fly presentation

[sniksoh 0]

hey guys, i havnt been on in a while its been pretty busy at work.

 

anyways.

 

i havnt done much fishing with whistlers, clousers, and bunny leeches and i was wondering, whats the best way to present them, or how have you fished them in the past to get the most strikes from largemouths?

 

thanks

sniksoh

[nomad 0]

I fish leaches with a 3 ft strip, pause, 3 ft strip, pause, type of retrieve. Clousers I fish like an injured or dying minnow, erratic strips with some pauses, so the fly drops a bit, most of my takes come on the pause.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I think you have to let them tell you what they want. Vary the strip length & cadence until you find something they'll eat. Sometimes it won't matter, others they'll want a specific retrieve rate. In moving water, I generally move the fly just fast enough to keep it off the bottom, in still water, and depending on the depth, I start as slow as possible, then pick up the pace until they get what they want.

 

Bass are usually around some type of cover, or structure, and I'm a big advocate of making repeated casts to the same spot, sometimes from different angles, if I think there may be fish hiding there that just won't bite. There will be times when nothing seems to interest them, so I try to aggravate them into biting. I may make as many as 20 to 25 casts at a spot, and sometimes it's produced some decent sized fish. Most times they'll hit within the first couple of casts, as long as I don't mess up some how.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

start off slow maybe even like a 1 to 2 inch retrieve on the clousers pausing to let the fly drop back then work your way up to a full retrieve of constant strips with changing the tip of the rod to make the minnow go side to side

[sniksoh 0]

thanks guys

 

i think i need to be tying my clousers differently, the dumbells i use make the thing sink like a rock when i stop stripping...should i be using bead chain?... and does the placement of the eyes on the shank make a difference?

[gatorjoe 0]

thanks guys

 

i think i need to be tying my clousers differently, the dumbells i use make the thing sink like a rock when i stop stripping...should i be using bead chain?... and does the placement of the eyes on the shank make a difference?

 

 

Yes the placement makes a diference. Closer to the eye of the hook will create a jigging action, and the farther back will create more of a gliding action. Try using smaller eyes if they sink too fast, or bead chain. But remember that sometimes it is the jigging action that catches fish. My solution is to tie them in all sorts of weights, lengths, colors, and eye placement.

[TheCream 0]

Eye placement definitely makes a difference. I tie most of mine sort of in between Bob Clouser's mid-shank placement and the hook eye. I like the jigging motion, but don't want the fly to dive vertically. I also tie variations with different eyes as you mentioned. Bead chain is great for a shallow water area, and they almost suspend when paused. I use small brass eyes for a little more sink, and larger lead or brass eyes for getting the fly down deeper.

 

As for presentation, that varies depending on where I am fishing. I like swinging them in streams for smallies and spots. Strikes on the swing are vicious! In lakes and ponds, I fish them erratcially, strip-pause-strip-strip-strip-pause, etc... I can say most of my strikes in lakes and ponds come on the pause.

[sniksoh 0]

what size beadchain should i use?