Pre-spawn bass flies?

[mfick 0]

Any ideas on a few prespawn largemouth flies?

[oatka 0]

Yesterday my son hooked and lost a largemouth on a large black stone fly with an orange bead, all under a bobber, and if I had to guess, he wasn't being to particular about his retrieve!

[tidewaterfly 0]

A good bet would be baitfish or crayfish patterns in colors that mimic the local forage. I've never found LMB to be particularly picky about what they eat most times of the year.

 

I fish primarily in tidal waters, and do well with Clouser Minnows & Deceivers. White/grey patterns imitate small White Perch, and I tie some Yellow Perch patterns. Both species are present in the waters I fish. Of course chartreuse & white works too!

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Agreed TWF. Baitfish patterns produce a lot of nice prespawn fish in my local waters....Big Decievers, Clousers, and, if the water has warmed a bit (especially over the flats) the occassional baitfish slider or popper.....seems like my fish key on the most abundant food source this time of year and most of the time the baitfish are more plentiful than craws or other secondary food staples

[tidewaterfly 0]

BigDaddyHub, that's been my experience also. I mentioned crayfish, because in some small ponds or streams it could be that they're the prevalent forage. Since mfick didn't mention what type of water he would be fishing, I figured between craws & baitfish he would have it covered.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Craws were finally beginning to move in my home river , but it's been blown out for weeks with the spring rains.....Sometimes we see the craws moving at midday in the shallow sandbars as early as late February, especially if it has been unseasonably warm.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

cut my on reply off....as I was saying....craws could be a very real choice this time of year...some anglers discount craw patterns until later in the summer...big mistake!

[tidewaterfly 0]

Agreed again! Most people don't realize that cold blooded animals start to get active about the same time with only slight differences in temperature. If the bass are active, craws are usually active as well. I don't use them as much this time of year as I do baitfish patterns, primarily because they're usually only found in the extreme upper ends of the creeks I fish. I do however carry a box of crayfish patterns whenever I go after bass, just in case!

[skyphix 0]

I've had good luck with bright deer hair streamers (Micky Finn) and shiny rabbit strip flies (olive rabbit strip fly with a lot of flash). I fish them slow, but with very sharp strips to make the fly jerk and twitch under the water.

 

E

[Pelhament 0]

I've been throwing some baitfish imitations lately in a rather large pond and have not had any hits or follows. Last night I threw one of my small (size 10) frog poppers just for fun and ended up hooking 2 LMB. One came off at the bank. They weren't huge but they were topwater bass and that is my favorite form of fishing.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Frogs amd other terrestrials are moving here as well....air is warming faster than the water column....terrestrial patterns could very well be the ticket! good thinking!

[Pelhament 0]

Frogs amd other terrestrials are moving here as well....air is warming faster than the water column....terrestrial patterns could very well be the ticket! good thinking!

 

 

Got two more on foam frog poppers today. And one huge one that missed my fly by about 6 inches twice... Apparently it could not see through the weedbeds the fly was sitting on and just guessed.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

i love the poppers....warming into the eighties for the nest several days...may really turn on the bass in shallow waters....damn that thing I call "work".. Hope some of this helped, Mfick! :dunno:

[mfick 0]

I went out to a nearby lake last night and picked up a couple bass on flashy olive rabbit strip streamers. Thanks for all the input!

[smfisher 0]

Sparkle Minnows (white) have worked for the smallies this year so far and I hear they work well for largemouth also. It may be worth a try to throw a few .