Explaining The Slow Bite, After 10AM

 While fly fishing this past Tuesday in Ryan Creek on Smith Lake, I noticed the bite slowed after 10 o'clock. I also saw that the fish still interested in my poppers were extremely scattered. In other words, I was fishing a lot of dead water, which is water with basically no fish, with the exception of a few tiny bluegills in the shallows. 

 That trip on Tuesday caused me to share my own assumptions about why the bite slows during midday compared to daylight hours and why the bass and bluegill that were aggressive in the early morning hours change their feeding patterns in midday through mid-afternoon. 

I am going to limit my reasoning solely to the bass and bluegill species that I fish for in my home waters, Smith Lake and Walker County Lake. 

If you have followed my blog over the years, you know that my favorite time to fish is at daylight. Simply put, that is when the fish are the most active! Why is this? Because fish like bass, bluegill, or even trout often hunt best in low light, when their prey is less able to see them. Insects and small baitfish are more active or more vulnerable at dawn and dusk, making them an easy meal for a hungry bass or trout, and they are less visible to birds and surface predators during these times. Daylight and evening hours often bring cooler water temperatures, ideal for many species, especially in warm months. Cloudy or overcast skies subdue sunlight, mimicking dawn/dusk conditions, and will extend active feeding times. Cloud cover can also signal an incoming weather system, which often triggers a feeding frenzy before pressure drops. That is why I pay close attention to the barometric reading before and during the times I am on the water. 

If you fish long enough, as I have, you will notice the active feeding time during daylight hours lasts two to three hours, depending on cloud cover. The bite slows from 9 AM until midday because the high sun makes the fish more visible to predators, so they often retreat to cover or deeper water. The insects and baitfish may also retreat or hide during the heat of the day, reducing available food. 

Take heart, there are ways you can still land fish during the slow midday bite. First, I slow everything down, starting with my casting and boat movement, and develop more patience. The fish haven't developed lock-jaw at this time of day, but you must entice them to take your offering. Remember that the fish will not attack your popper as aggressively as daylight hours, so letting the fly sit motionlessly for at least 30 seconds or more will sometimes get a take if the fly is in a shaded area or near cover. I have noticed many times during a slow bite period that the fish will slap, swirl, and sip the bug. The slap, swirl, and sip routine is the time I change to a smaller popper in the form of a size 12 caddis, bogglebullet size 10, or the Orvis bream bug size 12. With these poppers, you are trying to create a quite stealthy presentation. I use my  9ft. 3 and 4-weight rods rigged with a 6X tippet instead of the normal 5X or 4X tippet used with my 5wt. or 6wt. fly rods with these flies. Most of the time, one of these three poppers will produce a take. Remember the amount of water you are covering with no fish in it. So when you encounter a fish to hit your offering during this period, make a great cast, present the fly as life-like as possible, and have the patience to let the fly sit until the water rings have disappeared. The slow bite can be rewarding and discouraging, but remember to stay positive and think every cast will produce a take!! LET'S GO FISHING!!!

Catfish on the Flyrod

 

This past Friday was another epic day fishing for bluegill using my 7 1/2 ft. 3 wt. Flyrod fishing Walker County Lake. While fishing for the big bull bluegills, I landed the largest catfish ever on the flyrod. The fish hit a size 8 orange popper fishing near weed pads on the lake's levee. I knew it was big as soon as the fish made its first run. Little did I know it was a little over 8 lbs 26 inches. This catfish didn't top my carp last year, but it came close. Who knows, I may land one of their elusive Walleye next year. I never fish this lake with anything above a 2 and 3 wt. Flyrod. Let's say I like the challenge. 

Looking closely, you can see the popper hooked into the catfish's whisker. It's a miracle I landed it, considering the 15-minute fight he put up. I gave the catfish to the gentleman in the background fishing near the lake's edge. He was as excited as I was landing the fish. 

Testing the Waters

There's been one day in the last two weeks here in Jasper that was suitable enough to fish and that was last Monday. The rest of the time it has been raining with flooding. Ivan and I boarded my Pelican boat and fished Monday afternoon on beautiful Walker Lake. We wanted to see if the bluegill and red-eye bass had moved into the shallow water next to the banks. We spent a good three hours casting small poppers and nymphs in some areas we both had fished before. 

I had to change poppers quite a few times before I got this bluegill to sniff hit it. Sniff hit meaning an extremely light hit, making me believe that the fish was annoyed with popper. This fish and the other small ones we landed were at least 6 to 7 ft. away from the banks; in other words no bank action at all. 

A slight breeze all afternoon kept the water surface laced with ripples. The only place we got any surface action at times was when found a smooth surface area.  Some small lakes take on a drab look in the winter months, but not Walker it retains its beauty throughout the year with large pine and oak trees lining its banks. 

Ivan landed this bluegill using a small Betts white popper. He spent a good hour fishing various colored popper patterns before this fish hit. Letting the popper sit motionless for a short period produced the strike. I was surprised that no fish was landed using the nymph. I told Ivan before we launched the boat that landing fish would be secondary for me this afternoon because I was just glad to get on the water. 

The levee was one area to avoid the wind. Poppers don't produce well when fishing choppy water surfaces. There was no red-eyed bass landed on this day. The red-eyed bass is native to the creek that feeds Walker Lake. The largest I've ever landed here was in the 12" size. 

The size 10 Betts popper is one of my favorites when fishing for finicky fish. The white and red Betts poppers were the winners today that got the bluegill's attention. Color does make a difference when fishing for bluegill. Most fishermen will tell you that bluegill is stupid and will hit anything cast their way; not the case when fishing out of season for this fish. Catching this size bluegill on a 2 and 3 weight fly rod is a blast. All of the small nooks in this lake doesn't require one to fish with a long fly rod. A 7 1/2 foot fly rod is a great choice to cover the banks making a short cast. 

As I get older I've come to realize that one doesn't have to land the largest and the most fish. Today's trip was a great example of that statement!!