Using fly rod for bass

I live on a lake that is mostly stocked with bass. A few days ago I
picked up a fly rod combo from Cabellas that came with all sort of
flies with tiny hooks. I'm sure that these will not work with a fish
over one pound or so. What is commonly used for bass? (The largest one
I've seen on the lake was aroiund six pounds, but mostly they run in
2-3 pound range.)

Thanks
Roger

That setup will land big fish. You will just need to get used to playing
them with a fly rod.

they won't bite through your line so it's all about the fight.

Get some fly poppers and streamers. If the pond has bass then it has panfish
as well and the smaller flies will get hit by those mostly. They sell the
poppers at Wal-Mart for a couple bucks for 5 or 6 poppers. Those are just as
good as hand tied ones for 3-5 bucks a piece and it won't hurt as much when
you snap one off in a tree.

Dave V.

"roger" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live on a lake that is mostly stocked with bass. A few days ago I
picked up a fly rod combo from Cabellas that came with all sort of
flies with tiny hooks. I'm sure that these will not work with a fish
over one pound or so. What is commonly used for bass? (The largest one
I've seen on the lake was aroiund six pounds, but mostly they run in
2-3 pound range.)

Thanks
Roger

roger wrote:
I live on a lake that is mostly stocked with bass. A few days ago I
picked up a fly rod combo from Cabellas that came with all sort of
flies with tiny hooks. I'm sure that these will not work with a fish
over one pound or so. What is commonly used for bass? (The largest one
I've seen on the lake was aroiund six pounds, but mostly they run in
2-3 pound range.)

The Cabela's fly rod combos come in several line weights
from 3wt to 8wt. Which one did you get ? The larger weight
rods can toss larger flies.

In general you'll want poppers, frogs, divers and crawdads.
Here's a good assortment to give you an idea:

http://www.kman.com/F_Bass.htm

Good luck.

--
Ken Fortenberry

David Vito wrote:

... They
sell the poppers at Wal-Mart for a couple bucks for 5 or 6 poppers.
Those are just as good as hand tied ones for 3-5 bucks a piece and it
won't hurt as much when you snap one off in a tree.

Good poppers are tied on good hooks and good hooks are important.
Then too, if a fifty cent popper falls apart after catching one
fish it won't take long for the fifty cent poppers to become more
expensive than the three dollar poppers in the long run.

--
Ken Fortenberry

"roger" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live on a lake that is mostly stocked with bass. A few days ago I
picked up a fly rod combo from Cabellas that came with all sort of
flies with tiny hooks. I'm sure that these will not work with a fish
over one pound or so. What is commonly used for bass? (The largest one
I've seen on the lake was aroiund six pounds, but mostly they run in
2-3 pound range.)

Thanks
Roger

Don't let small hook size fool you. I've caught LM in the 5+ range and SM 4
lbs and bigger on hooks as small as size 12 and 14. I've landed 'bows to 24
inches and browns to 28" on size 24!

Many times I go out bluegill fishing with the flyrod, I get at least one
decent bass in the range 2 1/2 pound or up.

To actively pursue LM I do tend to throw larger stuff (streamers, clousers,
frog and crawfish patterns) and use an 8 wt, but the 5 wt and a size 12 Trim
Gim has caught a bunch for me, especially from late May through early July.

If you can find the April 2004 American Angler, it has a good article on
bass fishing with a fly rod called RULES OF ATTRACTION (starts on page 22)

Mark

Roger said:
I live on a lake that is mostly stocked with bass. A few days ago I
picked up a fly rod combo from Cabellas that came with all sort of
flies with tiny hooks. I'm sure that these will not work with a fish
over one pound or so.
@@@ Don't be too sure. Try them and see. If lots of people fish your lake,
go just at daybreak and 60 minutes before sunset.
Stop, look and listen and see what you can learn that is happening on your
lake. Do you see lots of dragon flies, damsel flies, crawfish, bees,
grasshoppers, "may flies" - what do you see that you can find a fly to
mimic? Do you see minnows jumping?

What is commonly used for bass?
@@@ Bass flies fall into two categories - those that float and those that
sink. Topwater often called "dry" flies are commonly made from feathers and
animal hair that floats like deer and elk and lighter than water materials
that float like foam, cork and balsa wood. Topwater flies are fished with
floating fly lines, What kind is yours?

Underwater flies often called streamers or "wet" flies are commonly made of
hair, feather and other materials that normally sink.
Fly fishermen commonly help wet flies sink down to bass by using sinking fly
lines and or adding weight to the streamer.

A lot of good patterns have already been posted here and the web searches
will give you many more. Just find out if they are floating or sinking
patterns and fly fish them with the appropriate line. FWIW during the many,
many discussions of whether floating bass flies or sinking bass flies are
"BEST", no doubt many, many gallons of adult beverages have been consumed
g

(The largest one
I've seen on the lake was aroiund six pounds, but mostly they run in
2-3 pound range.)
@@@ That sounds typical for a normal ater body except there should be lots
of bass fingerlings, 6-8 inchers and 12 inchers also depending upoin the
time of year. If you do not ever see any baby bass, maybe they are being
easten by the larger bass. Are the bass fat or skinny or look normal?

This news group has many, many experienced bass fishermen. They would
probably answer any bass questions you have in detail. For fly fishing the
Rec.Outdoors.Fishing.Fly. group probably could provide such fly fishing
detail as you need.

In either event, Good Luck!

John

Well, I converted my fly rod over to a light tackle rig. I replaced the top
wire giude with a ceramic fuji guide and put a light weight spinning reel
with 6# test line.

I'll be throwing mostly grubs and bucktails with it and targeting bass most
of the time. Makes a dynamite crappie setup as well.

Dave V

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
. com...
David Vito wrote:

... They sell the poppers at Wal-Mart for a couple bucks for 5 or 6
poppers. Those are just as good as hand tied ones for 3-5 bucks a piece
and it won't hurt as much when you snap one off in a tree.

Good poppers are tied on good hooks and good hooks are important.
Then too, if a fifty cent popper falls apart after catching one
fish it won't take long for the fifty cent poppers to become more
expensive than the three dollar poppers in the long run.

--
Ken Fortenberry

David Vito wrote:
Well, I converted my fly rod over to a light tackle rig. I replaced the
top wire giude with a ceramic fuji guide and put a light weight spinning
reel with 6# test line.

I'll be throwing mostly grubs and bucktails with it and targeting bass
most of the time. Makes a dynamite crappie setup as well.

I've always preferred an ultralight spinning rig for crappie
too. I use 2 lb. test and toss a 1/32 oz bucktail jig. If you
find a school of 'em you can catch more than you want to clean. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

WORD Brother!!!

:-)

Dave V
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
. com...
David Vito wrote:
Well, I converted my fly rod over to a light tackle rig. I replaced the
top wire giude with a ceramic fuji guide and put a light weight spinning
reel with 6# test line.

I'll be throwing mostly grubs and bucktails with it and targeting bass
most of the time. Makes a dynamite crappie setup as well.

I've always preferred an ultralight spinning rig for crappie
too. I use 2 lb. test and toss a 1/32 oz bucktail jig. If you
find a school of 'em you can catch more than you want to clean. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

"David Vito" wrote in message
...
Well, I converted my fly rod over to a light tackle rig. I replaced the
top wire giude with a ceramic fuji guide and put a light weight spinning
reel with 6# test line.

I had a rig just like that when I was a kid. It was actually a flyrod of my
dad's that had been broken at the ferrule. I cut it smooth wrapped it with
thread and glue and stuck the two pieces together, and replaced the tip top
with a ceramic one. I caught my first decent size bass on it dead sticking
a minnow on six pound test spooled on a tiny Olympia spinning reel.
--
Bob La Londe - Webmaster
www.YumaBassMan.com

Tornament Director
www.YumaProAm.com




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