Perfect Delta Morning

[mikenewman]

Gentle breeze, intermittent cloud cover and some very bassy looking structure next door to my new berth - what more could I ask for?
Started at 8.00 am and packed in at 11.00. In between about a dozen fish to hand and as many missed or lost.
Remarkable was the number of gentle takes. Made one presentation up against the rip rap and under a v small bush. Diver disappeared with barely a ripple. made a good hook set and realised this was a SUBSTANTIAL fish. No problems: out in clear water, plenty of pressure, she's keeping her head down and the 7 wt is hooped like a hula - this beauty was mine, no question.
She pulled off about two thirds of the way to the boat and I never saw a fin, never mind tonsils :lol:
Made a conscious decision today to fire the casts in harder - fed up with always falling a foot short of where I wanted to be. Consequently I was getting blow ups in the middle of the densest structure. One presentation fired into and up against some dense tullies and was instantly smashed. The fish departed as suddenly as he arrived leaving my bug snagged in a reed 6" above the water line :shock: (I've now started inventing new profanities of my own 'cos the old ones aren't strong enough :D )
This game is so much fun I can't believe it's legal.

Mike

[Adam Grace]

:shock: (I've now started inventing new profanities of my own 'cos the old ones aren't strong enough :D )


:lol: :lol: :lol: I know what you mean! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JerryInLodi]

Mike, the afternoon wasn't bad either. I got to the water at 4 and fished until 7:30. The fish were hitting on top from the moment I started casting.

I played around with a floating line and a greased up woolly bugger, casting it, letting it sit and then waking it across the water. You talk about some explosive takes! The fish hit it a little different than a popper with a more horizontal attack which results in an instant rod bend!

Like you, my best fish LDR'd after a brief tussle. Hey, I was going to let him go anyway!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

My 12 year old grandson Tyler and I were out in the Delta Wednesday morning too.

Tide seemed to be running out all morning.

We ran into Andy Guibord and a friend who suggested this area.

Tyler was mostly learning how to fly cast from a boat but the large tackle and big bass bugs were quite a challenge.

We went out of Wimpy's Marina and went up toward Snodgrass Slough.

Andy mentioned the water was cooler than it had been and we did not see a lot of action even though we were not really getting the fly in where we wanted a lot.

Did have several boils to the large Swimming Frog but only landed one small Black Bass.

My grandson learn quit a bit about casting from a boat, stripping and I let him drive the boat too.

We had a great time out on the quiet water with very few other boats around.

PS: I think I will be getting a GPS so I won't get lost.

[lee s.]

Mike,
That is some of the HANDIEST advice applicable to LM pestering....toss dense, the densest you can find. ALL else seems secondary. :wink:
For that reason, almost ALL our LM bugs sport wire weedguards. Just like the one's on EC's weedless worm hooks. They are concocted and added AFTER tying the bug so they could also be added to any store bought bug too. Wire seems essential for where we toss. Mono does not cut it here.
Worry NOT that your fish will not spring or squash the guard. These fish LIVE by crushing and stunning their prey. Ever stick your finger in a cow-trough full of catfish? The suddeness and strength of their clamping on one's finger is startling, to say the least, and makes one mindful of how meaningless a flexible piece of wire is to a hungry predator of the piscatorial sort. :evil:
Busting brush seems essential to busting LM's and wire weedguards seem essential to busting brush. :wink:
....lee s.

[mikenewman]

Lee

I tied up some wire guards once according to instructions in a Lefty Kreh book: tracked down the correct gauge and followed instructions to the letter. They were bent out of shape after every cast! (Guess I shouldn't have kept chucking them into all that nasty structure :lol: )
Now I just stick to KD's method- 25lb Mason mono in a single loop.

Mike

[lee s.]

If you tie the wire as two singles, they too are useless.
The good guards are a very narrow loop, bent to accomodate the hook point. :wink: Yes, they can also be bent, though not very often, and the lady in the front of the boat was hung in the weeds much more with 25# mono. :(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/leesoares/CIMG0766.jpg

[mikenewman]

Thanks for the pic - I'll give it a go :thumbsup:
(Then I'll phone Lefty and tell him where he's going wrong :lol: )

Mike

[lee s.]

Mike,
It ain't that this is the "only" way....just one way. Too many people use the wire you speak of and mono guards quite successfully. It just may be that some of us toss harder into deeper brush. :wink: We get very few LM's this time (or most times) of year where the wad of weeds on the string does NOT exceed the amount of fish buried inside of it. :lol: Heck! Often we have to go to the fish cause we can't get the fish to us. :wink:

[Ed Wahl]

I just want to know why someone would put their hand in a cow trough full of catfish. :shock:

[mikenewman]

Lee
Absolutely! It aint fishing, it's jungle warfare :) Makes me laugh when I read that you should employ an open loop to cast bass bugs when what I want is a loop so sharp it slices through tullies! (That's why the upside down cast is ideal - you can combine a tight loop with a soft landing. All I have to overcome is my casting arm's instinct to avoid trouble. )
Prime advice to anybody in this game is: Stick it where the sun don't shine! (That's where Mr Bass can see it and where he feels most secure)

Mike
PS Don't go putting anything else in that cow trough :lol:

[Hairstacker]

Mike, great point about that upside down cast! I was watching Kevin Doran's upside down cast as carefully as I could, and I noticed the bug rode below the entire rig. So even if the bug tailed slightly, it wasn't a problem even when the loop was tight.

I think that's one of the disadvantages of the overhand cast in bass bugging -- the bug, due to its weight, has a tendency to tail and, when combined with a very tight loop, wants to crash into the rest of the rig on the forward cast. Unfortunately, I'm an expert at making that happen. :oops: :lol: I think that may be why, traditionally, folks have been advised to open their loops.

As an aside, I also couldn't help noticing how physically effortless Kevin made his casts -- he didn't have to raise his arm above shoulder level and the rod seemed to supply most of the power and effort. 8) 8) 8)

[mikenewman]

Mike

I've been working on that cast in the backyard :) I've found that even when the cast doesn't travel completely upside down you are still likely to get a nice tight side cast.
Traditionally the cast used to be called a pendulum cast but the Spey guys have commandeered the name for one of their variations. The action is quite wristy and tricky to describe but it's worth the effort to get it right. (I'm a long way short of getting it right every time.) As you say Kevin makes it look totally effortless.

Mike

[Darian]

Probably a lot easier when standing in a boat than from a sitting position as in a kayak.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[mikenewman]

Darian
C'mon, you know these kayak guys can't cast! They just paddle up real close and dap the bug on the surface :lol:

[lee s.]

Ain't that kinda taking a chance? The size of them delta bass and the enthusiastic top-water explosions might swamp MOST personal vessels in the immediate vacinity! :lol:

[Hairstacker]

Hey, dapping goes way back and is a time-honored casting technique! :lol: Actually, the kayak does bring you closer to the water and some of those close-in explosions do just about give you a heart attack at times. :shock: :lol:

[KD]

Mike N. glad to hear you're staying on 'em! Too bad on the lost big'un! Sounds like she just won that round...you know where she lives! You still berthing on Bethel?

You have heard me talk about the "attack zone". I have always considered this zone to be from 0-~6ft. Within this range largemouth bass are explosively quick. We got some footage yesterday that shows this in a way that doesn't need words to explain! In slow motion it is just unbelievable!!

A battleship and a torpedo come to mind!...and that battleship wasn't sitting still!:wink:

What a game!

KD

[mikenewman]

Hi Kevin
My new berth is on Old River near Orwood. Good fly water on my doorstep :thumbsup:
That explosive footage sounds great: "Topwater-the Movie" :)
First time I saw a bass take a fly was at the start of a Mel Krieger casting video on a cold Winter's afternoon in the UK, years ago - I thought "Wow, love to have a go at those babies!" And consigned that wish to the fantasy garbage can :(
Second time I saw a bass take a fly was September last year with you -and it was me on the other end :lol:

Mike

[Rickey Noel Mitchell]

Darian
C'mon, you know these kayak guys can't cast! They just paddle up real close and dap the bug on the surface :lol:

One of the many benefits for those of us that cast flies from a yak. Up close and personal is one of the many things I love about kayak fishing. Being able to fish on top of the grass beds or the soup calls for accuracy more then distance. One thing I learned early in the game was due to the stealth achievable from a kayak you could get too close. I’ve been in one situation where I paddled over the top of what could have easily been a ten lb bass; I don’t know who scared whom the most. Now I must admit dabbing from a yak can have a whole new meaning andI don’t do a lot of long distance casting but then… I don’t have to.
I think the Delta and kayak fly-fishing were made for each other

[Darian]

Hy Ricky,.... Tha's a large Bass. :shock: :shock: It's a good thing it didn't surface or it would've swamped you/your yak. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Hairstacker]

Well said Rickey! I agree, the kayak and the Delta were definitely made for each other. Being able to paddle over and through surface weeds and muck and, in particular, being able to park on top of that stuff, enables you to relax and fish in close in the back of areas I think a lot of larger vessels avoid. Not to mention you can paddle it over a rock wall during high tide or easily portage around one at other times. As long as I live within striking distance of the Delta, I can't imagine ever not owning some type of kayak.

My inflatable Coleman and its paddle (which breaks down into 3 pieces) only takes about half the space in the small trunk of my Honda Civic, and I can literally inflate it in less than 5 minutes with a hand pump and deflate it in less than 30 seconds. At about 20 lbs, I can carry it fully inflated with one arm down the side of just about any rock levee and launch for FREE. Combine these features with Delta topwater bass fly fishing and it's almost too fun and relaxing to be legal. 8) :D