Charlie's Pole Dancer Works

[Mike Churchill]

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

[Mike Churchill]

Sheesh, starting to think nobody wants to talk to me....

Anyway, I tried the medium pole dancer briefly at Folsom Lake Sunday afternoon. It walked the dog beautifully on almost every retrieve. Picked up the rod with the small one and it continued to behave badly most of the time. That was a big hint I need to take 60 seconds and change the leader on that rod from floro to regular mono. The sinking floro is messing up the action of the fly.

For the record, carp weren't interested in either fly....

Mike

[Charlie Gonzales]

Mike, with all three sizes, you need to adjust the tippet size. With the small I would go up to 8lb, the med up to 15lb and I usualy have on twenty when fishing the grande. A non slip loop is a must.

[Darian]

Sorry Mike,.... I would've chipped in but I haven't enough experience with the fly to make any comments except to acknowledge that it sure looks like a winner.

Charlie gave all of us some great info there....

[Mike Churchill]

Thanks for the information, Charlie. I didn't realize you would go that light on the tippet with the small one. Since I was in a hurry, I just tied it to the 15 pound floro I had on from my last trip to the Delta.

Same with the medium: I simply tied it to the 20-lb Maxima tippet I had on that rod since I was just giving it a quick test.

I do use non-slip loops on all of this type of stuff, but I will run down to the store for a spool of 15-lb mono for the medium and dig out the 3x (8-lb) spool of tippet from my trout vest for the small one.

Mike

[Charlie Bisharat]

Mike,

Glad to hear that you have caught a few fish on the pole dancer that you got from Bill's shop.I am sorry that you have an inconsistent swimming action with the fly and the aim of my post is to asist you in getting the retrieve where it needs to be and to be sure that your "dancer has a short skirt".

First, I would like for you to check the estaz at the bottom of the hook shank and make sure that is was trimmed (short skirt) to be even with the bottom of the head.Apparently some of the smalls left the factory without this being done. If it is not even with the bottom of the head simply trim it off with your favorite tying scissors so it is even with the foam portion of the head on the belly of the fly.

Secondly as Charlie G mentioned already, a loop knot is critical for the fly to be allowed by the leader to swim properly. Not all knots are created equally. I have found when I do not do a nice clean straight knot, the action will sometimes be inconsistent.

I use the thinnest leader I can for the target species when using the small PDer.This approach helps with all sizes of pole dancer but in the 5/0 turnover becomes more important that leader size as the foam face is large enough to not be affected negitively by the leader.Even in 30 to 40 pound floro.

Lastly,very short abrupt strips in conjunction with dipping the tip of your rod will yeild the best results. Additionally I typically put 6 to 10 " of my rod tip into the water to insure that none of my line is ripped off the surface while stripping. That will take the motion right out of the fly.

It takes a little time before you are walking all the time but the effort is well worth it trust me!!!! Please don't be shy about questions. I am here to assist you in the enjoyment of and success with the fly .

Cheers Chas

[Mike Churchill]

Since you invited them, Charlie:

When fishing for LMB with the Pole Dancer, when you cast to structure, do you let it sit for a while like fishing a frog or other bug, or do you immediately start your retrieve to get that action going?

In the same vein, do you pause the retrieve, or maintain a steady strip?]

Or, to put it in simpler terms, do you consistently fish the Pole Dancer differently than you would a frog or popper (with either of which you would experiment with and use a variety of types of retrieves--speed, pauses, etc.--depending on conditions until you find what the fish are responding to on a particular day)?

Thanks for your help. I look forward to catching a lot more fish on them.

Mike

[Charlie Bisharat]

Mike,

To answer your questions about the retrieve of the pole dancer. I do not let it sit when LMB fishing. It does not do a great job of representing a frog so to pause it like you would a frog that has just surfaced does not seem like a good retrieve.I have not spent much time fishing it that way.

I do have other top water flies that will be available next year that I do fish that way and it can be a very effective way to convince a LMB to smash your fly.

The pole dancer represents a fleeing baitfish and I always retrieve it that way.The speed of the retrieve gets varied some with water temps etc. One of my best LMB of about 8 lbs came on the large pole dancer being fished really slowly.

That is not to say that you could not experieiment with fishing it the way you have described.It may work out fine.

Good luck with it and report back to us if you do give that approach a try.

Cheers Chas