Mike Churchill
05-22-2010, 10:27 PM
But I need to work on making it work!
I stopped by the shop Saturday afternoon to pick up one small and one large firetiger Pole Dancers. I got home about 6:00 after running errands and decided to tie the small on my stiff 5-wt and cruise over to my local bass pond and try it out.
I had watched the video someone posted (either here or on Blanton's board) last week, and Andy Guibord gave me some advice before I left the store.
Conditions were not ideal for top water bassin': 58 degree air temp, cool water, gusty winds, and threatening skies. The wind on the water made it hard to see the fly and the straight flourocarbon leader I had on the rod tended to pull the fly under.
Despite that, about ten minutes in I came tight on a nice fat 16-inch LMB that ate the fly about 5 feet into the retrieve (subsurface). Kept fishing for another hour without picking up any more fish.
Observations:
1. The small size casts fine on a stiff 5 with a 6-wt nymph taper (equivalent to a bass bug taper);
2. When you get the retrieve right it is a mesmerizing thing of beauty and I can't wait to fish it in calm water and with a mono leader and watch it work and the fish come get it;
3. The flouro leader probably didn't help, but it's tough to get the retrieve right; if it's not perfect, it goes right, right, right, right, right, right, or left, left, left, left, all the way back instead of walking the dog. I was able to get it fixed mid-retrieve a couple of times but not often;
4. When you stop your retrieve, the fly sinks slowly;
5. It will probably be a lot easier to find that magic retrieve on a dead calm day on a pond where you can see that fly work clearly from the beginning of the retrieve. Despite Andy's advice and having seen the video, I maybe got one retrieve in 8 or 10 that really came back with the full action.
I'm going to give the medium size a try on Folsom Lake on Sunday.
If anyone else wants to share their experiences with this cool new fly, I am very curious to find out whether my experience is typical for first timers with Charlie's creation.
Mike
I stopped by the shop Saturday afternoon to pick up one small and one large firetiger Pole Dancers. I got home about 6:00 after running errands and decided to tie the small on my stiff 5-wt and cruise over to my local bass pond and try it out.
I had watched the video someone posted (either here or on Blanton's board) last week, and Andy Guibord gave me some advice before I left the store.
Conditions were not ideal for top water bassin': 58 degree air temp, cool water, gusty winds, and threatening skies. The wind on the water made it hard to see the fly and the straight flourocarbon leader I had on the rod tended to pull the fly under.
Despite that, about ten minutes in I came tight on a nice fat 16-inch LMB that ate the fly about 5 feet into the retrieve (subsurface). Kept fishing for another hour without picking up any more fish.
Observations:
1. The small size casts fine on a stiff 5 with a 6-wt nymph taper (equivalent to a bass bug taper);
2. When you get the retrieve right it is a mesmerizing thing of beauty and I can't wait to fish it in calm water and with a mono leader and watch it work and the fish come get it;
3. The flouro leader probably didn't help, but it's tough to get the retrieve right; if it's not perfect, it goes right, right, right, right, right, right, or left, left, left, left, all the way back instead of walking the dog. I was able to get it fixed mid-retrieve a couple of times but not often;
4. When you stop your retrieve, the fly sinks slowly;
5. It will probably be a lot easier to find that magic retrieve on a dead calm day on a pond where you can see that fly work clearly from the beginning of the retrieve. Despite Andy's advice and having seen the video, I maybe got one retrieve in 8 or 10 that really came back with the full action.
I'm going to give the medium size a try on Folsom Lake on Sunday.
If anyone else wants to share their experiences with this cool new fly, I am very curious to find out whether my experience is typical for first timers with Charlie's creation.
Mike