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Warmwater Flies Around the Country/ World

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  DFix 
#1 ·
As I see a dramatic difference in flies tied/ preferred by others just from other regions of the Northeast, I realize that I am too narrowly focused on the small ponds I fish.

Whenever I hit one of my ponds I always try a new pattern, nymphs, leaches, bunny imitations of rubber worms/ Texas rigs, and always go back to a predominantly yellow deer hair or foam popper.

I am now starting to strongly believe that if I were to put my hopes on my goto flies if I were to fish another area, I would be greatly disappointed.

I realize that bass are not the most discriminating predators there are but have had a fly rejected, changed to another & gone after the same fish with success. What works best for where you are?

Thanks,

Roop
 
#2 ·
Roop- My answer depends upon the conditions. Although everyone loves the visual impact of a surface strike, most of my go-to flies are subsurface.

For largemouths, a purple snake fly is dynamite around here. It has an almost nuetral boyuancy, so it can be stopped duing a slow retrieve and suspended in front of a following bass.

For smallmouths, a black over orange clouser seems to be a favorite, especially on the nearby Connecticut River. I suppose it does a decent job of imitating crayfish and baitfish simultaneously.

For panfish, especially slab crappie, the fly that I submitted for the swap (cone head bunny leech) is hard to beat. The rabbit strip tail has lots of inherent action that drives them nuts. :eyecrazy:

And don't sell your own go-to flies short. They are your go-tos because they've proven themselves and you have confidence in them, and having confidence is half the battle. ;)
 
#3 ·
Roop,

When I used to spin fish for smallmouth I found that nothing beat a gitzit (tube lure on a lead head jig). I will admit that at dusk I always went to a topwater bait though - and did well. Based on these memories I plan on fishing some bottom pattern when I pursue smallmouth this summer. The 350 grain is not just for saltwater situations! Granted - fishing for smallies on a 9 wt rod is not great fun but it is a decent experiment. I have a 250 grain line and I did cast that on my 5 wt this past summer. It was not delicate but the rod did not feel like it was going to snap as long as I shot as much line as possible after the back cast. I have a cheap 7 wt rod and the 250 grain will work well with that setup.

I have done well using clousers for smallmouth. I regret to inform you that I did pretty well with deep eels last summer too. All bass love the the Deep Eel.

-Mike
 
#9 ·
A great idea, BUT - to the moment, no clothing manufacturer has:

A: Designed a RipStop, Sage Green GoreTex tuxedo.
B: Accessorized Teva Sandals, SOSpenders or a worthy representation of a certain stripping basket replete with sticker accoutrement, that any self respecting Chatham ?resident? (or is that "President" :hehe: ) would be caught wearing, dead or alive.

I cannot picture certain Chatham property owners in anything but the abovementioned Sage Green finery, etc. :whoa:

I am all for cigars and Port on the proving grounds. I am even willing to provide fine aged Pogy Oil for any excursion onto small ponds for research. However, I SHALL NOT subject my wool tuxedo to the ravages of Cape scrub growth, kettle pond water or Chatham beaches -

Therefore, I propose we elect a Chairman to the newly created "GoreTex Tuxedo Development for Testing of Fly Patterns" Committee.

I nominate the current and forever President of CAC :chuckle:
 
#11 · (Edited)
Oh I can see it now. 12 of us standing out by the Chatham light in Tuxedos with chest waders covering most of them. Except for Mr. Morin who has neatly rolled up his tux slacks legs beCAusE HE'S WET WADING!!! We all look like fools and Mr. Morin wins best dressed. Forget your little clave.

Of course this thread is like a freight train that turned off onto a dirt road. Roop I am formulating an answer to you question. And my answer is poppers. For some reason last year on my annual trip with family to the awesome Smallie/ Largemouth pond, the only thing working was popers. Oh ya, I did catch a Darning Needle hatch on the lake so a few Hornbergs fished dry worked. Maybe because the water was so warm and there was a drought. Surface action only.

Lefty
 
#12 ·
(oops, sorry, even though I laughed BIG TIME at Terry's comment:chuckle: )

Jeff, I play with wooly buggers, poppers and streamers when I'm harrassing bass. Woolies work great - I have teeny weenie little fish, about the same size as the bug, batter them in front of my camp. I use poppers at very early a.m., dusk and into night. Streamers do okay, but their refusal rate is directly relative to bass looking right back at me while I try to annoy them:devil:

I've found bright colored deceivers/wet flies work if trolled in the lake I'm on, as we have virtually no cover growth for fish to hide in; of course black anything works at night.
 
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