My New "Fly"

[John H]

I am trying to improve my bass catch. On a good day on the flies I catch roughly half of what the gear guys get. Outside of the reservoir float n fly I don't think anyone fishing a fly rod is getting much closer to the gear catch rate than that. To close the gap I am trying to rip off some of their tricks without actually fishing gear. I have nothing against gear fishing but that is not the game I am trying to play with the bass. Last year I got dragon tails at the fly shop that made pretty good worm flies that could be jigged and they caught fish. The problem was the tail fell apart after about two or three hours of casting. Given the effort needed to make the fly I wanted a little more durability that that. My idea to improve on the dragon tail was to replace it with a soft plastic.

For my new "fly" I tied a rabbit fur jigging fly with rubber legs, lead eyes some flash and plenty of weight. I added a centering pin which is a gear fishing gadget that allows me to screw on about any soft plastic. I have a small Z Man crawdad twister tail on this one. If the plastic comes off or gets chewed up I can put on another one. This is intended to be a crawdad imitation and I plan to fish it along some deep riprap. It would not be legal in the Bass N Fly tournament as it is not "in the spirit of fly fishing" which is how they judge what a fly is. Hopefully it will be in the spirit of catching some big bass on a fly rod. Jigging the Z Man fly in a kayak for bass is a long way from traditional fly fishing. We will see how it works. My guess is it will get bit.


http://i.imgur.com/AqxW6EA.jpg (https://imgur.com/AqxW6EA)


http://i.imgur.com/6McVDUf.jpg (https://imgur.com/6McVDUf)

[Darian]

I like it!!! The Bass will, too. Has all of the elements of a good Bass bug. The use of the centering pin in tying in the plastic tail appears to solve the problem of snapping plastics off on the cast. But, it does look like it adds a lot of weight to the fly. Will casting this fly be difficult out of a Kayak??? Looking forward to your photos/report.

[John H]

It will be more of a flop than a cast. You only want to throw it 20 or 25 feet. More than that and you can’t feel the sinking fly and the bite. It is kind of a funky way to fish but sometimes the alternative is to not catch fish.

[MThompson]

The fur and silicone are going to prevent the legs on that soft plastic from kicking. Need to shorten all that stuff up.

[John H]

Good idea.

[Darian]

Trimming back the legs is not a bad idea. In another view without trimming, could the fly be seen as a fleeing Crawdad, all packed in and fleeing backwards using fast strips during retrieve?? Lotsa ways to see and fish this fly that's one reason why I like it.

[Mr T]

That will 100% get bit. Good looking fly.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

That "fly" would be very good along the "Rip-Rap" too.

Nice photos, as usual.




____________________________

Andy and I were really impressed by our trips in the Delta with Captain Kevin Doran for top water LMB, with hair bugs only.

Andy actually really got into the spun deer hair, top water methods that KD promoted.

We both only fish top water for LMB because catching lots of them is not our focus.

Casting a fly with much weight to it on a floating line is not fun for me. I am not good at it.



Some, like Al Bunch, told me that he uses Clouser Minnow on a floating line for most of his LMB fishing in the Delta.

I am sure Al would catch 10 bass to my one, most days..



For us, as John mentioned, top water only even further reduces our catch ratio to the gear guys.

You can learn a lot from watching/following what the gear guys do, year round for bass.


Andy learned some tricks from KD on how to "tune" the Umpqua "Swimming Frog" and "Swimming Baitfish" spun deer hair bugs.

AS KD did, Andy uses the largest size 'Swimming Frog' and 'Swimming Baitfish' that Umpqua makes.

He straightens the Mason "Hard mono" weed guards so it is dead center with the hook point.

KD felt that Umpqua used too small of the Hard Mono for his likings. I think Umpqua used 20# and KD liked 25 or 30#?

Then KD used "Russ Peak" line dressing as his floatant on his hair bugs.



For the true exposure to the Kevin Doran method of "top water only" LMB in the Delta, with hair bugs, I would go out during the week,

in May, with Captain Andy Guibord.


KD video ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Y0wmSr0Tg

[montana mike]

Sewer Trout ! Mike

[MThompson]

Consider tying in the screw lock at the bend of the hook? Basically where you tie in the tail of an Adam's. Connect it in some fashion so that it moves freely like those articulated flies. Then you can dress the shank up nice and bushy and add a smaller piece of plastic at the end. Would be lighter and a little easier to cast possibly.

18268

[MThompson]

Sewer Trout ! Mike
Ditch Pickle! When all the trout are gone the bass will still be here.
Mike

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I love everything with "Fins & Lips" but Carp and 100# plus saltwater fish don't interest me.

[John H]

I like the centering pin on the hook bend. I will make one and test it.

I fished this morning and got a striper on the float n fly.

http://i.imgur.com/vymR7h7.jpg (https://imgur.com/vymR7h7)

[MThompson]

Wow! I've always wondered...
Nice job.

[John H]

Three flies. We will see what works.

http://i.imgur.com/eSL7raT.jpg?1 (https://imgur.com/eSL7raT)

[Tony Buzolich]

Nice idea Thompson. Tying it in at the tail will definitely give more free movement.
If using this over on the American be sure to add a little turquoise color to the pattern. The crawfish over there have lots of turquoise on their underside.
Tony

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It is amazing to see the evolution of flies over the past 50+ years.

Around the 1960s the fly selection was limited and very simple.

Lots of flies were tied with natural animal materials but today we have so many great synthetics.


Look at those flies in the movie, "A River Runs Through it".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wioc46LQoKc


The variety and quality of hooks today is amazing as well.

The invention of the Internet and PC has been wonderful for the sport.

Digital cameras, and Smartphone cameras with still and video medias have been wonderful for us as well.



**There is no limit to the depth that you can take into the amazing sport of fly fishing.

[Mr T]

I'd go with #1, texas rig that hook though so you don't feed it to the first piece of rip rap it lands on!

[John H]

I fished fly #2 this morning. I had one little bite on it but it looks great in the water, casts okay and the tail stays on so I feel good about it. The wind blew about twice as hard as the forcast said it would which was kind of a problem. My topwater bug kept landing upside down which was a drag. I had a really big one come up for topwater early but it did not stick. I hate it a lot when that happens. Someday I will lose a really big one and throw my rod in the water and quit. Not a great day. Other than getting home early I cant think of one good thing that happened. No pictures today but I have some striper scales that I like from the day before. Maybe next time.

http://i.imgur.com/1mussZx.jpg (https://imgur.com/1mussZx)

[MThompson]

I'd go more finesse. Even smaller than this18270

[Darian]

I like the smaller (finesse) version suggested by MThompson. For tying future surface bugs, I suggest tying some with the hook point up (over the back). That way you could apply some clear or white epoxy or UV material to the flat underside, add a strip of lead and cover with the remaining epoxy/UV material (similar to how the Mat Rat is tied). The Mat Rat always lands right side up....

[John H]

I did some hook up versions and a trailing hook version a few years ago. I think when I leave too much bulk on top they roll over. I like the bulk because you get more buoyancy and move more water. Sometimes I shave them down if I use them and they are too big. If the nose is too blunt they won’t dive. Lots of potential problems. I ordered a couple of hook up mat rat type flies from Delta Bass Bugs. I will try those out.

While looking for the mat rat I found a John Sherman article about gear vs fly and what you can do to get closer to the gear catch rate. He seems to want to surface fish and is not interested in jigging a worm.

https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/lessons-flyrod-bass-tournament-anglers/454061

[Darian]

One caution, KD (Kevin Dorn) Mat Rats were designed to fish on top of weedy mats in the Delta. Without a lot of waterproofing, they'll get soggy.