Fly Fishing
Newbie
1/29/12 @ 4:37 PM
Displaying 1 to 14 of 14 posts
My favorites have been pheasant tail nymphs, hare's ear nymphs, pink squirrels, sculpin imitations, clousers, and small leech imitations. When the nymphs that come out at the end of the early season are really moving around, the biggest and ugliest looking hare's ear nymphs, coyote nymphs, etc. really come into their own for me. For bass and gills, I like tungsten leech imitations, clousers, and poppers. Hope this helps.
On shallow rivers that have any sure abundance of smallmouth, pike, walleye, bluegill, etc., anything drifted around structure with dark marabou that sinks will catch said fish, not necessarily in that order. I've yet to find it disputed (based on my own experience, of course).
Hope it's enjoyable--it's the single greatest way I've found to fish, regardless of anything biting.
Actually there are insects hatching occasionally most f th eyear, including the early season. Though they are pretty small the colder it is. As it warms in spring the insects that are active increase in size until mid summer than generally start getting smaller again. This is a big generalization but generally accurate.
You can use leeches and minnow imitations, scuds, etc. you can also try small nymphs. Brassies, small prince nymphs, etc. The nymphs are in the stream regardless of the time of year or water or air temps. Just in general they aren't as active.
Hope this might help, As for bass flies, bass generally aren't that that fussy in my experience. Throw something relatively big and ugly nearby and they will at least look at it. Minnow imitations, leech imitations are generally a favorite, though frog imitations can be killer at the right times as well. If all else fails through a wooley bugger in various colors, doesn't match anything precisely but has a buggy, eatme appeal to most fish depending on the size. i caught a lot of different species in one year on a white with peacock hurl/grizzly hackle bugger. gills crappies, perch, rainbow, brown trout, large and small mouth bass, carp, northern, catfish, walleye, and a muskie and a bullhead. All in a period of about 2 months. yes a lot of luck was involved.
Greyghost, good info., it will take me awhile to learn the feel of such flexible rod, used to my St. Croix MH's for bass. One last question for the pro's, what are my go to flies for the early season, have a couple but not many, will be fishing Oneida county and Dane county for the early inland season. I know to stay away from insects since they are not around yet. Any help much appreciated.
Waterpig, thanks for the info., was thinking the same for a 5wt but brand new to this type of fishing. Lot's to learn which is a huge part of the enjoyment. The tapered leader is unusual, the end looks like it is 2 lb line, won't hold a largemouth the way I'm used to horsing them in with 20lb braid! Need to just get out and practice. I'm excited. mb
A 5wt may be a touch undergunned for Bass...depending on size of the fish and more importantly flysize. I have caught 30lb carp on my 4wt rod before. Usually I will grab the 8wt or 6wt for carp though. For bass I go first to my 6wt. If I will only bring one rod along and will be doing the trout bluegills and maybe bass thing, I use my 4wt. But I prefer to catch the gills, and trout anyway!
You just have to know how to fight the fish. After hooking up always use side pressure, That being against the direction he is fighting. Rarely do I ever have any sort of fish, except carp, fight for more than 45 secs or so. Most give up within about 20 secs. or less with good fighting technique.
That is just my humble opinion, other peoples mileage may vary!
JK, appreciate the info. I have been researching a bit and will most likely pick up a combo from Cabelas soon. Confusing about the rod WT's, line etc but that is the exciting part, learning something new. Looking for all around combo that I can trout with in spring but also hit Smallies/LMB in May. Excited about this new adventure, have fished all my life but Fly Fishing, never. Can't wait. cnt
CNT,
You can generally find fairly decent used stuff from Craig's List. It also depends on where you live as well because wherever that may be you may have a great local shop to network for advice and feedback. If you feel like spending some money for a beginner set-up you can always turn to Cabela's to research, and then buy direct from the company you choose web site to save some money. A 6 wt rod/reel combo may be a good set up to look into because it can cover a lot of species for you and also will help you to chuck and dunk a wide variety of drys, wets, and nymphs. The more seasoned gents and ladies may have more to offer and recommend and it's my novice advice. Spend your money on the rod of your choice and the line of your choosing, and you can fill in the gaps with the reels and backing.
Have fun, good luck, and welcome to the ever encompassing realm of fly fishing.
Displaying 1 to 14 of 14 posts
