As the spawning season is ending and the water warms up, all the warm water fish will start to "look up" - they'll eat from the stuff landing on the surface. Everything from seed pods, insects and duckweed all get munched. If you want an adrenaline hit, start casting small poppers. There will be no mistaking a take.
-- For knots, the knot that has never failed me is the "Orvis" knot - run the tag end through the eye of the hook and hold the tag end in your left hand (remainder of the line in your right hand). Take the tag end and cross it under the standing end. Continue to take the tag end around and bring it back over the standing end towards the first loop. Take the tag end under the loop you previously formed, then direct it back towards the standing line. Bring the tag under the second loop that was formed twice. Pull the standing end while holding the tag end (this saves more of the tag end tippet). Clip the excess tag end. If this was confusing, go to one of the orvis shops and check out the leader packages - they have a drawing in the leader package.
If you want to get better at casting a fly rod, you need to hang out with a good caster and emulate what they do, and/or watch some DVDs that provide casting instructions. I was self taught and that took me so far. Then I saw a few people cast (Lefty Kreh, Carl Z and Chris B) and I knew I had a lot to learn. Watch videos and breakdown your cast into as small chunks as possible so you can make corrections where/when you need to (a friend/better caster will be best here - they will help you identify mistakes and get you away from bad technique).
On your comment about trout fly fishing being the pure form... flyfishing is something you define for yourself. I have been flyfishing for over three years now and I have never caught a trout - ever. But I have caught my share of trevally, bonefish, grouper, emperorfish and Goatfish; to hundreds of bluegill and hundreds of bass. I have just as much fun fishing for bluegills and pumpkinseeds as I do on the flats. Don't let someone else define what flyfishing is for you. Don't get me wrong, I do aspire to catch a native brookie in the SNP, but in the meantime, I fish different waters depending on where I am (and golf course ponds are great places)
Good luck!
On Monday, May 12, 2014 10:03:58 PM UTC-4, Hoya (Hopeful) Bass Destroya wrote:
On Monday, May 12, 2014 10:03:58 PM UTC-4, Hoya (Hopeful) Bass Destroya wrote:
This is my first time posting on the group.
A bit about me: I'm a novice fly fisherman, began fishing last year when I went out with a buddy to Gravelly Point in the late afternoon/evening. I was both figuratively and literally hooked (took one right to the shoulder). Been trout fishing out in West Virginia at Smoke Hole (came up empty and with a birds nest of tippet at the end of my line but it was a great trip nonetheless). Hit the "Pool of Giants" (up by the C&O Canal's wide water) with no luck, although it's pretty gorgeous during the fall, so that made up for it. Finally caught my first fish on a fly line two weeks ago during Shadness Madness at Fletcher's, a beautiful American Trout about 13" long. Then caught four more last week including a 16" or 17" American beauty and a few hickories.
While I know from speaking with those far more experienced than me that many consider Trout fishing the most "pure" form of fly fishing, there's something about Largemouth Bass that have really enticed me since I first got into fly fishing last year. So I went out to my golf course on Saturday evening where there's a pretty sizable pond (probably about 1.5-2 acres) and started casting. Had a 6 wt Redington rod with full sinking line and some 0x leader on it (leftover from chasing shad), put some flashy streamer (courtesy of Fly Times DC) on it and started slinging out about 20 feet and then pulling back in 3-4 inch spurts towards the shoreline. I positioned myself right by the stream that feeds into the pond (drops off about 2 ft) as my understanding is that predator fish love to sit by the freshly oxidized water and gather up critters. Anyways, on my second cast BAM, a big bass snaps into my fly and starts running the line out. I fought him in and he was popping out of the water and putting on a show, but then my knot failed and I lost not just the fish but did him the indignity of leaving the fly in his mouth. Pretty bummed about it but kept at it, got some nibbles but nothing else.
Went back tonight after reading up Sunday about how to fish ponds. Got on the water around 7:30 and fish are popping out of the water all over the place. Saw several carp lazily drifting along the shoreline although they had zero interest in what I was putting out there. Tried a similar setup, 6wt rod, 0x leader, flashy wooly bugger and drag it back in short spurts, and lo and behold I hooked another large bass. This one I had 6 ft away and thought that victory was finally mine, my clinch knot failed again. I've watched a ton of youtube videos about how to tie the knot properly, but I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong?
So my main question is, is there a simple solution to my knot problem? Also, I notice alot of fish rising up to the surface of the pond but they're too far out for me to cast to (I'm still learning proper technique and can't get out more than 25 feet or so). Should I stick with sinking line and streamers and buggers or move to something that floats on the surface? Any help would be much appreciated as I literally can't wait to get back on the pond tomorrow after work.
http://www.tpfr.org
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