Fly fishing for fun.

I've had a poor to mediocre beginning to my fly fishing hobby this year. Sure, I've caught a couple of really large bteam and some small to medium size bass but I was expecting more. Last year, I was spoiled. I hit the bass well - every weekend, I was landing decent number of spots and am smallies.

Sometimes while I'm fishing, I do get stressed or worked up. Yesterday was different. Instead of wading, I took the kayak out. I caught a few fish, watched from my kayak as some jets take off and landed. It was a bit windy but nice and sunny. I left the lake relaxed and satisfied. Sure, the fish were small and the wind blew me around the lake but it was somehow pleasurable as I basked in the sun.

My priorities have changed a bit this year. It's probably the gas prices but I'm not planning in running to Missouri and fish two days a week. I've been doing some painting and spring cleaning, bought a new riding mower and have been hanging off with the family on the weekends. I've been hunting new food joints and coffee houses, perusing new coffee blends and even cutting back on the calories.

I may be a bit burnt out on fishing but it may be a good thing.

Smallmouth bass foam fly pattern - hopper - bluegill

I'm sure there's a bluegill out there that can take this puppy in it's mouth.  And I am more than certain and smallmouth bass somewhere has a hankerin' for a large foam hopper.  I am going to copy this pattern (for the most part) while throwing in a custom bit in here and there.  I used to tie something similar to this and the Double Decker Hopper (Orvis?).  I loves my hoppers - heck, I love my top water patterns.

I am beginning to think that foam is still a mystery to most fly tyers.  I am sure they tie in feathers with the foam and possibly they may actually tie a fly made of all foam mostly for bluegills.  With the groups I have joined or been a part of online, a few of the same folks keep popping up.  And I am more than certain there have to be a few thousand fly fishers AT THE LEAST that fly fish for warm water species and even less than that number fish specifically and only for warm water species.  With all the catalogs floating around and the number of outdoor shops increasing over the past 5 or so years, I believe the number of fly fishers or folks to have attempted it to be in the millions.  Yet, it seems to me that most fly fishers and fly tyers are still reserved.  There is that section in the local fly shop with bass and bluegill bugs but it would also seem that most of the guys who come in there are buying trout flies or white bass patterns and fly tying patterns.  I wade just about every crick and stream in this area and I rarely see another fly fisherman - RARELY.  So, that is why I promote warm water fly fishing and fly tying.

I bought some flies last Friday at the local fly shop.  These were really productive flies with which I was landing spotted bass.  The owner's son asked me if it was trout - I said, No.  He then asked where I went and I told him, "Ancient Chinese Secret".  I'm not about to share my spots, lol - but I am more than happy to expound upon those seemingly progressive patterns our flyfishing forefathers gave us.

Sure, you can find a foam fly swap on the occasional forum but folks don't flock to them such as the Smallmouth swap of the Midge swap.  Even the occasional bluegill swap can raise dead fly tyer.

In a way, and I think some of you readers will disagree, I am progressive in the way I tie flies and perhaps fly fish (or where I fish).  I'm far from the best tyer but I like to think outside the box.  Foam flies aren't new. They aren't that old either.  Perhaps, when we fish, it should be like that guy who fishes for pocket water jsut to land those little trout.  I do the same for bass.  We kind of have to think outside the norm such as drifting flies in a long current.  In fishing pocket water, we have to position ourselves in a certain manner as to fish a certain way - we have to look for that odd spot in a precarious area.  It's not like we wade and sight fish.  We have to think a bit and use our heads more than we usually do.

One reason I tie foam flies is because I'm a bit tired of tying flies out of bits of feathers and chenille.  I like top water and naturally, I use foam.  It can be manipulated more and it seems I can be more creative with it than if I was using dubbing, etc.  PLUS, I have fished a lot of "not-so-nice" streams where you have to find "pocket water" or that certain hole.  Perhaps, the water flow has to be just right after a rain.  I would spend hours on a lousy stream in the middle of town just to land a large Pumpkinseed.  I do think it's awesome to fish a stream folks don't dare think about twice and yank out a quality fish.  To me, part of the hunt is the enjoyment and my hunts usually involve small to medium size streams.  I don't know why but it's what I like.

So, when it comes down to selecting or tying foam flies, don't be hesitant.  After all, you never know what a fish will hit.  And you can always expand your selection of flies.  Foam is cheap and goes far.  You can manipulate it and use your imagination to create awesome patterns you never once thought of tying.

In a way, fly fishing is a bit fundamentalist or traditionalist but at the same time, this sport is undergoing some transitions and changes such as Spey casting and heck, I guess even the selling of smallmouth or warm water species fly rods.  More and more companies are making rods and reels - and it would seem a lot of those have grass roots beginnnings.

So, as we go out to the nearest stream or water, let's think about being progressive in the way we fish.

https://joshs-flies.myshopify.com/

Spots still available for fly swap.

I still have 11 spots open for my foam fly swap. Read the previous post for information.

Email me at rzrbk804@yahoo.com if you're interested.

Fly swap!!!! Hosting a swap. Warm water fly swap.

I am hosting my first blog fly swap. You don't have to be on Blogger or sign up with an account. You can be just a reader or whomever.  I've hosted before on flytying forum and Yahoo groups and MSN. This is for anyone interested. First timers or novices. FOAM flies only . . . or mostly foam. This swap is for 12 folks. The first 11 folks who notify me will be signed up along with me as the swapmeister.

Here are the instructions.
1. Tie one dozen of a mostly foam fly - custom or traditional.
2. You must tie 12 flies to swap with other tyers.
 3. If you can, tag them with your name or online ID or email so that other tiers know who made them.
4. Send return postage so I can send your new flies back to you.
5. Send them to an address I give you when you sign up.
6. When signing up, if possible, let me know the name of your fly.

My email is rzrbk804@yahoo.com

I will take photos of all the flies and list them on my blog with your ID. I now have to think of a pattern myself.

Fly fishing for spotted bass. Foam fly patterns-recipes-bass

I think that spotted bass are the most finicky of all the bass. Sure, it can hammer a bass bug but it can also slirp a hopper like a smallmouth or trout.  And it can be just as picky as a trout or bluegill. 

You might say that a largemouth bass has the same characteristics. However, being that the spotted bass is generally smaller and in my opinion, more numerous in streams than lakes and that it spends a lot of time in the riffles or on the edges and when most active, it warms itself in shallow areas near riffles and currents, it is more cautious because it has to be.  I have drifted nymphs to small "Spots" in the current.  Even then, they suck and spit so fast.  Sometimes, it's like they tip-toe over to the fly and take a nibble or stare at it sideways like a puppy dog cocking it's ears.

Smallmouth bass and spotted bass are more like each other than the Spot to the Largemouth bass.  Sure, all bass are similar in many ways but when it comes to streams, the Spotted Bass seems to acquire a Smallmouth Bass mentality.  "They" say smallmouth bass prefer habitat similar to that of a trout.  For the most part, I tend to agree.  I would say that it also applies to spotted bass too.  I guess the general ideal setting for smallmouth is a semi-fast current flowing over gravel in a clear to semi-clear stream with pools here and there for them to sit in with rocks for them to sit behind and a few slower spots on the edges.  There is no doubt that the smallmouth does hang out in areas such as a largemouth - as all bass and fish use structure for shelter and hunting.  BUT, I do think that small spotted bass tend to hang out in a possibly dingier setting.  The larger spotted bass hang out in deeper pools waiting for dinner to come along.  Smaller "Spots" tend to hang out under things and on the edges on currents and riffles.  Such as, deep pools and slow sheltered shoals.

I fish to spotted bass such as for smallmouth bass.  Yesterday, I used hoppers and crawdad patterns to land a bunch of spotted bass which sat in a deep pool along a swift current.  The hoppers were drifted and the Crazydad was jigged a bit but placed more strategically in front of the bass.  Standing where I could see the bass (this place was stacked and my buddy had taken more than a few over a couple of days) I played to them with many patterns.  Most flies I tried where tasted and slashed at and what seemed to be just nosed at like a dolphin.  They would even slirp my hoppers many times and I couldn't set the hook.  Coming out of a very short winter's nap and with the water still about mid 50's and they seem very timid right now.

Far from being a guide and more along the lines of borderline outdoor enthousiast and fishing nut, I'm always learning about fly fishing for and trying to share my knowledge.  One thing is for sure, those frustrating Spots like to stare at flies.