I have no research to prove this is true about the old bass and bluegills, but my experience would say it contains a lot of truth. This is a pretty good argument against C&R if you are trying to manage a warm water fishing lake. Have any of you tried “touch and go” or “pointless fly fishing?”
We have used hookless bugs a bit. One fish grabbed it 5 times before losing interest. I have not payed attention to what he writes of during the season. We have found the fish to bite or not bite in the ponds we pester.
What he speaks of must not apply to bedding fish. We have pestered a single bed fish for 1 1/2 hours, bringing it to hand multiple times before cutting the hook from the bug and contunueing the pester. This fish COULD NOT accept an intruder in it’s nest…period.
…lee s.
If you read Ellis’s book on bass fishing [as opposed to his bluegill book] you’ll find that he feels you can’t catch largemouth bass on anything except a plastic worm [thrown on a flyrod]. This “fact” is apparently proven by problems he has doing it. If you read the book carefully you’ll note he fishs with his “gear buddies” on large open impountments - not anywhere near ideal fly rod territory.
I find the idea that fish check for a leader rather silly.
If you believe in your presentations and apply reasonable skills you will catch Bass, Bluegills again and again. I am a rookie at this and have a small pond and I catchem.
The grass carp are next.
Geezer
Salt Water Fly fishing A jerk on one end waitng for a jerk on the other end.
I like Jack Ellis? writing and in this case, based on my personal experience, his speculations are possible, even likely. But, I can?t get past this (with all due respect to Mr. Betts) laughable ?pointless fly fishing? as a solution to not educating bass.
If Ellis? theory is right, I want my bass to be educated. Big, uneducated fish just become wall decorations on someone?s wall. What?s the point in playing (I can?t come to calling this pointless thing ?fishing?) with the same fish year after year, just to set the fish up for an appointment with the taxidermist?
If we just want to play with fish instead of catching them, why not just use heavy weed guards? That way, we at least can call it fishing and for every fish we ?accidentally? bring to hand, we can whisper to the bass, ?bet you?ll never make THAT mistake again!? Then, we release it?so it can grow to be a big, educated, uncatchable bass that will reproduce for years to come.
Just MHO.
[This message has been edited by BassYakker (edited 03 April 2006).]
