Fly-Fishing for Bass

Well, my usual flyfishing forum is down anyway, so I'll just put what we call a "TR" (trip report) here. When I don't have time or the spare energy to make the 2-hour drive for my beloved North Carolina mountain trout, I often hit up a local secret spot that literally nobody else fishes (see my post on page 460 of the "What Are You Working On" thread above). It's become kind of a personal tradition for me to hit it over the Labor Day weekend if conditions are right, which they were and then some.

At any rate, I woke up early, and was hiking down to it by sun-up. Though only 10 minutes from my house, the trail-less briar-patch going in and out is what keeps saner (but less determined) folks away!
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It's a nice walk through a field before you head down into the jungle in that far tree-line, which puts you here:
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Early enough to catch the mist rising off the water (though neither the morning top-water nor the crawdad bite ever materialized). Anyway, it's about half a mile of bends, blow-downs, shoals, scour-holes, ledges, and undercut banks-in other words, bass heaven! And even better, I had the place entirely to myself, my own little private wilderness-didn't even see any kayakers or canoes on a holiday weekend no less!
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Funny thing is, though temps, clarity and flow were nearly perfect, I threw everything I had at them for over 3 hours with nothing to show for it but a couple of little sardine bream.
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Rabbit-strip zonkers, wounded bait-fish patterns, natural versus flashy, wiggle minnows, sheesh, I was about ready to quit. That's always a good time to sit down, take a break, have a snack, and re-think your game plan; in that respect it's like honing.

So I had a snack that involved a Sasquatch sighting.
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In desperation I tied on this neon chartreuse monstrosity "chasing" a baitfish. Like the quote from A River Runs Through It, "I figured that if I can't catch a fish, by God I can scare 'em to death!"
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The plan worked. The "reaction strikes" I had hoped to trigger resulted in zilch, nada, not even any good follows! Anyways, after another head-scratching session, I down-sized to a black crystal-flash wooly bugger "chasing" (in other words, tied about a foot ahead on my tippet) a flashy little golden stone-fly.

To be continued due to image limits...

BINGO, and Game On! I couldn't keep 'em off this deadly combo, even scoring my first ever double on bass!
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I caught lots of nice spotted bass after this, along with some of the fattest, most colorful bream I've ever caught down there!
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A few bream:
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That's all for now. I'll definitely be back to my secret stream!
http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/x...psnf6110sa.jpg

The down-side is, my casting arm is like a lead-weight after throwing weighted multi-fly rigs on that 6 wt all day, so I'll probably put off sanding or honing razors until next weekend. Thanks for looking-Aaron

Heck yeah! Fun! Beats the heck sitting in front of the boob tube. Reminds me, I gotta tie some flys and go fishing!


Mike

Ok now your talking, looks like you had a fun relaxing weekend, nice fish too


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Outstanding !It looks like you had a wonderful day. I also love hunting the beautiful native brookies in my home waters. Bluegill on a 2 wt rod are loads of fun , good eating as well.
Sadly, wild fish like this can no longer be found locally.
Attachment 245000

Excluding hatchery raised fish,this beauty is actually on the large side of what now exists in state waters.
Attachment 245001

That's a beautiful brookie, Wirm! We sometimes drive up to WVA for trout fishing. And fishing for specs high up in my native NC mountains, like you with my 2wt, is my favorite kind of fishing, even if they are small! The biggest wild one I have ever caught was this behemoth:
http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps400fbb05.jpg

I live on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg PA and fly fish it most days in warmer months. I also have caught a trout on the fly every month for the last 191 months (15 years, 11 months). Yes that's 15 Januarys, februarys....
I'm starting to catch on. Love those native brookies. We've got some brookies streams that almost never see a human.
Tight lines.

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Originally Posted by Wirm

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Sadly, wild fish like this can no longer be found locally.
Attachment 245000

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That's because many fish don't survive the injuries and exhaustion of being caught.

I beg to differ ! The majority of streams in WV are so called,freestone streams with limited soil acid buffering attributes,not limestone fed spring creeks which can mitigate much of the acid rain effects. The loss of habitat,denuded stream cover,bad farming practices,overfishing and primarily acid rain and coal mine drainage are far more harmful to our native trout. The thoughtful flyfisherman will use barbless hooks,land his fish quickly and practice good catch a release methods. http://easternbrooktrout.org/reports...to-restoration

Loved the story and the pics! I especially love the idea of finding those hidden and sometimes even not so hidden gem of a spot if you're willing to trek through the brambles and briars. :rock:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wirm

I beg to differ ! The majority of streams in WV are so called,freestone streams with limited soil acid buffering attributes,not limestone fed spring creeks which can mitigate much of the acid rain effects. The loss of habitat,denuded stream cover,bad farming practices,overfishing and primarily acid rain and coal mine drainage are far more harmful to our native trout. The thoughtful flyfisherman will use barbless hooks,land his fish quickly and practice good catch a release methods. http://easternbrooktrout.org/reports...to-restoration

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I am happy to differ but there's a lot of evidence that fish do suffer more than we think form being caught. Fish populations already under threat from environmental problems can do without the damage of being caught again and again. Fish weren't created to be toys of grown-up men.
Like a Fish Out of Water | Outside Bozeman

Fly-fishing, tying, and guitar are my therapy. Couldn't do without any of them.

Unscientific but based on my own personal experience of fishing both warm water lakes and ponds to cold / cool water streams/creeks and rivers...most if not all warm fresh water species that I'm familiar with are quite hardy and seem to do fine if fishing is done responsibly and ethically. As Wirm already stated, quick release/not overly tiring out the fish, always barbless hooks, not over fishing a particular area, etc. Trout, which I'm most familiar with, are indeed more fragile and condition dependent. Almost all fly-fishermen, at least every one that I've ever met, talked/chatted with are keenly aware of stream and other environmental conditions and how it and their fishing may affect trout. For instance, once stream temps climb to 68 degrees F fishing stops. I usually don't trout fish from early-mid June until late September or early October.

Been a while since I visited this site, but this dormant thread caught my attention. I live on the Susquehanna River above Dauphin, PA and fish it 4 or more times a week. What a year! From late July the dry fly fishing has been very productve, if but only for the hour before sunset. Little nothing sips can yield a 20 inch monster but most fall in the 11 to 15 inch range. The smallest are plentiful. The river is low and wadeable though I can push my Jon boat through some skinny water (my prop is caged). Happy to offer info or even time on the water if anyone is up for it. Not sure where colder weather will chill the fishing but the risers remain plentiful and picky.