Meal Time!!

 Spring is my favorite time of year to fly fish. The fish are far more active, the early spawn is getting closer, and they’re in a protective frenzy around their beds. During this time of year, they’ll strike almost anything that comes near their beds. You can expect a vigorous fight from both bluegill and bass. After feeding heavily through late fall and winter, these fish are in top shape and ready to put a serious bend in any fly rod.

Today my 2/3‑weight fly rods got quite a workout as I fished Walker County Lake. I landed numerous small bluegill along with some quality bull gills. None of these fish were spawning yet, but they were holding about ten feet off the banks. It was the same script as last year — steady action with hits spaced about ten to 15 minutes apart. In other words, patience was the key to putting together a good catch today.

Tiny poppers and small buggers were the bluegills’ choice of fake food this morning. My season always starts at Walker County Lake and finishes up on Smith Lake in the fall.  Today was the start of my twenty first season fishing this great lake. I never tire fishing its waters

Little Fish Keep You Focused

As stated in the title of this post, little fish can be a motivating factor to keep casting even on slow fishing days. That was the case yesterday, when I made my first trip of the year to Walker Lake. Water temp was a cool 60 degrees and no wind and overcast skies, which is near perfect conditions for fly fishing: but it was not to be. I am glad I was fishing with 7 1/2 ft. 2 wt. becasue even these little guys seem big on the 2wt. I landed bunches of these little gills during my 3 hour trip, which was fun and great practice to land the big bulls I will encourter in the next 3 weeks. 

The Caddis fly that I had tied a few weeks back was the main fly the little gills would inhaled, which please me becasue now I know some of the flies I have tied have value. The water was super clear and the least movemnet of the boat would spook the fish, so I changed my tippet size to an 6X --2lb test to get a lighter presentation of the caddis. This was my first time to use a tippet this light: I was impressed 

After tying the flies last week I decided to apply some Stay Dry floatant on the few I was going to fish with. I was amazed at thow well it worked. I was able to fish the last couple of hours without appling anymore. The has to be the best floatant I have ever used! 

It was Spring Break this week for our grandchildren and Cathey and I were glad we got to spend the weekend with our Daughter and her two girls. Our two grandsons were on deep sea fishing trip with their Dad and Grandpaw. Our youngest grandchild, Little Hallie got to land her first fish, using redworms, she was really excited!!  

Fishing Small Lures is a Winner!!

 As most of you know, I fish three different places where we live: Walker County Lake, Smith Lake, and the Sipsey Tailrace. All three are within 25 minutes of our house, and all three are heavily fished. In other words, they are pressured waters. I learned years ago that if I wanted to be successful fishing pressured waters—especially the areas you call your home waters—I couldn’t fish the way everyone else was fishing.

When we called Tupelo, Mississippi home back in the mid-70s and early ’80s, I fished with baitcasting and spinning reels. I would always carry two to three combos with me—both baitcasting and spinning gear—and I consistently landed more fish using the spinning gear. Both setups were medium to medium-heavy. Landing a standard 12- to 14-inch bass wasn’t much of a fight on either combo, but the spinning gear was always the winner.

Then came my first experience using ultralight combos in the spring of 1977. Back then, nobody really used light tackle on the four lakes my fishing buddy and I fished. True, you could purchase light tackle, but it wasn’t promoted like it is today. I started with a 6½-foot Eagle Claw ultralight action rod and a small to medium Garcia spincast reel spooled with 6-pound test monofilament.

I still remember that trip because we had company coming for dinner that night—and I was late. The reason? I had the best fishing trip I had ever experienced. In one afternoon, I landed between 40 and 50 bass in the 11- to 14-inch range using my Garcia combo. It was mid-afternoon, overcast, and there was no wind. That one trip changed the way I fish to this day.

Ralph, my fishing buddy during our years in Tupelo, caught fish too—but not nearly the numbers I landed. In fact, I felt so bad about the success I was having that I gave up the front seat in the boat to him. On our next trip the following week, guess who had the same combo I was fishing with? We still talk about that trip and all the others we made together.

Over the next couple of years, I really got into ultralight fishing. The day we left Mississippi for Jasper, I owned five ultralight combos. Two of those were microlight rods in lengths of 7½ feet and 8 feet. Those two are the only ones I still have from the original five. Since then, I’ve added a couple of 7-foot Spinmatic ultralight rods to go along with my microlights.

Today, I mainly use the micro light rods when Cathey and I fish for the huge bluegills on Smith Lake in July and August. My grandchildren use the 7-foot ultralights when they’re fishing the 15-acre lake in Greystone Farms, where Jason has a house. He lives there four to five times a year, and the rest of the time he’s in Sacramento working for Kaiser Health. Cathey and I house-sit for him while he’s away.

So how did I land all those bass that day with the Garcia combo? I was fishing a small 4-inch bleeding shiner curly-tail worm rigged on a 1/0 hook. I rigged the worm so it would have a slight bend, which caused it to swim with circular motion. I worked the worm slowly with short jerks—there was no mistaking a strike. I attached a barrel swivel to the eye of the hook to prevent line twist, which is a must when fishing this worm using a finesse presentation. I still land bass today on Jason’s lake using this method—and so do the grandkids. It’s a little unconventional, but believe me, it works.

That little 4-inch worm is not the only lure that produces results with ultralight combos. Remember, you’re presenting lures to the fish that the fish don’t see very often. Tiny crankbaits, rattle traps, 1/32- to 1/8-ounce jig heads rigged with Z-Shad grubs—or any grub that resembles a baitfish—can all be fished effectively on a 7-foot ultralight. The microlights spooled with 2 to 4lb. test line are also very effective when fishing tungsten-bead Woolly Buggers slowly. . The lighter the line the more distance you get with each cast. I’ve landed huge bluegills fishing Woolly Buggers with both the microlights and fly rods.

The rule I have followed ever since that epic day in 1977 is this:

When fishing clear, pressured water—go smaller.

When fishing cold water—go smaller.

Even in the springtime, stay with smaller lures.

You will be rewarded.

Staying Busy During the Cold Weather

 I thought I would share some of the projects I’ve been working on during the cold month of January. As many of you know, one of my hobbies is woodworking, and during the winter months I spend a lot of time in my wood shop. Too cold to fish this time of the yearfor me, especially when the temps are in the mid 50's or lower during the day. I remember being on the water during those cold temp days when I was younger but not anymore. That is why my fishing season begins now the last week in March. 

Cathey wanted a small bench for our back porch, which I made using scrap pine. I seldom throw away lumber that I think I can use one day for a project such as this bench. I needed a larger shelf to store some of my fishing items. Everything you see on the shelf had been taking up space in the bottom of my boat. The hat rack was a must!

I've been doing a lot of fly tying lately. These are the better ones I am willling to share. I am not worried about a traditional color, but just in the experiment stage now. The colors are a little far-fetched, and probably doesn't relate to a particular bug or insect. I have learned one thing since I started tying: is the videos on line make it look so easy, but for me it has been a fun challenge, not frustrating. It will be interesting in the Spring to see which one of these beauties will attract a take. I will be trying some of these patterns on the tailrace as soon the temps warm.