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Joseph Ritz
June 3rd, 2004, 03:31 AM
I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of the
popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line jerks.
I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all present
your poppers for bass at twilight?

Hooked
June 3rd, 2004, 05:15 AM
"Joseph Ritz" > wrote in message
...
> I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
> before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
> popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
> produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
> anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of the
> popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line jerks.
> I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
> appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all present
> your poppers for bass at twilight?


First of all, if you're catching bluegill with a bass popper, get yourself a
BASS popper.

I start out letting the popper sit motionless until all ripples fade away.
Then slightly twitch it. If nothing happens, give it a good pop. Let it sit
for a bit and then retrieve with a twitch, pop, pop, pause. Sometimes you
have to vary the length of the pause.

If I can't get a strike using this method, I'll speed up the retrieve. Let
the fish tell you what they want.

If this fails, I go home. Or try some other fly like a Dahlberg Diver. Or
instead of using a popper, try a slider and wake it across the surface.

Joseph Ritz
June 4th, 2004, 01:08 AM
On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 04:15:25 +0000, Hooked wrote in part:

> I start out letting the popper sit motionless until all ripples fade away.
> Then slightly twitch it. If nothing happens, give it a good pop. Let it sit
> for a bit and then retrieve with a twitch, pop, pop, pause. Sometimes you
> have to vary the length of the pause.
>
> If I can't get a strike using this method, I'll speed up the retrieve. Let
> the fish tell you what they want.
>

So your first presentations would be slowly retrieved with that
interesting rhythm as you described. Then, only if necessary, would you
speed up your retrieve. Hmmm.... I need to slow down. Thanks.

Joe

Larry Schmitt
July 19th, 2004, 04:27 AM
After fishing with live bluegills I came to relize If you want big fish fish
with big bait. I average 3-6 lb bass. I now use big fly if I want to fly
fish for bass. Very the presentation try slow then fast. The fish will let
you know
"Joseph Ritz" > wrote in message
...
> I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
> before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
> popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
> produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
> anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of the
> popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line jerks.
> I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
> appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all present
> your poppers for bass at twilight?
>

Larry Schmitt
July 19th, 2004, 04:27 AM
After fishing with live bluegills I came to relize If you want big fish fish
with big bait. I average 3-6 lb bass. I now use big fly if I want to fly
fish for bass. Very the presentation try slow then fast. The fish will let
you know
"Joseph Ritz" > wrote in message
...
> I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
> before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
> popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
> produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
> anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of the
> popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line jerks.
> I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
> appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all present
> your poppers for bass at twilight?
>

ROBERT BECKLEY
August 24th, 2004, 01:07 PM
Are you saying that the "Bigger" Bass will mostly hit only "bigger" poppers?
hmmm maybe that is why I only catch the 10 to 14 inch ones.

I usually only fish for bluegill, but undoubtly I get several bass of the
smaller size. I think a big bluegill is much more fun to bring in than a
bass

Robert
"Larry Schmitt" > wrote in message
...
> After fishing with live bluegills I came to relize If you want big fish
fish
> with big bait. I average 3-6 lb bass. I now use big fly if I want to fly
> fish for bass. Very the presentation try slow then fast. The fish will let
> you know
> "Joseph Ritz" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
> > before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
> > popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
> > produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
> > anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of
the
> > popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line
jerks.
> > I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
> > appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all present
> > your poppers for bass at twilight?
> >
>
>

ROBERT BECKLEY
August 24th, 2004, 01:07 PM
Are you saying that the "Bigger" Bass will mostly hit only "bigger" poppers?
hmmm maybe that is why I only catch the 10 to 14 inch ones.

I usually only fish for bluegill, but undoubtly I get several bass of the
smaller size. I think a big bluegill is much more fun to bring in than a
bass

Robert
"Larry Schmitt" > wrote in message
...
> After fishing with live bluegills I came to relize If you want big fish
fish
> with big bait. I average 3-6 lb bass. I now use big fly if I want to fly
> fish for bass. Very the presentation try slow then fast. The fish will let
> you know
> "Joseph Ritz" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
> > before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
> > popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
> > produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
> > anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of
the
> > popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line
jerks.
> > I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
> > appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all present
> > your poppers for bass at twilight?
> >
>
>

Hooked
August 24th, 2004, 06:13 PM
"ROBERT BECKLEY" > wrote in message
news:UbGWc.2158$9P.1723@trnddc04...
> Are you saying that the "Bigger" Bass will mostly hit only "bigger"
poppers?
> hmmm maybe that is why I only catch the 10 to 14 inch ones.
>
> I usually only fish for bluegill, but undoubtly I get several bass of the
> smaller size. I think a big bluegill is much more fun to bring in than a
> bass
>
> Robert


A big bluegill is more fun than a bass? Apparently, you have never hooked
into a BIG bass.

Although a big lure/fly is more likely to turn away a small fish, a big bass
will still take a small lure/fly. Wait until you catch that BIG bass on the
6x leader/tippet you've been using for those bluegills. :-)



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the 8-19-04 White House Press Briefing

Q Let me ask it this way: The President has said
and believes that John Kerry served honorably in
Vietnam, right?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he's made that very clear.

(Does this mean the Swift Boat Vets are calling Bush a liar?)

Hooked
August 24th, 2004, 06:13 PM
"ROBERT BECKLEY" > wrote in message
news:UbGWc.2158$9P.1723@trnddc04...
> Are you saying that the "Bigger" Bass will mostly hit only "bigger"
poppers?
> hmmm maybe that is why I only catch the 10 to 14 inch ones.
>
> I usually only fish for bluegill, but undoubtly I get several bass of the
> smaller size. I think a big bluegill is much more fun to bring in than a
> bass
>
> Robert


A big bluegill is more fun than a bass? Apparently, you have never hooked
into a BIG bass.

Although a big lure/fly is more likely to turn away a small fish, a big bass
will still take a small lure/fly. Wait until you catch that BIG bass on the
6x leader/tippet you've been using for those bluegills. :-)



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the 8-19-04 White House Press Briefing

Q Let me ask it this way: The President has said
and believes that John Kerry served honorably in
Vietnam, right?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he's made that very clear.

(Does this mean the Swift Boat Vets are calling Bush a liar?)

John
August 24th, 2004, 08:21 PM
If BIG bass = LM 5 to 6 pound and up.
BIG bass will hit big popping bugs - hook sizes 1/0, 1 and 2.
Smaller bass will hit big popping bugs.
Big bass will hit small popping bugs - hook sizes 4, 6 and 8.
Bluegill, bream and dink bass will not usually hit big popping bugs although
they sometimes try to eat the legs
BIG bass hit ALL popping bugs less often than smaller bass.
BIG bass tend to hit big popping bugs far more frequently than they hit
smaller popping bugs.

IMHO the size of the popping bug is just one of many variables to consider
when pursuing only BIG bass with fly rod.
Color, style, design, presentation, location, cover, structure, placement,
action, hook set, tackle, wind, cast direction, etc. are a few others which
quickly come to mind.

FWIW from previously posted information, the following may be helpful.
As nearly all BIG bass are females, there will be far fewer BIG bass
available to hit popping bugs in a water body compared to numbers of smaller
bass.
Ponds and small lakes do not normally produce large quantities of BIG bass.
If someone is fishing especially for bream, bluegill and very small bass,
their habitat is not normally the same habitat where BIG bass are holding.
Just because bass fly fishermen cannot see what is going on underwater, they
should never assume that only what they see on the surface is ALL that is
happening.
Bass tend to school as fingerlings. This tendency declines as they grow
until they reach BIG size where SHE is all alone down there.
Small bass swim about 2 miles per hour while a 20 inch bass swims about 12
miles per hour.
Small bass seem much more gullible than BIG bass.
On the average a 6 year old 6 pound bass has seen 6 times as many popping
bugs as a one year old one pound bass.

Hope this helps if you choose to pursue BIG bass. Use an 8 pound tippet and
good luck!
John

--
Remove FLY to reply
"ROBERT BECKLEY" > wrote in message
news:UbGWc.2158$9P.1723@trnddc04...
> Are you saying that the "Bigger" Bass will mostly hit only "bigger"
poppers?
> hmmm maybe that is why I only catch the 10 to 14 inch ones.
>
> I usually only fish for bluegill, but undoubtly I get several bass of the
> smaller size. I think a big bluegill is much more fun to bring in than a
> bass
>
> Robert
> "Larry Schmitt" > wrote in message
> ...
> > After fishing with live bluegills I came to relize If you want big fish
> fish
> > with big bait. I average 3-6 lb bass. I now use big fly if I want to fly
> > fish for bass. Very the presentation try slow then fast. The fish will
let
> > you know
> > "Joseph Ritz" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I'm just curious. When fishing top water on small lakes and ponds just
> > > before night fall on lazy summer evenings for bass I usually present a
> > > popper with a relatively fast jerking retrieve. This almost certainly
> > > produces a catch of Bluegill and Bream with an occasional Bass. Would
> > > anyone here suggest a different approach, perhaps a slower retrieve of
> the
> > > popper with as much if not more time idle on the water between line
> jerks.
> > > I've always feared that an idle popper gives the bass more time to
> > > appraise the presentation as being fake. In short, how do y'all
present
> > > your poppers for bass at twilight?
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

fishingfriend
September 2nd, 2004, 03:56 PM
Nothing quite like a 5lb LM Bass on a flyrod... ;o) I used to fish this
little 3 acre pond warmwater spring fed, croppie larger than your hand and
large mouth bass. We moved away a couple of years ago. I miss it. Now I am
learning about salmon and steelhead.... have always had my pan fishing in
mountain streems though.

"Hooked" > wrote in message
...
> "ROBERT BECKLEY" > wrote in message
> news:UbGWc.2158$9P.1723@trnddc04...
> > Are you saying that the "Bigger" Bass will mostly hit only "bigger"
> poppers?
> > hmmm maybe that is why I only catch the 10 to 14 inch ones.
> >
> > I usually only fish for bluegill, but undoubtly I get several bass of
the
> > smaller size. I think a big bluegill is much more fun to bring in than
a
> > bass
> >
> > Robert
>
>
> A big bluegill is more fun than a bass? Apparently, you have never hooked
> into a BIG bass.
>
> Although a big lure/fly is more likely to turn away a small fish, a big
bass
> will still take a small lure/fly. Wait until you catch that BIG bass on
the
> 6x leader/tippet you've been using for those bluegills. :-)
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From the 8-19-04 White House Press Briefing
>
> Q Let me ask it this way: The President has said
> and believes that John Kerry served honorably in
> Vietnam, right?
>
> MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he's made that very clear.
>
> (Does this mean the Swift Boat Vets are calling Bush a liar?)
>
>
>
>




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