Bass On The Fly

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I had the pleasure of having someone today, requesting bass on the fly. Although I have had plenty of fly fishermen in the past, it had been several months since the last one. Peter was looking to get a personal best and I knew exactly where to bring him. Until now, all he had caught were fish up to about a pound. He would surely break that today!

We started in an area that should have given him plenty of quality fish but for some reason it was slow. In fact, after many casts all he was able to catch were weeds! I decided to make a cast with conventional tackle and immediately hooked a good one. They were definitely here but we needed to figure out how to get them on a fly! A few changes later, he finally got his wish and hooked into a real nice one. No problem breaking his old record with this fish! After a great fight, I netted his catch and pics were taken. He went right back at it and managed a few more smaller ones afterwards. I decided to make a move to see if we could bump up the numbers as well as the size and relocated nearby.

This next area had more current and I held on the edge, allowing him to swing the fly. It didn’t take long before he was tight lined again but it was even smaller than the last couple of fish he landed. I repositioned several times with similar results and decided to move again. This time I was going to try shallower to see if was any better.

Our next move was to a rocky area surrounded by plenty of weeds for cover. I don’t think he was expecting to get hit immediately and was surprised by the take. This bass immediately took to the air and threw the fly before he could tighten up completely on the line. It was the big one that he wanted and as fast as he hooked up, it was gone! A little disappointed, he was right back it looking for more! Several casts later, he hooked into another heavy fish and it didn’t stay pinned for long either. Although we never saw it, he knew it was big by the weight. More disappointment and right back at it again! A couple more lost fish later, I had to check the hook for sharpness. It was sticky sharp and not responsible. It was just bad luck! We covered this area thoroughly and he did manage to land a couple of fish, but they weren’t the ones he wanted. Time to move again!

I headed back to where we had started and tried working the areas above as well as below but the results were the same. It wasn’t until I made a few casts that we saw any action. I hooked into another quality fish and brought it to net. He continued casting as well and may have missed a couple of strikes. As we were nearing the end and readying to leave, I casted in to where he had made multiple casts and hooked a really large one to end the day. It definitely seemed like they didn’t want the flies but I’m not sure why. I had switched them several times thinking that a pattern or color change might make the difference, but it didn’t. It’s usually harder to get bit with a fly and today was no exception. We had worked areas that were holding fish and barely picked at them. I have a feeling that a little sunshine might have changed their attitudes, but we weren’t that lucky. Overcast skies were what we were dealt and tough fishing was what we had. Peter did however manage to land a really nice fish and lose several others even bigger during his trip. If we had of remained for the entire day, I may have made a few more adjustments that might have put more fish in the boat, but we’ll never know. All that being said, it was still nice to see someone tangle with these smallies on a fly rod, even if most of them came off. He had many other strikes that were apparently short ones as most of the fish were missed. Hopefully the next time out, these fish will have adjusted and become eager to eat. Only time will tell!