I think that most of us should probably be just about in full swing on the bass targets in our areas, so I thought I’d pose this question.
When fishing for bass in stillwater (ponds, lakes etc) what do you find to be the most effective fly retrieval methods for your area? Do you strip your flies faster (we’re talking either top water or streamers here)? Do you strip them in slower, in a specific pattern, randomly…
Personally, I tend to strip on the slow side as I’m almost always attempting to imitate a wounded prey; however, I recently noticed a spin fisherman at my lunchtime pond absolutely ripping something through the water so fast I couldn’t believe it. He would probably cast and retrieve 5 or 6 times to my one time. Also, he was catching a ton of fish and I was catching nothing. We were both using baitfish imitations.
Further, I’ve read that slow movement is the key in some places. I’ve also read that a faster, fleeing movement is key. I realize that this is very subjective and has a lot variables (i.e fly, fly size, water temp, weather, fish etc) but I’m wondering if those of you who are consistently successfuly catching LMB have a tried and true method that works for you.
Yes. The answer to all of your questions is yes. And no. It really just depends on what they want that day. Sometimes I have to go as fast as I can to even get them interested. Sometimes I have to go painfully slow to entice them into striking. Usually it’s somewhere in the middle.
Sometimes just letting the fly drop will get them. Sometimes it’s a slow retrieval and sometimes it’s a fast retrieval and sometimes it’s a strip, pause, strip.
Depends on their mood at the time and what they are eating at the time.
All the bass I have caught this year (so far) have come on faster retrieves. The Gills are taking on the drop (or pause) during slow to medium retrieves, but the bass have wanted more of a ‘fleeing’ target.
Crappie have wanted it to smack em in the face before they show any interest for me.
This is in Omaha, NE, adjust as needed for your area. . . .
My rule of thumb is…
Cold water…slow retrieve/minimal movement
Warm water…faster retrieve/aggressive movement
Cold…I tend to choose (especially sinking) flies that match those conditions…I do NOT want a sinking fly that sinks rapidly in cold water, so I use very lightly weighted, or unweighted flies in early season & I refrain from fluorocarbon leaders until the water warms. I also like small foam beetles, etc & VERY seldom move them.
Warm…I will use a longer & quicker strip & LOVE to really RIP a strip using a sneaky pete or diver for bass. Gurglers work well in summer too.
There are always exceptions, but the above works for me…most of the time. NO rule is 100%.
Mike
When the water temp is below 45 degrees we retrieve slower shorter strip pause. Especially in the very late fall ( early winter, should be wearing gloves kind of weather) we target the stick ups at this time of year and it is the slowest retrireves of the year. During pre spawn we fish medium strip pause retrives in the spawning necks. During the rest of the with optimum temperatures we vary our retrieves, but try and cover a lot of water.
During Summer it is more about fishing early (pre daylight to 8:30 9:00) than the retrieve although we do fish a little faster. In our area the spawning necks are too warm for the fish by summer at least the north banks( south facing) You remember all the fish you caught there early in the year but it is a waste of time by now beacuse the fish are not there.
I should say say that we fish weighted crayfish and bunny streamers 95% of the time
That pond is tough but your right, this time of year is about it for that water.
Always did well on a Taps Bug…throw past the shore and start stripping right before it hits the surface…and keep it chugging. Has worked in the past.
Poppers and spitters have never done as well for me as the Taps…stripped real quick.
Facing water from about the new wheel chair ramp, aim for the left shore and work your way to the far left corner…(you’ll have to eventually move along the shore).
That far left corner is killer when you hit it right.
Always found plenty of followers on streamers but few takers.
That’s why they call it fishing… I’m happy it’s not simple all the time.
WildOne, you have some good responses. It can vary all over the place from my experiences. And it’s dependent on many circumstances, as already said.
A little tip that’s made some (again…depends…) slight difference for me is the use of CDC on the rear end of my surface poppers/sliders etc.
I’ve had good sized LM’s, in fairly clear water (early season time…June) come out from under docks or from substructures and cautiously approach my topwaters, sitting right behind it, finning nervously. It seems the movement of the rear CDC more often illicits a take more so than other stiffer mat’ls.
And unlike some, I’ve had much better luck with some longish pauses on my topwaters fished rather to the slow side. It gets a tad testy b/c I’m the “fish it faster” type but have found a slower approach works much better here in MN.
I found this out after some tangles, more than once, where I had to let the fly sit for a full 30-40 secs. In open water. It got hit!! :mrgreen:
I’ve been using a surface and dropper combo that has worked well for me so far. A six inch (or so) strip and pause has started getting nailed here in the Central New Jersey area.
I’ve caught several from the pond on streamers and gurglers throughout the year, but yep…this time of year is key for that pond. I was out last week when it was nice and sunny and the hole eastern shore was absolutely crawling with bass. I had taken a co-worker out to get him started with the long rod, and he spotted a couple. We started walking that shore and they were literally everywhere. They must’ve just been warming as we saw nothing feeding or even following any fly I tossed to them.
Pretty much the responses I expected gents. Thanks for the insight and advice. :mrgreen:
I’m going to assume warm weather conditions when I respond to this question since cold weather almost always requires a VERY slow retrieve. When I’m fishing leech patterns early in the spring, I use slow steady 12 inch strips. A little later in the spring and in the summer, I switch to bait fish patterns and the most productive retrieve for me is a bit different than most folks. I make a very fast strip of about 14-16 inches and even move the tip of the rod very quickly about 1-2 feet. This rips the fly through the water about 3 feet. I try to stop the fly as close to cover as possible. Then as I retrieve the extra line, the fly stops and slowly sinks towards the bottom. I get 90+% of my takes immediately when the fly stops or when it is slowly sinking. This is usually sight fishing close to the bank or cover and many times the only indication that I have a take it that the fly suddenly disappears - like light a light bulb going out. Quite often you can’t see the fish at all. You have to strike quickly when the bass sucks in the fly because they can/will spit it back out in the blink of an eye. I suspect that we all have MANY more strikes than we ever know, especially if you’re fishing where you can’t see your fly at all times This retrieval method of fishing been extremely productive for me over the years.
The day I saw a ton of them, they were mostly facing nose to shore, but there were several who appeared to be just crusing. Most of the time the bass here in this pond tend to face nose to shore–I assume they’re expecting things to fall/jump in from shore that will be tasty little morsels.
Just to add something different to the discussion:
Up until the past few weeks, when the sun came out and reminded the bass that bigger is better, I was catching them with some regularity on a #16 elk hair caddis, of all things.
I was after the 'gills, so I’d cast parallel to shore and retrieve across the surface very slowly and steadily. After a while, if no gills came up, the fly would dip under, so on a whim I just kept up the extremely slow retrieve. When it got within sight, if there were any followers, I’d just stop it, and more often than not I’d see a big old bucketmouth vacuum it up.
For me I always start out with a fast retrieve, it is more because I like the way it looks in the water. This does work but, if the fast retrieve does not produce I will slow down. The problem for me is with a slow retieve I lose interest and end up changing flies or just going home. I need action to keep my interest alive.
I’m happy it’s not simple all the time.