Learning Something New

After writing about my struggles with trying to fly fish for bass last week, I realized something.  Not only was my casting geared toward trout fishing.  My style of fishing was geared to trout fishing.  Let's make a comparison to hunting.  Do you hunt for deer the same way you hunt for ducks?  No, not at all.  Lake vs Forest.  Moving target vs stationary target.  Rifle vs Shotgun.  There are a lot of differences.

So in that regard, how do you approach fly fishing for bass?

Bass will go for the same flies as trout.  So I probably didn't really have to get different flies.  But if you want to catch bigger bass then you need to think big with your flies.  Tom Rosenbauer in The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing says that the number one prey for smallmouth bass is crayfish.  So "any streamer with lots of action and stuff wiggling at all angles to look like that claws and legs of a crayfish will drive them wild."  He also recommends a black woolly bugger to imitate a hellgrammite, another smallmouth favorite.  And not to rule out poppers.  "And there is no better surface bug for smallmouths than the cone-shaped chartreuse popper with rubber legs known as a Sneaky Pete."

Improving your casting is a must as well.  Bob Clouser says that you need to learn to make long accurate casts, with only one or two false casts.  And be able to make them with heavy flies.  And your casting approach will have to be different as well.  "Big bass prefer areas with deep water, moving currents, and structure with large rocks, sunken trees, large logs or some other debris that provides a place to escape to--and a hiding place from which to ambush food."  

Cast out your bug and then strip in enough line that you're tight with the fly.  Then wait.  And wait some more.  And then wait some more.  When you finally can't wait any longer give the bug a twitch.  Then wait some more.  Just keep doing this until your bug is close enough to pick up for another cast.  Rosenbauer says, "Don't worry about a bass losing interest, as they often approach potential prey and eyeball it for a full minute before making a decision.  Time and again, a bass will wait until everything gets quiet and then suddenly pounce on a fly that is totally motionless."  Always remember that patience is a key part in any fishing.


So looking back at my bass fishing experience, my approach was on the right lines.  My problem was putting all of this into practice.  I was looking for hiding places like sunken trees and deep pools.  I had decent bugs, a crayfish and some poppers.  But, I wasn't patient enough.  I wasn't thinking about giving the bug a twitch an waiting.  If it seemed like too long of a wait I pulled the bug in and re-cast.  And I couldn't put my bugs where I wanted them.  My long casts were cumbersome with the heavier flies.  I couldn't get the distance to get any of my lures to where I wanted them to be.  And my short casts lacked the precision I needed to get in and around the logs and trees sticking up out of the ground. 


I'll need to practice casting with heavier flies.  I'll need a lot of practice with heavier flies.  But I will practice.  And after that practice I take what I've learned about fishing for bass to go after the big ones.  Even if it takes me a while to catch a bass, I'll enjoy every moment on the water until then.