.ghoti.

Fly fishing for bass is awesome. But, so is baitcasting and spinning tackle. The fly rod is just one more tool in your toolbox. I use a 6wt rod for smaller bass flies and an 8wt for the larger ones. A weight forward "bass taper" line is a must. The bass taper line has more of the weight up front so you can cast and turn over those larger flies. A tapered leader is also a must. The best leader I've found comes from feathercraft. It's called a furled leader. They sell them in sizes and lengths for most line weights and applications. This is a braided mono leader. I use the 6' lengths on both the 6wt and 8wt, and tie on about 3' of tippet. The furled leader has a small ring on the tippet end, so you can tie on new tippets without shortening the leader. They seem to last forever. The one on my 8wt has been on there for three years now. When the tippet gets too short you can snip it off and tie on another one. I use regular mono, "geased" with floatant for surface flies and flouro for subsurface flies. 6lb test for the 6wt and 8lb test for the 8wt. The furled leaders aren't cheap. If memory serves, they're about 13 bucks each. But, they are well worth it. Buying flies is as addictive as buying lures and baits. The bait monkey's snooty cousin, the fly chimp, will be forever whispering in your ear. You will need a selection of flies, several patterns, in different sizes, but, you don't have to get crazy at first. I use the fly rod when the bass are shallow, so I use a few basic topwater patterns and a few basic sub-surface patterns. When the bass are deeper than about 4', I put the fly rod away. A wooly bugger will catch anything that swims. Get a dozen or so in different sizes and colors. I use these on the 6wt, cast out, let it sink and twitch it back slowly. Caught a lot of bass over the last couple of years doing this. Ditto for clouser minnow and deceiver patterns. There are several patterns made using rabbit strips. These are fur with the hide still attached. Once the hide gets saturated, these have an amazing action when twitched along just under the surface. They really look alive, and the bass will just crush "em. I use the 8wt for these. Once the hide is good and wet, they're too heavy for the 6wt. A similar pattern is the bouface. This is tied with marabou and is light enough to throw with the 6wt. Same retrieve, slightly different look in the water. I've had the most success with the bugger, rabbit strips and bouface's using darker colors and lighter, baitfish colors using the clousers and deceivers. For topwater use, a hopper pattern is hard to beat in the summer. Also damsel flies or dragonfly patterns are good. I use these on the 6wt, cast out and let "em sit as long as I can stand it. You can sometimes see the fish come up and give "em the hairy eyeball. When that happens, don't move it. If they turn away, give it a twitch. On the 8wt I use deer hair poppers and frogs. I don't catch near as many bass on these, but when I do they're usually better fish. These things are too heavy for the 6wt, but they are still very light. A lot of times, when the bass blow up on "em, the bug goes flying through the air. Very exciting and very frustrating. I have a much better strike to catch ratio with the dahlberg diver and the rabbit strip diver. These are a cross between the deer hair bug and the zonker. They float, but will dive to about a foot on a long strip, and slowly rise on the pause. When the bass wants one of these, they rarely miss it. I probably use these the most. I'll also use one of these on a split-shot rig with spinning tackle. Tried that last year when nothing else was working and caught a few keepers. All the above is useless if you can't cast. Fly casting and bait casting are just about completely opposite. Baitcasting is all in the wrist. Fly casting is all in the shoulder. Here's a tip. Practice trying to keep about 25' of line in the air. just back and forth, back and forth. Watch your rod tip. If it's describing an arc, you're using too much wrist. The rod should move back and forth from about 10:00 to about 2:00 and should travel in an almost straight line. You should never hear a whip crack. Watch the line at all times and don't change direction until the line is straight out behind, or in front, of you. With practice, you will be able to feel when that happens and you can stop watching the line and watch where you want to cast. When you can keep the line in the air without problems, you're ready to start casting. Again, keep the rod between 10:00 and 2:00. Stop it at 10:00 when you let go. Don't let the rod tip drop. Resist the urge to point the rod at your target, like you do with baitcast or spinnning gear. Keep it up at 10:00. If you don't, you'll end up with the line in a pile out in front of you. And don't try to cast a hundred feet. For bass fishing, 30 to 40 foot casts are plenty. You'll get more hooksets at a shorter distance. Accuracy is much more important than distance in this game. And sometimes, a nice soft landing makes all the difference. One more tip. Check out flyshack.com. They have a nice selection of flies for a lot less than most other places. The bass flies are all $1.50. You can buy the same ones at BPS or Cabela's for 4 -6 bucks apiece. Their selection is always changing. Sometimes they only have 10 or 12 bass patterns and other times they will have 40 or 50. One thing I like about them is, if they don't have it in stock, it's not on the page. If you buy 25 bucks worth, shipping is free. Try out hte noodle rod. You might just like it. Good luck, GK

SLOW DOWN !!!!!!!

TANSTAAFL There ain't no such thing as a free lunch

Thanks, RW!! Can't wait to get out and give 'em a try. I read somewhere, not sure where, that an underwater, "walk-the-dog" retrieve was effective. The game was, w-t-d, then kill it and let in sink on a slack line, then w-t-d etc. I'm thinking, this may be a good follow-up technique. Thanks for the help. GK

Cool story, RW, wish i'd been there. I read some of your earlier posts, and now have every color of palm tree's I can find. Been unable to locate ika's. I was just wondering, do you rig these weightless. They seem heavy enough. I've not had a chance to try them out yet, but we will be at Table Rock in a couple of weeks. In mid March the bass may still be deep. Have you tried these on a jighead or a t-rig? The only experimenting I've done was to rig one on a 4/0 EWG hook and drop it in the sink. It had a nice little wiggle as it sank. It seems to me, any added weight might kill that subtle action. Any thoughts?

for cranks, depth, speed and vibration are much more important than size or color. Try sorting your cranks by running depth. Use the cranks that will get to the structure you want to fish. Experiment with speed and cadence. Experiment with different baits for different vibrations. Once you've found the correct depth, speed, vibration and cadence, then think about size and color. That's my system. There are bound to be many more ways to do this. This is the one that works for me.

Thanks RoLo, You've just forced a change to my newly minted fishing log spreadsheet. I had vowed to do three things this year, with regards to fishing, that is. Learn to flip/pitch, learn to use a jig and keep a log. I've got a spreadsheet setup to record everything I think I need. So far, what I've included is date, time, air temp, water temp, water clarity, barometric pressure, size, depth and lure. I see that I'm going to have to add deviation columns for temps, clarity and pressures. I think you're on to something here. At the recent Bassmaster U. in St Louis, Jimmy Houston said to find out what the water is "doing". Is it changing temp, changing level, changing clarity, changing PH? Outside the conference room, Gary Klein said that may have been the best 30 seconds worth of information we were going to get. After read this thread, it has now been planted in my mind. I hope I get to fish as much this summer as I did last year. If I do, I should have a considerable amount of data to interpret. Thanks for bringing it home. If you think of any other data that should be included, please pass it on. When I get the spreadsheet set up to my satisfaction, I'd be happy to pass it on.

To Will, Randy Howell is a truly nice young man, with a depth of knowledge beyond his years. He had a relaxed, humorous approach to his presentations. As a result, I'll be dusting off the spinning tackle this year. To 1990, I'm working on transcribing my notes and recordings. This is going to take a while. I have two jobs that keep me very busy right now. When I have everything organized, I'll see if Glenn is interested in putting it here someplace. To Hammer, Gary Klein convinced me to give fipping and pitching one more try. I'd given up on it because I just couldn't get the hang of that casting style. A short five minute lesson, in the hallway, after his first session, convinced me I can do it. I ordered one of his signature flipping sticks yesterday. After having his in my hands, I had to do it. It's an 8', moderate action stick with split rear grip and spiral wrapped guides. That action makes the whole flipping/pitching thing much easier for me. I'm still stoked. Can't wait for warmed weather. I'll be out in the back yard practicing pitching as soon as the new rod and reel arrive.

Had an awesome time. Gary Klein, Jimmy Houston, George Cochran on day one and Davy Hite, Randy Howell and Larry Nixon on day two. Somebody here mentioned that Gary Klein is their new favorite. I'll have to agree. He has an analytical approach that appeals to the techno-geek in me. Got a few new tips and tricks to try this year. Also got a ton of ideas on patterning and eliminating unproductive water. Lots of stuff to absorb. Took lots of notes and recorded it all. I used a mini digital recorder and the sound quality is terrible, but I will get it transcribed someday soon and as I get it assimilated I'll start passing it on. I had only two complaints. There were no tables in the conference room. Just chairs. No place to easily write notes. I really did not care for the format, either. There were three speakers each day. Each one had an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. This was too short. Every speaker ran out of time. All six were excellent and each brought something different to the table, but, I would have liked to have heard more from Gary Klein and Larry Nixon. These two had some very interesting ideas. It was obvious that both had a lot more to say. Had a front row seat for the whole thing.

I'm signed up this weekend for St Louis. I've never attended anything like this, and I'm looking forward to it. Glad to hear a good recommendation.

Every guided trip I've been on, the guide has fished. I never saw anything wrong with it. The main reason I booked a guide was to familiarize myself with the lake and any local tactics. Ive learned something from every guide I've been with. It's much easier to learn by watching. And yes, most of the time I was outfished by the guide. Again, I have no problem with that.

The first step on the road to a cure is admitting you have a problem. I only fish every chance I get. After work, before work, all weekend. No problem. We don't need no stinking cure!!

Anybody going to the one in St Louis this weekend. I just signed up. I've never been to anything like this and don't know what to expect. Thanks, GK

The best fisherman today is the guy out on the water fishing, not sitting around here, like I am, fooling around on the net.

I've been using this for several years and it works. If you use senko's or power bait plastics you really need to check this out. Bass will swallow both of those baits quickly. I posted this a few months ago and got a few heated replies for fellow fishermen concerned about damage to the gills. You do have to careful with tools in the gill area. I found a neat little tool to facilitate this Technique. You'll find one at most fly shops. It's a set of hemostats with the tip bent 180 degrees. Makes it very easy to reach up through the gill plate and grab the line. With the bend on the jaws of the tool, there's no sharp point to cause any damage. I found mine at the St Louis Fly Shop. ( feather-craft.com ) It was about 12 bucks.

They look intersesting. I'm guessing, with a little creativity, you could make your own for considerably less.

I once heard, in reference to spinnerbaits, if you're not throwing chartreuse, you're not bass fishing. Don't know about that. I do know that chartreuse is my best spinnerbait color, with white a close second. And black at night. For this last year, my best producing senko was the one with the chartreuse tail. For tubes, it was blue-black first and then anything with a chartreuse tail next. I just started using spike-it this year after reading one of Chris's posts. The only color I have is charteuse. I guess that says something. I have no idea why this color produces, but it does. It looks absolutely unnatural. The only problem I've had is dipped worms. The blugills get all over them. Having said all that, I still believe that depth and speed/presentation are much more important than color. Good luck to all, GK

Check out in fisherman's website. Al Lindner wrote one of the best books on bass fishing. It should still be there for sale.

I think can all agrre that "stained" or "clear" cna be considered relative terms. The case can be made for considering these terms regionally relative. Clear water in my neck of the woods would probably be called stained or even dirty water in Minnesota or California. Doesn't matter what you call it. As the water gets clearer, go with more natural looking baits. As the water gets dirtier go with darker colors. Find the fish, get the depth and speed right, and worry about color last. Good luck to all, GK

I made the call. The lady I spoke to seemed surprised that I was concerned about have my points deleted. She said, as long as I buy something, and not necessarily using rewards points, before June I was OK. She did indicate that there have been quite a few calls on this issue. By the way, I have $60+ in rewatds dollars two gift certificates at $50 each. It's time for a new reel. Is the new curado 100 bucks better than the older, on sale, model? Good luck to all, GK

I tend to classify bait colors into three categories, like Triton Mike. I call 'em dark, natural and goofy. But, color is the last part of the equation. Location (depth) is the first and most important. Presentation; speed, horizontal vs vertical, fast vs slow, erratic vs steady, is the next piece. Where the fish are relative to the structure / cover determines the presentation. Get the location and presentation right first and worry about the color last. It's the least important part of the puzzle. Having said that, I will go with more natural colors as the water becomes clearer and darker as the water becomes more stained, going goofy as a last resort. Hope this helps. Good luck to all, GK

I love to fish on the rain. But I haven't done much at 50 degrees. My best producers have been a very shallow crank and a spinnerbait run just under the surface. The rain on the water's surface diffuses the already low light and brings the fish up in the water column, making a shallow presentation a good option. The 50 degree conditions will probably alter the equation a bit. Maybe a shallow running jerkbait or a fluke would do well. Or possibly a small spinnerbait with bigger blades to provide more lift and allow a slower, shallow running presentation. When fishing in the rain, I use a pair of kitchen gloves with the fingers cut off. You know the type. They are what your wife uses when she cleans the oven. Or the kind you use to clean the oven if she has you properly house-broken. I get one size too small for a snug fit. Helps keep the hands drier. Good luck, GK

Most productive; 1. T-Rigged plstics 2. Spinnerbaits 3. Crankbaits. Most fun; 1. Topwater 2. Fly rod with big rabbit strip flies

For snakes, check out coldsteel.com, click on specialty items, then on sjamboks. I've used one for two years now. They are cheap, LEGAL, and very effective. Had to use it twice; once on a cottonmouth that "fell" into the boat, and once on a copperhead my wife caught on a 4" senko. Somebody earlier had the best advice. Just back away. Most snakes will not bother you if you don't bother them. Discretion is the beter part of valor. Unless the snake is in the boat with you. Then, maybe; excretion is the bitter part of valor. Good luck to all, GK

If your committed to the braid, try not setting the hook. Just real faster and pull back a little on the rod. I use braid for buzzbaits, and the fish will hook themselves with this technique. I've not tried it with spinnerbaits. Don't know if it will work. I use fluoro for spinnerbaits, and a softer rod. About trailer hook, I'll almost always start off without one, then put one on if I get a couple of short strikes. In my experience, adding a trailer hook increases your hook-up ratio about the same amount as your hang-up ratio. You should probably ignore that last comment if you're a tournament angler. I'm not, so missing the first spinnerbait bite is not the end of the wolrd for me. I agree with the comment about short strikes made earlier. It's possible the fish changed it's mind at the last second. My first response to this is to change baits and go with something more subtle. If you're using a double-blade, go with a single, and/or a more natural color. If that doesn't work try a heavier bait cranked faster to give the fish less time to change it's mind. Here's another tip. Put the trailer hook on "upside-down". You'll have the spinnerbait hook pointing up and the trailer hook pointing down. I think this increases your chances at the short strikes. Just don't throw this into weeds and brush. It will hang up every time. This is an open water option. Good luck to all, GK