Hey Thwack,
Sounds like an interesting if not overly
productive trip.G I have heard that most
fish will react to a lizard on a bed. I do
not have a lizard pattern however.G I
have also heard they will react to a leech
quite often. I’ve got a number of them in
my fly box and am currently trying to
recover from an injured knee so as to be
able to fish next week, just prior to the
full moon, when the big red eared sunfish
show up in prespawn. I’m getting anxious.
Warm regards, Jim
Jim,
It was a lot of fun even though I never got more than the occassional nibble with zero hookups.
I spent the first hour there right after lunch and the water was crystal clear (no wind). Tried only a few things.
Stewed on it the rest of the afternoon at work and went back afterwards to try other things. The wind was picing up slightly and pushed some cloudiness over the fish. I could see them thanks to polarized glasses but they were much clearer at lunch time (and I could see deeper).
After I figured out they were very interested in the orange worm, I tried a bead head prince nymph, even a bright orange and silver fly but neither made a difference.
The orange/silver fly was probably too big (bead chain eyes, silver mylar/thread body, orange hackle, orange tail). The prince was lacking orange…
I’ve read that bass will go crazy over a lizard pattern because the lizards eat the bass eggs. I pondered trying it for the crappie but the only lizard pattern I had was a full sized plastic one designed for spin casting. I figured it would be too big for the crappie to do more than peck at…
It was fun to try various things knowing full well there were indeed fish down there. Seeing what got them to chase and what bored them was a lot of fun.
I originally went to that spot after lunch to check the water temperature. I’ve been watching it off and on for several weeks trying to learn when the local panfish start bedding, where they bed, etc.
I was surpised to see them bedding at this spot because it’s pretty steep. There are small ledges made by different levels of the reservior over the years but each ledge was barely barely barely big enough for a single small or mid-sized crappie to claim a spot for its bed (with their tails or heads sticking out over the drop off if they faced perpendicuar to the steep wall).
I had hoped to stick my camera under water and get a couple pics of them on the beds but the side is too steep/narrow to have room to lay down, reach into the water, and take the pictures.
There’s just barely enough room to stand and fish. Don’t try walking around or you’ll get wet on the first step.
I figured if they really like orange, I’ll whip up some small orange nymphs and see if I can hook up. With my luck, by the time I get back, they’ll be looking for some other color (fighting a cold and fever tonight…argh!).
I’m guessing either an orange version of the green weenie (though the tail could cause more short strikes) or an orange version of my simple squirrel nymph probably in a size 16 or 14.
I just happen to have a squirrel tail that’s died orange for the tail/shuck and orange punch yarn for the abdomen.
I’m debating between orange beads for the thorax, metal beads for the thorax (like a skip nymph from Skip Morris), peacock herl (every fly needs herl, right?), or orange grizzly soft hackle (which I also happen to have).
If time permits, I might tie and try them all…
The gotcha though is that a buddy told me where the big bass are bedding up (along with what they’re going nuts over).
I have to decide if I want to keep poking at the reluctant crappie or set a new personal best for LGM on a fly (assuming I can get them on a fly…they’re going nuts on earth worms right now and I don’t want to cast one of those on my fly rod just to claim a new personal best). 
A fly pattern I’ve had very good success with this spring [especially in chilly pre-spawn water] has been an UV-olive ice dub leech.
pattern: hook - 3XL, 12 or 10
tail - olive maraibou or rabbit
from zonker strip
body - olive UV ice dub [also UV
peacock ice dub w/ black
tail
weight - 1/8" brass bead
after dubbing the body pick it out with a
velcro stick developing a shaggy look.
This thing has been a killer!
Donald
Hey Gents,
If you would like to catch a personal best
red eared sunfish or bluegill, try this.
Between the 9th and the 15th of May, on what
you consider the best waters in your area,
during the last hour of daylight, throw a
floating #8 white spider in water 6" to 24"
deep. Let it sit for a full minute without
a twitch. If the little guys keep taking
your fly, move! Keep your nose working.
If you hit a big concentration of fish in
the shallows, you’ll smell them 20’ away.
Take a flashlight with you. If you find
them, the bite will not stop until full
dark. If your water temps have not yet
reached 70 degrees, substitute June where
it says May and start fishing the evening
of the 8th. Warm regards, Jim
[This message has been edited by Jim Hatch (edited 04 May 2006).]
Thwack,
I read your post with interest and wished to add a trout trick for you to try.
Did you try going to smaller flies?
I mean “smaller”…as in a #18 or so? And “hairy” like using spiky dubbing (Hares Mask …in natural or brown to olive green colors).
I know they’ll take it in deeper but with barbless and a pair of hemo’s it won’t be that much of trouble.
It’s a trout trick that I’ve had good succes with on finicky gills. And the better one DO get finicky…bigtime.
I’d wonder if this would help you out? Obviously it means tying up much smaller flies …just for these tough times.
Regards,
Jeremy.
Jeremy,
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try. I’ve tied down to size 24 in the past so 18’s no big deal. 18-20 is pretty much mandatory for most flies on the Fall River (my favorite place to fish).
I have some size 20 olive gold-ribbed hare’s ears but didn’t try them because they weren’t orange and nothing but orange was getting serious attention that day.
I’ll give it a shot! Thanks.
Thwack,
Sorry to ramble but I was thinking about this post on a walk after work today.
I forgot to mention that I figure that rabbit body hairs (as opposed to Hares Mask…stiffer fibers) would also be good if dubbbed a tad loosely so that the rabbit hairs would appear to breathe.
You know, when they’re just looking at it, a little breathing action might trigger them. CDC works that way for finicky trout!
Hope this helps.
Jeremy.
[This message has been edited by Jeremy (edited 04 May 2006).]
I stopped by the doctor’s office after lunch to let him take a look at the fever, gunk, etc. When he was done, I had to drop by the office even though I was supposed to be out sick today. Work is a few blocks from the doc’s office.
After dropping by the office, I had to go to the nearest Post Office to mail my punch yarn swap flies.
That Post Office is only 3 miles or so from where I was fishing earlier in the week and the doc said I should rest…what could be more restful than visiting a local fishing spot?
So I stopped by to measure the water temperature (64+) and try to get an underwater picture of that area…I need to be in the water to make that work.
As long as I was there, and the fish were just sitting there, and the water was still very clear, well, I had to try something!
I hadn’t taken the time to tie up anything orange and the only orange flies I had were way too big.
So, I tried a size 14 amber Copper John first. Lowered right by the head of the closest bedded fish. Fish took it but didn’t hold it enough for a hook set.
The fish wouldn’t take it again either. Tried another one within reach…same thing…in, out, ignore.
Shortly after that, a tree ate my Copper John so I tried a different (smaller) bead head. This one was about half pink. Tied up to look sort of like some fly that was being discussed last year I think (and I tied it way back then as well).
Bead head flies sink pretty danged slow. Since the Copper John had sunk so slowly, I slipped a spare bead onto the line before tying on the pink nymph. You can see the fly here:
[url=http://thwack.smugmug.com/photos/67866942-M.jpg:f87fc]small pink bead nymph[/url:f87fc]
You can also see the bead on the line (over by the wedding ring in the picture). That got it down faster and let me jig it up/down more predictably.
I got lots of very light hits but was having a hard time converting any of them into hookups.
I finally figured out that if I flipped it out there, let it sink a little more than I wanted, then brought it into the area with the fish on a slow, steady retrieve, there would be no slack in the line and I’d have a better chance of setting the hook.
I still missed plenty this way but did manage to hook a half dozen and landed 4 of them. Here’s the first one I brought to hand:
[url=http://thwack.smugmug.com/photos/67866670-M.jpg:f87fc]wait a minute, that’s not a crappie[/url:f87fc]
I’d swear the fish on the beds below where I was standing along the bank are crappies. Most are very dark colored (the larger ones) but aren’t in a spot I can easily get the fly into.
The ones I could most reliably go after were the ones schooling close by…and that’s what came to hand…ah, even at that small size, they’re fiesty when hooked.
After landing the first three, I retired the fly and tried some others.
Small bead heads in various colors seemed to get good attention but the takes are very subtle and hard to set the hook.
Trailing shucks or any kind of ‘tail’ on the fly increases the chance of a short strike.
Another successful fly was a blue metal or floss bodied fly with I think long CDC wrapped as hackle below the bead. It got hit pretty often but I couldn’t get anything to stay. Turns out, I’d broken the point completely off when it snagged in a tree (right after I tied it on) and I hadn’t noticed it at the time. d’oh!
After convincing myself I could indeed figure out what they’d chase, how to get them to take it, and actually land several, it was time to go get my prescriptions filled.
So far, at this reservior, I’ve caught trout, crappie, and blue gill at various times. I think it’s time now to track down some bass…
