Orange, red, green, chartreuse, and white are all colors that are used when fishing poppers for bluegill and bass. One would think brown or black would be dominant colors fishing for warm water species, but not the case when trying to get a hit from weary bluegill or bass. The primary color of almost all insects that touch the water surface on Smith is black and brown, but I get many more hits using bright colors as opposed to the insect colors.
The fish were hitting orange on Tuesday morning. I tried other colors which resulted in no hits. As soon as I tied on the Orange popper the bass jumped on it. This Spotted Bass came out of the water to inhale the orange popper. This fish was the second landed on the popper off the wall in the background. The first bass on this same wall was larger and broke me off while I was trying to get it on the drag. Never let your fly line get tangled up at your feet while you are trying to land a fish. How I wish I could have touched that fish I lost!!
The following are some more orange lovers. The bluegill sucked the popper into its gills; it would be my only good bluegill of the morning. The depths on most all the walls now are 10 to 20 ft. as the drawdown continues getting ready for the fall season. The lake is well below full pool during the fall and winter. I kept wondering what bug the fish thought this popper was? All the Spotted Bass today were respectable giving my 3 wt. a workout!
Who needs a ruler when one can simply have it tattooed on your leg. I think I will pass on this tattoo. Tuesday was another fun day on beautiful Smith Lake!!
I hate it when your line is messed up. I've had it happen to me a couple times. You think that we would learn... You just get goin'!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, curious how fish lock on to a specific colour at times, isn't it? You wrote about electric blue recently too. As for the tattoo, that's taking dedication to the sport to another level!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Justin. With trout, one year it's pink, next year it's silver. That is why we have a zillion tackle boxes and fly boxes. Ya never know what they want.
ReplyDeleteBill, orange, yellow and pink work super good on my local trout.
ReplyDeleteMix some black in with those and your good to go.
Alan
ReplyDeleteBea poppers make orange poppers with black and grey hackle for the tail. The next trip I make could be a different color---will give the black/grey hackle a try. Thanks for the comment
Mark
ReplyDeleteI keep saying I don't need any more flies or poppers, but I always find an excuse to buy more. Agree about the color---thanks for the comment
Justin
ReplyDeleteThe Electric Blue was hot last year and the beginning of this year--as for the tattoo--I'm not a fan! Thanks for the comment
Emily
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how your fly line can find everything around your feet to get tangled in?? I feel that bass was a nice one--thanks for the comment
Bill, this is great information. I'm about to get serious about tying poppers and will add more colors to what I planned on tying. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDavid
ReplyDeleteIn years past on the lake, brown and black colors would get the fish's attention, but this year it takes a colored popper to get hits. Thanks for the comment