Wanting to give up..

[outdoorsmanfool 0]

Well, i haven't had the greatest luck fly fishing for bass. I have tried plenty of flies and different techniques but nothing ever seems to work for me and it gets frustrating. Another thing is that when i am fly fishing i feel like i am casting non stop (yes i know it is called "fly fishing" for a reason) but i just cant get the line to the place i need to and at times it noodles or smacks the water on my back cast. I have talked to people about my casting technique but i don't know if i change it when i'm fishing or what....

 

Has anyone else had this problem when starting out? and if so how did you get past it any advice would help right now cause i feel like my fly tying/fishing skills are failing me! haha.

 

 

Thanks, Nick

 

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Nick,

 

I think what you're experiencing is pretty normal for people just starting out. Becoming an accurate, efficient fly caster takes time, especially if you're throwing larger patterns, which I assume you are since you said you're fishing for bass. Once you know the basic casts, it's just a matter of practice. The only thing that's going to yield you real results is what you're already doing: getting out there and doing it. It's like anything else...you have to pay your dues, which means a lot of skunkings, a lot of flies hung up in trees and brush and clothes and skin and...

 

As for not catching fish, 90% of that is being in the right place at the right time. If it's bass you're after and you're getting skunked, my suspicion is that it's not a matter of technique so much as just putting the fly where the fish can see it. Bass aren't known to be overly fussy about presentation, and they'll eat just about any fly they see that looks like something alive and edible.

 

Some more information would be helpful...are you fishing for largemouth or smallmouth bass?

Rivers/streams or lakes/ponds? What time of day are you fishing? Floating or sinking flies? What size(s)? What rod/line are you using?

Give us a little more info and we'll try to help.

[outdoorsmanfool 0]

Thanks for the quick reply. I am fishing for large mouth some lakes i fish have small mouth but i go for what ever. I am fishing lakes and i have a 8 weight 9 foot fly rod. i am casting some decent sized flies they aren't overly huge but they have some weight to them. But as i was fishing my brother had a spinning rod and gear and he cast right were i just have and caught a decent size bass, i am also trying to match my colors to what kinda baits i use when fishing with regular lures. The depth i was fishing was from 3-10 ft with some sandy bottom and the rest had weeds.

[williamhj 0]

I hear the frustration. I would guess most if not all of us who fly fish had some pretty bad days as we got going. Keep at it. Keep practicing your cast, get a lesson if you can but at the very least watch some videos and work on the cast. Even if you were casting to the same water your brother was, you still need to get the fly to the part of the water column where the fish are and give it the action they want. Make sure the fly is getting deep enough and experiment with different retrieves: fast, slow, jerky, pauses, etc. Bass are a blast on a fly rod!

[FlaFly 0]

If you've already had success casting smaller flies, it could just be that you're not used to the larger, heavier flies. To me, they seem to have more of a tendency to make a big loop at the end of my back-cast. I was wade-fishing in the bay with a streamer one time (never used anything but popping bugs till then), and I smacked myself right in the middle of my back with a streamer going about 50 mph. I consider it a lesson well learned.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Nick,

 

I would have to agree with williamhj -- it sounds like you might not be getting down to where the fish are. Hardware is almost always going to outfish flies when the fish are holding deeper than 2-3 feet, in my experience. Also, lures have a huge advantage in that they all make some kind of rattling noise and/or have a wobbling body that really disturbs the water and send out a lot of vibrations that the bass can key in on. When fishing sinking flies like streamers or crayfish, anything you can add to them that might make some kind of noise--beads, propellers, spinner blades, etc.--is a good idea, especially if visibility underwater is low.

 

Rather than trying to take flies deep, I have my best success with bass by targeting locations and times of day when they are likely to be in shallow water, for example, weed beds, lily pads, sunken timber in 1-3 feet of water just before sunrise and just after sunset. I typically fish topwater bugs in those situations, for several reasons: one, they get hung up in weeds a lot less than a streamer does; two, they can make a lot of noise and disturbance to the water that will help draw bass out in the low light conditions; and three, I think they're the most fun. I love seeing the take. In slightly deeper water (3-6 feet), I will sometimes run a small bead-head woolly bugger on a 12-inch dropper off the bend of my topwater fly's hook, and let it jig up and down when I move the surface fly.

 

Keep working on your cast and experimenting with different flies and retrieves. Try to stack the odds in your favor by targeting places and times of day when flies will be at their most effective. Most importantly, don't get discouraged. Remember that fishing has a lot more to offer than just the catching of fish. When you find yourself getting frustrated, take a break from casting and spend a few minutes just looking, listening and enjoying where you are. I find that it's often in those quiet moments that I start to notice things I'd missed at first because I was so intent on putting my fly in a fish's mouth. Those observations can be very useful in locating fish or figuring out what they're likely to be feeding on.

[JSzymczyk 0]

In the immortal words of Ray Bergman:

 

There are bug days, and there are plug days...

 

Sometimes fly fishing just isn't the answer.

 

Bryon's advise about sticking to shallow situations is spot-on. When it comes to largemouths in still water, fly fisherment OWN the first three feet of water. It gets more difficult deeper than that.

 

Fly fishing for largemouths is not at all like so-called typical bass fishing with loud flashy boats and silly clothes. Slow down, pick your spots. Think about the whole "FINESSE" thing that has been all the rage in the BASCAR world for a few years---- fly fishermen have been doing it forever. It's almost the very essence of fly fishing.

 

Once you get in the right situation for a good surface bite on deer hair bugs, your mind will change in one great big hurry.

 

If you can, get and read this book :

 

http://www.amazon.com/Bassin-Fly-Rod-Jack-Ellis/dp/1585745839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403442100&sr=8-1&keywords=bassin%27+with+a+fly+rod

 

"Bassin' with a Fly Rod" by Jack Ellis. Very good stuff about the exact things you're going through.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Nick, you've gotten some excellent advice here! Byron's suggestion about relaxing & looking around is as good as it gets! IMO, we do often tend to overlook what's around us while worrying about catching the fish. I went through much of the same things you're experiencing when I started fishing for bass. My casting was not the best! I could go to my local creek & catch plenty of panfish, but bass were a different matter.

 

At that time in my early teens I didn't have much experience with other tackle & bass either. Now, I very much agree that sometimes a fly rod is not the best tool for the job! However, most of the time, a fly rod can be as productive as other tackle, provided the person holding the fly rod knows how to make the most of it. As Byron & Joel have said, you won't compete with other tackle on the same level especially in deeper waters, but in the shallows the fly rod can be more productive & finesse is needed. I've said before that I've gone heavy with my fly fishing for bass, but even with a 10 wt there's still more finesse to it than power fishing like you might do with baitcasting or spinning tackle.

 

First & foremost, you do need to have the confidence in yourself & your abilities with a fly rod to continue. To do this you will need to improve your casting techniques. You also need to have the patience to understand that it's a learning process as others have said. It usually does take longer to "pay your dues" with a fly rod because the method usually takes longer to master compared to other tackle. I agree to get as much help as you can, and especially with your casting. I fly fished for many, many years before I finally had some casting help, which greatly improved my casting in a very short time. I was fortunate in that my casting at that point wasn't too bad, even being self taught. It simply needed some refinement.

 

Sounds like you may be trying to cast too much distance. With other tackle, casts over 50 ft are easily made, but not so with a fly rod particularly with heavily weighted or bulky flies. You will need to be closer to your target, which means a higher degree of stealth is required. I found that if I could put myself in a position to make a good cast the first time, and didn't alert bass to my presence, I could often catch them. This meant making casts of 40 ft or less most of the time. It also meant if I was fishing from shore or wading, I took painstakingly slow approaches to my fishing areas. Even then I spooked some fish! With a watercraft it's easier to get close, but still not guaranteed to make the fishing any easier.

 

Byron said " Bass aren't known to be overly fussy about presentation, and they'll eat just about any fly they see that looks like something alive and edible." I agree with this wholeheartedly, but will add that your presentation still has to be done in a manner that does not alarm or spook the bass. I made plenty of mistakes while fishing for bass when I first started and still caught some fish, but once I corrected those mistakes, my catch rate improved. It improved immensely once I convinced myself that I was smarter than those bass & began concentrating on the fishing, as in improving my casting techniques & other variables, such as stealth & making good casts the first time, rather than worrying so much about the actual catching. If you make a good cast in a place where the bass will see it, the fly you use often does not matter. But, if you fish in a sloppy manner flailing away & simply make cast after cast with no idea why you're casting, instead of good presentations to good locations, you greatly diminish your chances. As you've said, you spend a lot of time casting, but are not really spending time fishing!

 

In ending, don't give up! Keep at it! In giving up you learn nothing & cannot improve. The lessons I learned while fly fishing for bass improved other fishing for bass that I did. I became a "student" of the sport, and every day on the water became a learning experience, even when I caught nothing. I found too that those days I caught nothing I often learned more than the days I had some success. If I paid attention, I learned! If I was simply there with little purpose, I learned very little or nothing. Success with fishing is often in the details. Back when I started I had the basic idea, but lacked the refinement of the small details needed to be successful. Sounds like that may also be some of your current situation.

[ditz2 0]

There is a lot of good info above........The bigger bass flies can be much more difficult to cast. Leaders are not so important. A level leader will many times work just as well or even better than tapered leaders. Try shortening your leader. Possibly even down to 3' but that is extreme. 4 or 5' is well within reason. What type of line are you using? Bass taper, regular WF or???? ......If you are using a normal WF line I might also try cutting back the tip of the line to get the weight of the line closer to the end. Be careful doing this. You can not put it back on once removed and do it in small increments of maybe 6" at a time. I once cut the end of a fly line so I removed the end of the line with the cut and put a new loop on the end. I actually removed about 3' or a little more and the line still worked fine. ....As stated above, fly fishing is not always the most productive method. IMO it is the most satisfying. .....I have been throwing flies off and on for 45 years and I still make some terrible casts. It just goes with the territory.

[wschmitt3 0]

I cant give you any better advise than you have already gotten but don't give up. It takes lots of practice and wading through a lot of frustration to get the hang of things.

 

Keep at it. You wont regret it.

[outdoorsmanfool 0]

Thanks to everyone for all of the advice i really do appreciate it i will keep to it and try to concentrate on were i am throwing my flies.

[mikechell 0]

Go fishing for sunfish. Use sunfish sized flies. I've caught some of my largest bass on bluegill poppers. With the weight rod your using, that'll be tough. If you use large bass flies, it is extremely important to pay attention to the back cast. If you snap the back cast hard and high ... then wait for it to unfurl behind you, the forward cast takes care of itself.

 

Personally, I'd recommend putting down the 8 weight ... get a 4 or 5 weight, get good with that fishing sunfish sized flies. After you've caught a bunch of fish and have built up your confidence, THEN pick up the heavy rod and use those big flies.

[outdoorsmanfool 0]

Go fishing for sunfish. Use sunfish sized flies. I've caught some of my largest bass on bluegill poppers. With the weight rod your using, that'll be tough. If you use large bass flies, it is extremely important to pay attention to the back cast. If you snap the back cast hard and high ... then wait for it to unfurl behind you, the forward cast takes care of itself.

 

Personally, I'd recommend putting down the 8 weight ... get a 4 or 5 weight, get good with that fishing sunfish sized flies. After you've caught a bunch of fish and have built up your confidence, THEN pick up the heavy rod and use those big flies.

I do have a 4 weight actually it is just i wanted to try after some bass but i will try your advice next time i get out. Thank you.

[mikechell 0]

Your profile page doesn't say where you live ... or I just don't know where to look. But if you happen to be in Central Florida, I'd be happy to go on the water some weekend.

 

Oh, I just re-read above, and saw that you have Small Mouth, too. You aren't in Florida.

[joseph russell 0]

I started with a roll cast