", 15", 15", 16", and 17" (and a few small ones to boot!).

All in all, a great evening! Thanks for all the advice…I’ll keep going back to that first hole until I land a monster!

Cheers,
Andrew

18

Andrew,
Thanks for sharing your fishing with us!
Doug :smiley:

19

Andrew sounds like a great kob and loads of fun. Good for yo.

20

Just curious. When you caught the 5+ bass, what time of day was it and were you again using the sparkle grub?

Scott