Bass and Panfish

[mitch]

What types of things do you guys throw for them this time of the year? I have been using poppers with little success.

[-Marc V-]

I've just started fly-fising for bass this year. It's been challenging. I think the dog days of summer are upon us and driving the bass little deeper, and making it a little tougher to fly-fish. I've had success with deer hair poppers. Better success using poppers with eyes and rubber legs extending out the sides. I've done the best right at dusk this summer. I've also caught bass on red and yellow clousers. I've also caught a few on Dahlberg Divers, but the larger deer hair poppers have been doing the best. I think the popping sound is too much for them to resist.

I can't help you with the pannies though. I haven't targetted them on the fly. I was doing some night fishing for some walleye from shore couple nights ago. Didn't hook into any walleye, but did get a couple good sized bluegill. They would of had to be good sized to take the fly I was using for the walleye though too.

Let us know how you do.

[mitch]

I just got a few clousers blue and white, white, and black and white. I haven't had much of a chance to try them yet but it's worth a shot. Will woolly buggers work with Bass or panfish? I have a couple of those I could try too. Every night I go out I see fish coming to the surface but they just won't bite. Maybe they aren't bass. I haven't been catching much anywhere with anything lately.

[WxGuy]

Hey Mitch,

Those clousers, and the wooly buggers will work for bass. They'll probably do the trick for the panfish, too.

It's okay if you're getting under the surface even if you see a few risers. Try different retrieves. Give the clousers time to sink, then hop them back to you by giving a few short pulls, then letting them sink a little before you give it a few more short pulls. Sometimes a slow retrieve is the trick, and if that doesn't work, speed up the retrieve by "stripping" the line (pulling it in with your free hand) in faster.

You might even want to get some little foam pinch-on indicators and attach one where your line meets the leader. Bass don't always slam the fly, so that will help you see the more subtle hits.

I hope this helps a little. I do more fly fishing for bass in the rivers of SE MN, so I'm not really tuned in to fly fishing on still water.

[Ufatz]

Mitch:

Generally you don't "see" bass rising a lot, but you will see panfish often, and you could be seeing all kinds of other fish. Get a couple #6 poppers, hard bodied. Make your cast, point your rod tip right at the popper and pull all the slack out of your line. Then give a short,quick strip with your line hand. Retrieve the popper ten feet or so, pick it up and cast again. Only a matter of time before a big 'un grabs it. Get ready!!

[deeky]

I have been throwing a lot of woolly buggers lately for pannies. I tie my own, so it's easy to get what I want. Shallow they are good, but if the fish are deeper, as they have been, I have been using a lot of bead-head buggers. Gets them down there a little faster and keeps them there. But patience is still the name of the game - fish them slow to keep them down. If that's too big, I also have been using Jitter-Bees. They also have a bead-head, two-tone chenile body, and a double rubber tail.

Black has been the dominant color on the buggers, but the other day I pulled an 8 1/4 inch sunny out of the pads with a chart/white clouser. So go figure. Also pulled a 12 inch bass out of the weeds with a size 6 black/chart clouser on 5x tippet. But I agree with WxGuy, the bass felt more like a snag until I started trying to work it loose.

I have to say, with the pannies, the biggest help has been a cheap pair of polarized glasses. I can see them mouthing the fly without really pulling on it. They actually just keep swimming along with it. But I've caught quite a few by setting the hook by sight rather than feel.

Hope that helps, at least enjoy being out there.

Deeky.

[mitch]

Thanks for all the tips. I think on my next outing I'll try the wooly buggers and the clousers.

[Ice9]

For bass, remember to try some casts with a lot of wait time. Chug it a couple of times vigorously, then take a drink of beer or something. The sound will move fish up from several feet deep, especially at dusk. I like a big dahlberg myself, though the hairbugs are hard work to tie just to lose it to a three pound northern.

ice

[WxGuy]

Quote:

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Chug it a couple of times vigorously, then take a drink of beer or something.

---

Mitch,

We don't condone you drinking a beer until you're 21.

[mitch]

Ya I would probably have to take a drink of pop or something. I'm only 17.

[notsogoodfisherman]

Yeah I like using wolly buggers too this time of year. I have found the white and black one's work really well for nice sized sunfish. Also, an egg-sucking leech will get taken by larger panfish and bass. The fish typically do not surface on the warmer (80-90 degree) day's so fishing these lures in 8-12 feet works best.

[deeky]

Now that things are cooling off, I'm starting to think more about surface fishing again - yeah, it's a little addictive. Any one fishing dragon/damsel fly patterns? I've been tying a foam pattern shown to me by a friend, just haven't fished it yet.

Deeky