I’m getting close

[Seth]

Are you fly rod guys fishing anything besides clear low pressure stretches? I'd love to see somebody with a fly rod come go toe to toe with conventional gear in the areas that I regularly fish. I'm honestly not sure how a fly rod angler would effectively fish the areas that I catch a lot of my fish in. Too deep and swift or relating to heavy wood cover.

[Flysmallie]

15 minutes ago, Seth said:

Are you fly rod guys fishing anything besides clear low pressure stretches? 

Yes.

It's not the best option for deep water. But it works a lot deeper than you would think. I can drag something through some pretty deep stretches and catch fish. But where it really excels is casting to targets over and over again. So what if they are tight to wood, you can still get a "fly" in there. You have to forget everything that you think you know about flyfishing. These aren't trout. 

It's not for everybody but to me it's a hell of a lot more fun than conventional gear. Not that I don't have conventional gear in the boat with me at the same time. You also have to remember that this is a different way of fishing. If you are about the numbers and size, not that those are bad mindsets (I've been there), then it's probably not your game. But to say it can't be efficient is just incorrect.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

I consider myself a better than average fly fisherman and I'll eventually switch over to fly fishing for them.  I grew up with a fly purist dad but I am not one myself.  I enjoy all kinds of fishing but moving water is my favorite whether fly of conventional.  Trolling motor with spot lock will certainly make it easier.  The fish I caught this past weekend certainly could have been caught on a fly rod, they were shallow.

[Seth]

46 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

Yes.

It's not the best option for deep water. But it works a lot deeper than you would think. I can drag something through some pretty deep stretches and catch fish. But where it really excels is casting to targets over and over again. So what if they are tight to wood, you can still get a "fly" in there. You have to forget everything that you think you know about flyfishing. These aren't trout. 

It's not for everybody but to me it's a hell of a lot more fun than conventional gear. Not that I don't have conventional gear in the boat with me at the same time. You also have to remember that this is a different way of fishing. If you are about the numbers and size, not that those are bad mindsets (I've been there), then it's probably not your game. But to say it can't be efficient is just incorrect.  

I can think of times when I bet a fly rod would definitely wreck them, but it would be when the water clears up and flows are lower. Basically anytime I would throw a fluke or trick worm.

[Seth]

I've never caught any smallies on the fly rod, but I do remember landing a 19" largemouth on one. I was fishing a small dry fly near some rocks when I was in my early teens, possibly preteen, for bluegill and green sun fish on a lake I lived on. The bite was just like the perch bites, but then this beautiful green bass flew out of the water and put up a great fight. It was a pretty awesome experience. If I had a fly rod heavy enough to throw bass sized gear, I'd probably give it a whirl just to say I did it. It does sound fun. I'd imagine it would be similar to chasing big browns albeit you would be fishing tighter to the bank and cover. I'd probably spend more time in the trees than the in the water.......

[tjm]

1 hour ago, Seth said:

Are you fly rod guys fishing anything besides clear low pressure stretches? I'd love to see somebody with a fly rod come go toe to toe with conventional gear in the areas that I regularly fish. I'm honestly not sure how a fly rod angler would effectively fish the areas that I catch a lot of my fish in. Too deep and swift or relating to heavy wood cover.

The entire Elk drainage could be called clear and low pressure,  but many of my biggest have come from near a lowwater bridge that has other anglers and swimmers on it almost daily in warm weather. Fast enough water  to skate an 1/16 oz jig if you want,  and right against boulders and logs or roots. the repeatably of cast is the thing, 2" from the log over and over all day long if you want.  (with zero cranking in)  Depth is likely not what you are used to but is the bottom, idk, maybe 12' more or less depending on hole. I would consider a boat a disadvantage, other than for transport.

[Flysmallie]

44 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I grew up with a fly purist dad but I am not one myself. 

I grew up with a gear fishing fanatic dad and spent most of my younger years in a bass boat fishing tournaments. I didn't really start trying to fly fish until maybe 15 or 16 years ago. 

A few years ago I got the chance to fish with Trigg for smallmouth for a day and he really opened my eyes up to what could be done. We caught fish shallow that day and we also caught them deep. 

I also spend a lot of time fishing with @Harps and he uses a fly rod 99.99999% of the time and regularly catches the biggest of the day. 

I'm not trying to convince anyone that this is the way to fish for smallmouth, I just don't think everyone should turn up their nose to it when they really have no idea what can be done. 

[Gavin]

Fly fishing works when it works....If I pitch a buzzbait or a walker out and it gets smacked before it moves 6"....Put the bait caster down and grab the fly rod with the big popper, cuz probably game on.

 

 

[tjm]

 That's something I''ll have to try again some time, I don't recall ever taking a smb on a popper, only rarely on top for the bigger gals. I have caught some medium size large mouth on poppers, but only in frog ponds.

[Seth]

15 minutes ago, Gavin said:

Fly fishing works when it works....If I pitch a buzzbait or a walker out and it gets smacked before it moves 6"....Put the bait caster down and grab the fly rod with the big popper, cuz probably game on.

 

 

Exactly. If the conditions permit, then I see no reason why the fly rod wouldn't work great. In fact, I think it could be a darn good tool for largemouth fishing on the rivers since they like to tuck up next to cover right on the banks when the water is slightly high. I target those fish with spinnerbaits most of the time, but I'm sure I miss certain nooks and crannies that hold fish due to wasting time reeling my lure back in to cast back out. I'm pretty darn efficient when it comes to pounding a bank with a spinnerbait too (high speed reel, not switch hands to roll cost, close quarters). A big white and/or chartreuse streamer or popper could nail those fish if you can put it in the right spot since they usually bite within inches of the bank.