The Magic of a Fly and Bubble
I know it's hard water season right now but Spring will arrive soon enough. Here's a technique for open water that's been really productive for us, especially for all species of trout here in Colorado.It's called the "Fly and Bubble".How we use this technique is pretty simple. There are many variations for using a fly and bubble so the way I'm going to describe is by no means the only way. Hopefully, others here will share their tips, tricks, and techniques, too!I start with a 7' medium action rod. I wouldn't go smaller as this might lose the "whip" action you'll need to get maximum casting distance. Next, I spool 8# Fireline on my spinning reel. Other lines have worked for me in the past, but the Fireline has the strength and sensitivity I like the best.Now comes the bubble. Casting bubbles come in a couple of different styles, shapes, sizes, and colors. I like the clear plastic style made by South Bend. They're sold in packs of 2 or 12. I buy the 12 pack in 2 different sizes (1 1/2 and 2 1/4 inches) since they're pretty cheap.The bubble will have a shaft through the middle. Thread your line through the top and out the bottom of the shaft. I know it sounds simple but it can be easy to thread it upside down. Just make sure the top of the bubble is pointing towards the rod tip. Trust me, when changing a bubble at the water's edge while the fish are biting, it's not uncommon for me to put it on upside down in my haste to get a line back in the water! D'OH!Once the bubble is on, thread a small bead on your line. This will help keep the bubble from smashing against your knot and will also add a "clicking" sound which seems to help attract fish!At the end of the line, tie a small #12 clip. That's it for the rig. Now comes the leader.Start with a line weight that's 2 "steps" down from your main line. Since I use 8# line on the reel, I'll use a 6# leader line. I've used Trilene XL for a long time but lately I've switched to P-line. As far as the length of the leader, the longer the better but not TOO long. A good rule of thumb is to stretch your arms apart. The distance between your fingertips is how tall you are! (Try it!) I'll pull out that amount of line plus a couple of inches for the knots. Next, I'll tie a small swivl on one end and the fly I'll be using on the other end. Now, attach the swivl to the clip on the end of your main line and your almost ready to start fishing. (Yes, you can eliminate the clip altogether but I like it because when I'm done fishing, I simply detach the leader and use the clip to attach the main line to an eyelet. This keeps the bubble from swinging around and getting tangled while hiking back out).All you have to do now is fill the bubble with water. If I'm using a 2 1/4 inch bubble, I like it filled a little more than half way full. Any more than that and it gets a little heavy to throw.That's it! That's my basic set-up for a fly and bubble. Of course there's many tips and tricks to add so I'll mention a few right now, (otherwise this post will get really long!)
A) I use the smaller bubble when I want to fish deeper than 6 feet. Fill the bubble completely full of water so it sinks. Before casting, toss it out in front of you and count down the sink rate. This will give you an idea of how long to wait before starting your retrieve.B) Keep your rod tip down when retrieving. This allows more line to drag through the water and helps the line to spool more tightly onto your reel. If the line doesn't spool tight, there's a real good chance it will backlash on your next cast.C) You will probably be casting father than you ever have before! Therefore, try not to overthrow. Sometimes I think I can throw it across the lake... but end up making a mess!D) A SLOW retrieve works best! Add a few pauses and twitches... make that bead "click". There's nothing like the sensation of calmly retrieving a fly when suddenly... WHAM! (I live for that!) Finally, experience is the teacher. Any new technique feels a little awkward at first, but time and practice will make you proficient before you know it!And best of all... you WILL catch fish!!!BTW... You'll quickly become a fly geek. You can now plan on packing several flyboxes along with your lures!
~Dante from Colorado
Dead Sticking, as told by me ...Mustang
I just started using this tactic last summer, which is very productive for picky bass.Dead sticking, in short, is casting out a lure, generally a soft plastic, and letting it sit. I don't mean letting it sit for a few seconds...when you are using this style, it is sometimes a good idea to let your bait sit for up to a few minutes.I use a 5 inch Senko worm (color depends on situation) with a 2/0 Gamakatsu worm hook. Rig this Texas style with the hook point barely buried in the worm body to make this rig weedless, since it may be sitting in or on top of weeds for extended period of time.Start by casting your worm out (weight is optional, but I prefer it weightless) and letting it sink to the bottom. I start by reeling in most of my slack and giving a VERY light twitch. A low stretch line is ideal, so you can get the best reaction from your jigging, feel the fish, and get a good hookset.After the intitial twitch, let the worm settle back to the bottom. How long your bait should sit on the bottom depends on the mood of the fish, but to begin, I usually let it sit for about thrity seconds. Watch your line sitting on top of the water, because the slightest twitch, or sinking in your line can indicate a fish. Continue giving light twitches and allowing your worm to sit on the bottom for varied lengths of time. As I mentioned, keeping a close watch on your line is important.When you see your line twitch or sink, raise your rod tip up. If you feel resistance, which will often feel like a tapping on your rod, DON'T set the hook. The tapping is the fish sucking your offering in. If you don't wait to set the hook, you will lose plenty of fish with this method. Reel in your slack as you lower your rod tip, allowing the fish to fully take your bait. Raise your rod tip back up until you feel the tapping or resistance again, and with a sharp upward jerk, set the hook hard.This method has produced countless bass, several perch, and a few trout who were unlucky enough to get a good bite on my bass hook...sorry trout! Try this method when the fish won't take your normal offering, and you WILL catch fish. You can also dead stick with tubes and stuff, but a cigar style plastic worm is my overall favorite.GOOD LUCK!
DON'T GET IN TOO MUCH OF A HURRY by Big Mike Baptiste
I want to let fellow anglers know to take your time fishing your bait. It's very important a lot of times to slow down and make sure your working the cover to the fullest. I want to tell a story... Last season 1st trip on the lake bassin', I was fishing the flowage in styles. It was me, my girl, and her brother. We started early fishing from shore. As we were fishing, we saw a lot of tourney guys. Found out there was a tourney there in the next couple days, so the guys were doing a little pre-fishing. We noticed the tourney guys were flying through our area in a hurry. We also noticed not 1 of them caught a bass. We just smiled and kept fishing. By lunch, we all had at least 5 or 6 nice bass, but we weren't done yet. We spent all afternoon. At the end of a long day, we managed to reel in 50 plus bass. What did I note from the tourny guys? Well, we didn't see them reel any bass in. They worked that area with way too much speed, the wrong bait, and presentation. It was all wrong. They were using spinners and cranks, but were working these baits way too fast. Some were only makin' one cast at cover, before heading to the next spot. This is what we did. We were using a twin tailed grub by Gary Yamamoto and one from another company called Chompers . We had these grubs Texas rigged on 3/0 Gammy hooks. We cast them out and really just let the bass grab them off the bottom. We would give the bait a little pop here and there, but overall a very slow presenation. A lot of the time you would go to pop the bait, and the fish was on. Well, just a thought. I also wanted to say that all day we focused on a few patches of cover and all day we where productive. I also have to say that my girl pulled in a nice 18inch largemouth and her brother pulled in a 21 inch largemouth weighing in at 5lbs, so if you go and something isnt working, try changing the little stuff first...like slowing or speeding your presentation. Then, if you still get no bite, switch your crank bait to plastic or spinner to popper and you should get results as well as learn a few new tricks.
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The Life of a Largemouth Bass by Chris Bowser
The Largemouth Bass is American's all-out favorite game fish! It is probably the most glamorous species in the fresh waters of the world today.
The largemouth is fundamentally a lake fish, and that is where it colonizes best. It is not a scavenger, it is strictly predaceous! It is not fussy about food. "If it moves, eat it!" is a kind of motto of the species.
We bass fishermen today are fortunate that our predecessors in their wisdom saw fit to introduce this species of fish into waters far beyond its natural habitat. Largemouth bass are now to be found extensively in "warm" freshwaters around the world. However, because this bass is by nature exceptionally wary of the dangers affecting its existence, it is frequently frustrating to not be consistently successful in catching them.
The Largemouth Bass is the basic freshwater game fish. He is voracious as a predator but extremely wary of danger and spends only a very small portion of each day actually feeding.
The largemouth bass are extremely curious and this results in a good many getting hooked early in life. But they soon become wary (maybe "educated" is a better word) and often this leads anglers to believe a lake is "fished out" or does not contain many bass. A largemouth bass soon learns that lures, especially those it sees most often, can get it into trouble. The quality of fish and fishing can be readily diminished by too much angling pressure (at least by too much removal of the larger breeding-size bass). However, an undesirable alteration or destruction of its habitat is the greatest hazard contributing to the depletion of the species in any given body of water.
The Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides) is the most adaptable of all the bass species. Given the choice, he will avoid bottom areas of lakes and other waters which are overly muddy or layered with silt. But the Largemouth Bass is also very tolerant, and if muddy water is unavoidable from time to time he will simply make do. The water may be clear, stained, murky, warm, cool, shallow, deep, cover-free, or infested with jungle-like swamp growth and chances are excellent that "Micropterus" and his progeny will get alone just fine.
The Largemouth bass feed primarily by sound (vibration) and sight. They can detect even the smallest vibrations caused by other fish or prey pushing aside water as they move through or onto it. With their extremely acute vision they take full advantage of periods of areas of subdued light. Any predator prefers to remain in darker waters where it is somewhat concealed and where it is far easier to see prey passing by which is swimming in better-lit water while the bass remains in semi-darkness.
It is impossible to catch bass until you find them! Therefore, the procedures for locating where they live, feed, relax and rest up between feeding activities are basic to successful catching.
Fortunately, it is possible to predict fairly well where bass are located at any given time or place if an angler is prepared with an full understanding of the habits and behavior of this fish.
Bass Attacks http://www.bassattacksdvd.com
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