[Roop]

I know a guy who has an Easter tradition of doing some type of fly fishing & he's thinking tomorrow might be right for schoolies. I was asked what I liked for flies for the first schoolies of the season and advised that my first always came on small white clousers.

Two questions for the friends of the forum:

1. What do you have success with?

2. Do you think it really matters with the aggressive first wave?

I know Capt. Ray shared that his olive & white flies are working well in RI.

Roop

 

[juro]

Good question Jeff -

I find the fish very willing in the early wave and it seems they will take anything when in open water and hunting.

Up inside the estuaries where the dark bottoms and warmer water is found (even when a front moves in) I go with a pattern that looks like a silverside/sandeel/juvie all rolled up into a lot, no name for it but it's essentially a deceiver pattern with a mix of feather and synthetics.

Once May comes around the popper is a great way to go because it attracts their attention and they are not hesitant to blast the surface.

When fishing the outgoing tide currents, the line and action of the fly is more important than the pattern itself until they get more selective later on.

In deeper holes I go with the deep eel tied smaller to match the bait that's around early.

I used to fish sliders a lot in spring because they are a very castable fly with the ability to fish well up or down in the column. I've tied them on sinking lines and have done just as well as with other patterns.

The exception is targeting the herring runs and the first big cows - you'll see some of my biggest patterns of the year being chucked then.

So to summarize, I fish generalized baitfish patterns in smaller sizes for the most part except when targeting herring runs where I fish the biggest herring patterns of the year.

 

[striblue]

I have always used small clousers made with superhair..yellow ,chartreuse,white, green, andblue ...about 1 to 2 inches in length. this year,since I have started tying flies.. I will also try small minnow patterns that I have tied ... anything small.

 

[tomd]

Ray's fly, I caught schoolies and shad on em last spring in Deluxbury harbor. Tom D

 

[JimW]

Can't go wrong with the little green and white clouser in the North River. I like swinging a small Ray's fly in some clear running water around dusk.