I know it's a dink but this was an eye opener for me and got me really excited for this year ahead. I do a lot of BFS and UL fishing anymore because I really enjoy finesse presentations. However I got hooked on fly fishing last year after I took a guided float trip on the upper Delaware and Upper Susquehanna. Smallmouth and largemouth waters are much more accessible to me where I live in Southeast PA. I have a theory that fly fishing can crush it on my local creeks and lakes/ponds because these bass do not see these streamers and poppers as often as they see cranks baits, jerk baits, soft plastics etc… (I'm sure this isn't an original theory)
This local reservoir has some points and open banks that give you more room to back cast than you could ever need. It was fun seeing the local guys sitting on buckets fishing with worms/bobbers looking super confused at what the heck I was fishing. One guy yelled across to me "you know there ain't no trout in here?" I just replied, "no but there are bass!" Caught a few more in this size range while everyone else sat with slack lines.
Only problem is my finger joints get wrecked after stripping line for a few hours. Anyone have tips on gripping the line without dealing with swollen knuckles for 2 weeks? (I'm only 37!)
Posted by grem89
5 Comments
Nice one. Yeah there are times where flies outfish everything else for bass. Works well in high pressure areas too.
Good work, bass on the fly is fun as hell.
Now for the real question, how the heck are you gripping that line? I just pinch it against the middle of my index finger personally
Don’t grip the line that hard. You’ll get used to it =)
I fished conventionally for a loooooong time. Now I don’t really fish anything but a fly. I even tie my own ice fishing lures.
I am in the same boat as you. I have bass fished my whole life. Just got a TFO combo a couple weeks ago and am totally ate up now.
I have soo much fun just casting. I love I can fit everything I need in a pouch on my chest. Actually, I find I love everything about fly fishing.
I got a 5WT and am mostly going after bream. Next on my list is a shorter 3WT to really have some fun.
Fly fishing can keep up. You don’t need to cast 80 feet to score. Treble hooks and “fire bait” catch fish and fly fisherman think trout are more picky than then really are. However, when you do outfish a red neck using a natural pattern or something you tied yourself, it feels awesome!