In the sport of fly fishing, drifting top-water patterns cannot get an easier when it comes to enjoying a great day out. There's no indicator involved, you're not trying to poke a tiny leader through a small nymph and you don't necessarily have to utilize a delicate presentation. Simply cast out about 5 or 6 feet into a stream and drift.
The simplicity of using top water patterns in this method is the reason I love fishing top-water flies. I went out the other evening and caught several bass and panfish on a Chernobyl Ant and Bett's popper in the short time I had before nightfall.
On my first cast, I lightly cast out and drifted my newly tied Chernobyl Ant. The fly drifted about 3 feet before the smallmouth pictured above tagged it. With this smallmouth in the riffles and him tugging on my 4 wgt. rod, it was a pretty decent fight. Pound for pound, smallmouth are the toughest fighters I know other than maybe white bass.
You don't need to wade a deep stream or river. All you need to have a good time is a light action rod, foam fly and a small local stream.
Check out this fat panfish. There's a good slab for a frying pan waiting to hit your foam fly. These guys were so greedy the other night, I couldn't concentrate on smallmouth because they hit everything I tied on the line. I enjoy frying up crappie, bream, white bass and catfish. However, when it comes to eating black bass, I'm not a fan of the flavor. Plus, when I release those bass, it makes me feel better about the population because some of the places I fish are hit pretty hard by folks who handle fish pretty rough when releasing and pretty much don't care about slot limits, etc.
When it comes to enjoying your day out, you don't necessarily have to load up on expensive flies at the shop. You don't need to load up tons of gear and drive three hours to the local dam for trout. And you don't need to wake up before the rooster crows to slam bass bugs on your secret pond. Grab a rod, some foam flies and hit the local stream. There's no telling what's in that stream. Make it an adventure and see if you can pull a nice bronzeback or large panfish out of a small hole. Go out for an hour and enjoy some fresh air. Nobody is going to pull your man card for drifting in a local creek.
I've got some Chernobyls for sale. http://myworld.ebay.com/riverwalker74
Josh
ReplyDeleteAnd you don't need an expensive pair of waders to go after the smallmouth and panfish in most streams around the US. That panfish is colored perfect, and you probably got a tug on your line with him. Great Post