Your Fly Fishing For Bass Should Be S-L-O-W..... Slow

[Brian K. Shaffer]

So I am watching these ESPN fishing shows... and they always seem to be fishing great water. BUT they seem to be fishing it way too fast in my opinion.

How do they cover water ? Faster than lightning ? Faster..... whats the word ?

How should you cover water when you go about bass on top with fly or flies? SLOW and meticulous. Methodical. Because you have a plan to catch 6 - not the 1 and gun method of the bass boater guys.

Anyone else out there realize that fly fishing slow and creepy in every good spot for over a full cove is better than blasting 75 quick castings for 8 minutes like these bass guys do ?

Maybe I just don't get bass master quickie bass fishing... all of which is on TV lately.

What do you think ?

Brian

[Gavin]

Slow works, especially with a bass bug. I just toss it out there and let it dead drift or sit. Maybe wiggle it a tiny bit after its been sitting for 30 seconds or more or not at all. Sometimes you need to pop it to draw attention to the bug, but its the exception not the rule...Dont know why we call em bass poppers, cuz they seem to work best when you do as little as possible.

Gear fishing IS a different discipline though. Fly fishing is an inherently slow method unless your casting at rising fish with a dry fly. Gear allows you to fish fast, and sometimes fast is the way to go. I really enjoy fishing a buzzbait or a walk the dog plug while float fishing in the summer time. You cant deny the effectiveness of those baits, but you cant do anything that resembles those presentations with a fly rod. Cheers.

[trout fanatic]

I actually use both methods quite often. Especially when using a large bass bug. A methodical and regular strip-strip-strip seems to work quite well. I follow it up with slower strips and pauses in between strips (in late spring the faster strip seems to produce better-but often when one doesn't, the other one will). But by any stretch of the imagination, it ain't runnin an gunnin and I do not like to fish that way.

[midgefisher]

Brian do you use bamboo for bass? I know you like it for some of your trout fishing. Yes slow works cheers

[drew03cmc]

Big, heavy cane is great for bass, but IMO, where smaller fish are the norm, there is no need for anything over a 5wt. Fish streamers in cover and bring them back with a varied retrieve.

[Gavin]

Cane for bass...depends on what your tossing...I gravite toward graphite for big bass bugs and large streamers at distances of 50' or more, but cane works fine for smaller flies and short casts. Cheers.

[Randall]

I probably should fish more topwater because the takes are exciting but I generally throw clousers and other streamers when I fish for bass with pretty good results. I totally agree that fishing topwater bass bugs slow is more productive. Streamers on the other hand... I think that just kind of depends on some variable I have yet to identify.

As for the bamboo... not a huge fan. I've only cast a few in parking lots but I didn't really like how they felt... they just felt too soft. They sure do look pretty though.

[fishinwrench]

As one who started flyfishing with fiberglass, then fell madly in love with the first graphite rod I ever laid hands on, I really can't seem to appreciate the feel and action of a bamboo rod at all. They do look sweet, but every single one that I have handled was either way too tip heavy, or way too slow for me to build up decent line speed. I'd take a cheap and ugly IM6 graphite rod over a gorgeous piece of grass, anyday.

As far as "slow is always best for bass" ? I say noway. A fly that is actively moving often gets several fish competing for it, which obviously ups your chances that one of them is gonna get stuck. Whereas a slow moving fly is less likely to cause such a reaction among a group of fish.

In most cases I think the longer a bass looks at a fly the less likely he is to take it in his mouth (unless you're bed fishing). I know that most of my bites come within 10 seconds of the fly hitting the water. But I guess if you cast and let it sit for a minute or two you might up your chances of a fish cruising under it, noticing a twitch, then MAYBE eating it, but that doesn't suit my style at all (I'm way to impatient for all that "ring settling" business)LOL.

I honestly think trying to elicit a reaction strike is a better approach for Me 90% of the time, especially in the clear streams, ponds and lakes where I normally throw bass flys.

There is a time though that I'll dead drift a white sneaky pete and do pretty well, but that's only about a 3 week window in the Fall on a certain stretch of the little Niangua. Never had it work as well anywhere else, or at any other time. But of course I'm not done learning and trying different things, by far.

My bass flyrodding success, especially in regard to smallmouth, is somewhat hampered by the fact that I'll pick up a spinning rod real quick if the action is kinda slow.

[Zack Hoyt]

I tend to agree with what FW said. I find bass to be highly aggressive, so a slow target hasn't yielded many results for me.

[Flysmallie]

I totally agree with Wench and Zack. If you are only fishing slow for bass you are missing a lot of fun.

You can't compare fishing a tournament to fly fishing. Those are two extremely different styles of fishing looking for different results.