Fly fishing for Bass

Okay guys I'm going to need some info:

#1: Am I the only fly fisherman in the club? I'm not talking about the opportunist type angler who jumps from hard tackle to soft tackle and back again, depending on which way the wind blows. I am talking about anglers like myself who choose fly only.

Don't get me wrong now I harbour no prejudices as to tackle I just like using a fly rod.

#2: What is the Canadian record for a fly caught Bass? I want to beat it. I was around for birth of Salmon fly fishing. I pioneered Chum patterns, when all the rainbow and coho snobs were slagging them. I came up with my "Dolley Whacker" pattern (won best spoon fly at A & M's fly tying contest last winter) for the big predator trout of the Swoop, which made me the family hero by netting the highest catch rates (my brother-in law's family has kept a fishing log at their cabin since 1910) in the family record. hunted and landed tyee (Chinook salmon over 35 lb; dates tattooed in my right bicep) with my single hand rod when everyone said it couldn't be done (my patterns again).
Also put my fair share of loud mouths to shame from Port Stanley to Lemington (Lake Erie) when I use to fly fish Bass & Pan fish there.

I have aways been an innovator and a renegade in the sport of fly fishing. So give me some pointers and a few years and we will show the naysayers what the West Coast Boys can do!

you know jeff thats very intresting im going to do some reasearch and see what i can find out about canadian record bass on the fly

Hey Jeff: I found the canadian record for smallmouth it was 10lbs 90zs. I want to try fly fishing for bass but my casting leaves a lot to be desired. My timing is way off and i cant seem to get it back. I havent fly fished in a few years so im really rusty right now. All ive done is troll with my fly rod and float tube. Any advice you could give me to help with my casting would be greatly appreciated.

My fly casting is bad, but I was catching bass at Albert Dyck last year with small mico leaches. I don't think that you will catch any record setting bass from that lake, but I had fun.

10+ that will be hard to beat, but no-one said it can't be done. I know about the ski pond with what I saw there I agree there is not much hope there.

As for the improving your fly casting, if you have an open mind, we should be able fix that in about twenty minutes.

I have had some amazing success on big bows with popin bugs (really messes with the elitist mindset), so I'm figuring some of my salmon patterns should work for big predator bass. I also have been told by a few California anglers I have met that bass like Stimulators. I tie them big for predator bows on #4 2x long atlantic salmon dry fly hooks, turns out from some of the stuff I have read on the net, that is the right size.
It has been about four years since i have had a real challenge, I'm liken it.

"Some of the best fly anglers I know are bass anglers. Like wise some of the best bass anglers are fly anglers." Kirk Deeter

galilee in langley has a book on flies for bass on sale at there store

Check out "Umpqua Feather Merchants" for some good looking patterns! On the few times I've flyfished for bass I stuck with woolly buggers or clousers, (Saltspring and Osoyoos)

Quin

Here's a link http://www.umpqua.com/t-flygallery.aspx

Quin

"If the fly industry wants to bust it's slump, grow it's base, and recruit new anglers, it could do it with one bold move. Put a million dollar bonus on the table for anyone who can win a Bass Elite Series event with a fly." Mike Iaconelli

i love that quote from ike he is the man lol

Bold statement. I love it!

does any one want to buy my mint british fly reel or trade in looking for a 8wt for some bass bugs

I dont fly fish exclusively but I do a ton of fly fishing for cutties, but I do think fly fishing is definitely an underutilised method of bass fishing especially for non topwater, my biggest frustration with it has been finding good weedless patterns eg. for fishing in really heavy cover, as far as the record goes you've got just as much a shot as anybody, a lot of bass have seen a lot of spinnerbaits, as they are all virtually the same, but not so many have been conditioned to flies, and wont really just because of the massive amount of material variability in fly patterns
Len

Try tying them upside down on keel hooks. I got that tip 18 years ago from one of the early members of this club.

I've tried them, but I find I'm picking up weeds a high percentage of casts with pretty much any fly, much more so than conventional gear, but hey my casting could certainly use some improvement, thanks
Len

supermasterbass wrote:I dont fly fish exclusively but I do a ton of fly fishing for cutties, but I do think fly fishing is definitely an underutilised method of bass fishing especially for non topwater, my biggest frustration with it has been finding good weedless patterns eg. for fishing in really heavy cover, as far as the record goes you've got just as much a shot as anybody, a lot of bass have seen a lot of spinnerbaits, as they are all virtually the same, but not so many have been conditioned to flies, and wont really just because of the massive amount of material variability in fly patterns
Len

how about this

http://www.flytyer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2981&Itemid=90



btw i am looking for Gamakatsu 65113 size 3/0 ...

and this
http://www.drakemag.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13734&start=0

wow, I guess I need to get a little creative, I'm good at tying simple flies eg. tied down minnows, muddlers, cool thanks for the ideas, that hollow centre fly is pretty neat, I love frogs and so do bass..slurp!
Len

you guys need hooks I can get them I do Gamakatsu hooks let me know and just PM me what model type and quanities you need. That Frog fly is killer and one of the best patterns I have seen. I saw it in a euro magazine its well done and its totally weedless as well great for our bass swamps out here as well. Later

supermasterbass wrote:wow, I guess I need to get a little creative, I'm good at tying simple flies eg. tied down minnows, muddlers, cool thanks for the ideas, that hollow centre fly is pretty neat, I love frogs and so do bass..slurp!
Len

in fact there are more old school solutions, mono weed guard, double mono weedguard, single short strand guard, untrimmed deer hair guard.

personally I used to do a lot of snakehead fishing back home in Taiwan, and trust me speaking of heavy weed cover, snakeheads live in small pond less than a foot deep with almost no openwater area cuz they can breath air underneath the vegetation, and mono weedguard is enough for most situation in my expereiences

Those are some cool fish. Thats a nice picture.

Love those looped frogs, look real symple to tie. What is the materal in that loop. I'm figuring for plain black loops a large O-ring would do it, but what about color.

newsman wrote:Love those looped frogs, look real symple to tie. What is the materal in that loop. I'm figuring for plain black loops a large O-ring would do it, but what about color.

Hi Newsman

it is just rounded foam strips, and i don't think O-ring floats better than foam.
check out
http://www.drakemag.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13734&start=0

Newsman is right its just round foam really cheap to make. later

wow those are some pretty sweet looking flies i cant wait to try to get one on a fly this year