So what is the smallest insects "decent" size bass eat? 

 

I have been fishing a local community man made lake lately. Theres a lot of dinks at this lake, and you can see them blowing up on gnats in the evening. This place has so many gnats, even the ducks are eating them. Now sure I figure gnats would be a good food source for dinks, but what about these gnats as a food source for larger bass? Or are they so small its something they wouldn't bother with. so it got me thinking, how small is too small. 

 

 

During the coldest months, even large bass feed on tiny invertebrates. Aquatic bugs of all kinds are on the menu, many of which are the larval stage of flying insects we see later when the temps warm. I caught a 20" bass fishing for trout a couple years ago on a 1/80th ounce micro jig under a bobber while fishing for trout. They'll gorge on mayflies too.

I don't know how small of invertebrates but they will eat them. I have a cousin who caught a 6.5 pound bass while ice fishing for bluegills. He was using a 1/64th ounce tungsten jig and small panfish plastic.

4 minutes ago, ABart61 said:

I don't know how small of invertebrates but they will eat them. I have a cousin who caught a 6.5 pound bass while ice fishing for bluegills. He was using a 1/64th ounce tungsten jig and small panfish plastic.

Not a 6.5, but it happens to me every year through the ice. I've caught several largemouth on a 1/64th oz jig and a single mealworm. It's usually a letdown because I'm targeting big perch, but it's a blast on 2lb test.

I think you are correct, they do eat micro organisms, but it gets complicated targeting them that way. I generally have to  fish larger flies in an attempt to avoid the d**n sunfish and perch. I have caught smaller bass (10-12") on #6 Wooly Worms, but the sunfish are a nuisance with that size. This year, I have switched to larger (2-4") articulated Wooly Buggers, hoppers, and eel worms. That makes it an all or nothing proposition. I did hook (for about one second)  a large Tiger Muskie on a #12 nymph years ago. But I cannot effectively fish small flies on the heavy leaders required for bigger bass and pike.

43 minutes ago, Whatever said:

I think you are correct, they do eat micro organisms, but it gets complicated targeting them that way. I generally have to  fish larger flies in an attempt to avoid the d**n sunfish and perch. I have caught smaller bass (10-12") on #6 Wooly Worms, but the sunfish are a nuisance with that size. This year, I have switched to larger (2-4") articulated Wooly Buggers, hoppers, and eel worms. That makes it an all or nothing proposition. I did hook (for about one second)  a large Tiger Muskie on a #12 nymph years ago. But I cannot effectively fish small flies on the heavy leaders required for bigger bass and pike.

 

I want to try some of those articulated flys. Are you using a fly rod or spin rod?

 

 

so this lake has really no structer/cover/weed beds, or anything. Its a man made lake. There are some bluegill in there, but not many, there are however a ton of dinks in the lake. I have been fishing it for over a year, and still nothing but dinks. Most people that fish there catch nothing. I am wondering to myself if the reason theres nothing but dinks is because of a poor habitat and lack of food source. The place is heavily fished by beginner fisherman, its tough to catch anything on night crawlers. I catch more on a jig than bait. 

I have caught some pretty decent sized bass on my 4wt fly fishing using a slow sinking spider that is no more than an inch long.  I think it boils down to ease of eating and proximity.  if i let a slow sinking spider drop right in front of a largemouths nose where they literally just have to open their mouth, the effort expended isn't much and they get a little snack.  

12 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

During the coldest months, even large bass feed on tiny invertebrates. Aquatic bugs of all kinds are on the menu, many of which are the larval stage of flying insects we see later when the temps warm. I caught a 20" bass fishing for trout a couple years ago on a 1/80th ounce micro jig under a bobber while fishing for trout. They'll gorge on mayflies too.

My PB bass, an 8.5 lb. largemouth, came (I'm almost embarrassed to say) on a size 10 black wooly bugger fished on a 5 weight flyrod. It was early January, I had gotten the flyrod as a Christmas present, it was my first non-Walmart flyrod (an Orvis) and I was anxious to get out and try casting it. I went to a pond, no real expectation of catching a bluegill much less a PB bass, just wanted to try casting the new setup. It was about 35 degrees that day, and whammo, what do you know.

 

Thank God it was cold that day because in warm water there's no chance I could have landed that size bass on a 5 weight. But at the same time, in mid summer that fish would likely have had very little interest in whatever a tiny size 10 black wooly bugger imitates. I think Bluebasser hit the nail on the head; when the water is cold and food is scarce, even big bass will feed on very small prey. Middle of the summer, maybe not so much, although I can easily see dink bass gorging on mayflies in the summer for instance. There the quantity can make up for the small size; one mayfly might not make for a meal even for a dink bass, but a mouthful of 200 of them might go quite a ways.

 

That had to be a fun tussle!

 

Yup, bass are opportunists, while we're measuring they're food, they're busy eating  ?

 

Roger

49 minutes ago, Jonas Staggs said:

 

I want to try some of those articulated flys. Are you using a fly rod or spin rod?

 

 

so this lake has really no structer/cover/weed beds, or anything. Its a man made lake. There are some bluegill in there, but not many, there are however a ton of dinks in the lake. I have been fishing it for over a year, and still nothing but dinks. Most people that fish there catch nothing. I am wondering to myself if the reason theres nothing but dinks is because of a poor habitat and lack of food source. The place is heavily fished by beginner fisherman, its tough to catch anything on night crawlers. I catch more on a jig than bait. 

I typically use a fly rod, but a spinning (or bait caster?) with a casting bubble should work as well. I buy the bigger (23mm) articulated shanks, although traditionally using a 7x long shank with the hook bend snipped off will work. You can link 2 or 3 (or more) together to increase length, and I use cactus chenille to increase girth. With the price of good hooks, i think the shanks are cheaper. I either weight them, or not, depending on desired water depth. We have very clear water here, and when shallow, a delicate presentation is important. I am currently trying a "suspender", using foam and lead wire to achieve that. And I am thinking to try a full floater, especially at night. Another development is tying them weedless, so I can fish the lily pads so prevalent in a few lakes.

My favorite is sight fishing to cruising bigmouths in 3 - 4' of clear water. They cruise in areas almost devoid of cover, with a light silt bottom. I use a boat (canoe, kayak, or skiff) as the local lakes are mostly to brushy and timbered to back cast. For presentation (but not casting)  DT 6 weight line works better than a WF, with a 9' floro leader, as the fish are spooky. On that note, I prefer  fac tapered leaders, as my homebuilt knotted leaders create a series of ripples (at every knot) when fished on the surface. A sinking leader avoids this. If there is any cover I get the smaller pike as well, but they usually snip the line. I put the hook point in the final segment to avoid this also. I did catch a 12# pike two years ago, and amazingly, he did not get the line in his teeth.

Send me a PM, and I can send you a few flies.

That's it. Im bringing my fly rod next outing!

Texas state record LMB was caught on a crappie jig.

Tom

I use spinning gear as well for fishing flies, especially nymphs or hoppers.  The high mountain lakes usually have a 2' deep shelf which extends about 20 or 30 yards from the bank and is far too cold to wade. You can see the big fish cruising right at the drop off. If  I cannot cast effectively that far with a fly rod, I put the fly on a 5' leader and attach a casting bubble, than use my spinning rod to shoot it out there. Has always worked for trout, and it works for bass as well, using larger nymphs. And live hoppers are irresistible to bass.

2 hours ago, Whatever said:

I use spinning gear as well for fishing flies, especially nymphs or hoppers.  The high mountain lakes usually have a 2' deep shelf which extends about 20 or 30 yards from the bank and is far too cold to wade. You can see the big fish cruising right at the drop off. If  I cannot cast effectively that far with a fly rod, I put the fly on a 5' leader and attach a casting bubble, than use my spinning rod to shoot it out there. Has always worked for trout, and it works for bass as well, using larger nymphs. And live hoppers are irresistible to bass.

 

so this will be awesome to pick your brain since you fly fish and spin fish. Once I started going "light" or I guess what they call finesse fishing, I got hooked on it, and now have gotten into UL fishing too. Once I started UL fishing and tossing all these light lures and seeing how effective they were, it got me interested in trying to throw flies from my UL rod. So I have done some searching, and came across the vids of the casting bubble. So the only thing I am confused about, when using this to throw flies, is where is the bobber stop going? The traditional way is on the top, for the purpose of the slip bobber, but with a fly and cast bubble, its gotta be on the bottom right? Or maybe no bobber stop at all? Also, I dont really see the difference between using the slip bobber to throw a fly, vs a traditional bobber to throw a fly, specifically if your going to use a bobber stop on the bottom. Why not just use a regular bobber?

 

What do you find more effective, fly fishing or spin fishing?

 

In your first post earlier, I am not familiar with quite a bit of stuff mentioned in there in regards to fly fishing. I suppose I need to get on a fly fishing forum to learn a bit. 

 

Theres also a vidoe on youtube, where a guy talks about fly spin fishing, basically, replace the bobber with a small crankbait and remove the trebles. Whats your opinion on that? 

 

I stumbled on a guy, that ties his own flies. He put a small chatterbait blade on a fly. What do you think of something like that? 

For a casting bubble, I prefer the "torpedo" tapered shape, with an eye hook at either end. Get the sturdy ones, as the cheap ones the hook will pull out, losing your gear and fish. Yes, a traditional bobber will work, but the tapered ones cause minimal disturbance on the retrieve, and you will be fishing a taut line, For sight fishing, seeing the fish roll, a flash of belly, or mouth, or a turn of the head indicates a "take", and you set the hook.

Putting a crankbait in the terminal set up is an old idea, and does work. Fishing several flies in tandem is popular as well, as it increases versatility, like using a weighted nymph behind a foam hopper pattern. I have never used a chatter bait, but they have been putting prop blades, willow leafs and Colorado blades on flies forever. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not, depending on water clarity and target species.

I sent you a PM, let me know, and we can work out the terminology.

Tight Lines!

Dee

11 hours ago, Jonas Staggs said:

 

so this will be awesome to pick your brain since you fly fish and spin fish. Once I started going "light" or I guess what they call finesse fishing, I got hooked on it, and now have gotten into UL fishing too. Once I started UL fishing and tossing all these light lures and seeing how effective they were, it got me interested in trying to throw flies from my UL rod. So I have done some searching, and came across the vids of the casting bubble. So the only thing I am confused about, when using this to throw flies, is where is the bobber stop going? The traditional way is on the top, for the purpose of the slip bobber, but with a fly and cast bubble, its gotta be on the bottom right? Or maybe no bobber stop at all? Also, I dont really see the difference between using the slip bobber to throw a fly, vs a traditional bobber to throw a fly, specifically if your going to use a bobber stop on the bottom. Why not just use a regular bobber?

 

 

I use slip bobbers on my UL and it allows you to be able to change the depth of the lure very quickly. Also it allows the bobber to sit on top of the lure on the cast. If you want to fish 3 feet below thw bobber, on a standard one you would have bobber and 3 feet of line to your lure to cast out. With a slip bobber you dont have to cast all that line out, just what you regularly use. For me I usually have about a foot of line out on the cast.

I have caught several keeper size bass on Turner Jones 1/64 oz Micro jigs crappie fishing. I think the crappie attract the bass.

When I was a pre teen sold live Darner nymphs (dragon fly nymphs) for everything from trout to bass at the boat landing. The Ned rig duplicates a Darner nymph perfectly.

Tom

20 hours ago, WRB said:

I have caught several keeper size bass on Turner Jones 1/64 oz Micro jigs crappie fishing. I think the crappie attract the bass.

When I was a pre teen sold live Darner nymphs (dragon fly nymphs) for everything from trout to bass at the boat landing. The Ned rig duplicates a Darner nymph perfectly.

Tom

Ive also caught some 2 lb bass on a 1/64 oz jig head but with a Panfish Magnet split tail worm. Tiny little thing. Its exciting and taught me a ton on working drag and playing the fish and not just leaning back and cranking it in and relying on heavier line and rods. 

22 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

I use slip bobbers on my UL and it allows you to be able to change the depth of the lure very quickly. Also it allows the bobber to sit on top of the lure on the cast. If you want to fish 3 feet below thw bobber, on a standard one you would have bobber and 3 feet of line to your lure to cast out. With a slip bobber you dont have to cast all that line out, just what you regularly use. For me I usually have about a foot of line out on the cast.

I havent tried the ned rig yet, but i did get some stand up jig heads recenlty.....the ned rig just looks like half a senko on a stand up jig head. Should that work, or is there a need to buy the specific ned rig bait and jigs?

1 hour ago, Luke Barnes said:

Ive also caught some 2 lb bass on a 1/64 oz jig head but with a Panfish Magnet split tail worm. Tiny little thing. Its exciting and taught me a ton on working drag and playing the fish and not just leaning back and cranking it in and relying on heavier line and rods. 

The most exciting thing is fighting a fish than can pull the drag. Otherewise like you said your just yanking them in like nothing. 

11 hours ago, Jonas Staggs said:

I havent tried the ned rig yet, but i did get some stand up jig heads recenlty.....the ned rig just looks like half a senko on a stand up jig head. Should that work, or is there a need to buy the specific ned rig bait and jigs?

The most exciting thing is fighting a fish than can pull the drag. Otherewise like you said your just yanking them in like nothing. 

That can be debated for hours on here. Some say has to be zman Finesse TRD or the Zinkerz cut in half on a half moon jig head. Its all nomenclature blah blah. To me its a small stick bait or similar on a light rounded bottom jig head with a 90 degree line the. I use Zman and Xzone stuff, primarily zman. 

This is the 1/64oz Panfish Magnet I use. Threw a Power Egg on for some smell and taste. 

16 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

That can be debated for hours on here. Some say has to be zman Finesse TRD or the Zinkerz cut in half on a half moon jig head. Its all nomenclature blah blah. To me its a small stick bait or similar on a light rounded bottom jig head with a 90 degree line the. I use Zman and Xzone stuff, primarily zman. 

This is the 1/64oz Panfish Magnet I use. Threw a Power Egg on for some smell and taste. 

Power egg? Is that like a mice tail?

Basically. Simulated salmon egg I believe. Smells like garlic Powerbait, is rubbery and stays on forever.