Warmwater Bonanza: Bass, Bluegills and a Bowfin

Better late than never, I finally got the canoe out last week. Our older son was thrilled to get on the water and we paddled straight for the southeast corner of the lake, which features a nice drop-off and plenty of weed beds. We caught a medium-sized largemouth bass from the weeds on a silver spinner followed by a bowfin. In case you're wondering, bowfin are native to the US as well as southern Canada. They are the only surviving species of an order of ancient fish, having swim bladders that function as primitive lungs. They regularly come to the surface to gulp air and favor weedy, shallow fringes, just like largemouth bass. They eat smaller fish, which explains why this particular bowfin went for my spinner.

I thought that I had caught a pike because the bowfin shot out of the weeds, rolled over on striking the lure and immediately starting jumping and thrashing. It was about two feet long and bent over double on itself when it jumped. Pretty feisty little pike, right? Wrong. When I landed the fish I realized what I had. So, how do you hold a bowfin? I wasn't about to stick my thumb in its mouth like a bass, so I decided to grab it like a pike, behind the gills. That worked about long enough to get the hook out of his mouth, when he really went nuts and I lost my grip on him. Hence, no pictures of my first bowfin.

We did locate a nice school of pumpkinseed bluegills a little later. They were in shallow water and ready to take flies. I recently cleaned up my oldest 4-weight trout rod and replaced the line, so I gave that a shot. You can see the handle of it in the picture of my son with the bass. The new line (it is actually an old one that I got on clearance years ago as a spare) was just the ticket and that old outfit casts better than ever. We caught some pumpkinseeds on a little fuzzy nymph then retired for the day. I'm getting anxious for autumn so that I can get the old 4-weight out on a trout stream.

Posted Access and Wading Angler's Rights

There is a spot about a mile from my parent's house in southern Indiana where I like to go fishing. It is at the intersection of Brandywine Creek and County Road 100 North in rural Shelby County. There is a modern bridge as well as the remains of an old bridge, which is where folks have parked to fish the creek for years.

Perhaps I have built up this fishing hole in my own mind over the years simply because it was always close to home and easily accessible. After all, it is only a warmwater creek flowing through mostly flat farmland. Cautious wading and mindful presentations would produce smallmouth bass from Brandywine, though the majority of the catch usually consisted of bluegills, redears and rock bass. There are certainly better waters in Indiana, but this is where my stream-angling education began in 1985, when my brother and I were finally big enough to ride our bikes down to the creek and wade by ourselves. It is where we stepped into the water, leaving behind bank-fishing and boat rides to become part of the environment where the fish live.

Last week I was saddened to find that my old fishing hole has now been posted with "No Trespassing" signs, like many other easily-accessed sites in the area. I was initially angry, but I quickly understood why landowners would post access points. After all, nearly every one of these spots has become a garbage dump for pop cans, beer bottles, styrofoam bait containers and wads of monofilament. It is not uncommon to find the remains of old campfires, piles of cigarette butts and even condoms.

I guess that these once-popular fishing holes have really become magnets for people who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves. If access rights were solely about fishing we would have a better argument in favor of wading these waters. After all, why should an angler be denied the right to use a natural resource at the whim of an adjacent landowner? But these access points have become something else. The folks who leave these kinds of messes behind might dip a line in the water, but fishing is probably second to their desire to have a good time and leave the mess for somebody else to clean up.

Whether we use fly rods, spinning gear or bait, real anglers are conscious of our impact on the environment. We don't leave behind messes and we don't do things to threaten the resources that we enjoy. If you are a true angler then pick up after yourself. The next water that gets posted might be your favorite spot, and if the people who own that access have put up with the kind of messes I have seen, I don't blame them one bit for posting it.

Simple Fly Fishing Leaders

Leaders for fly fishing can be complicated, but there is no need to get technical when you are casting heavy or large flies such as those used to catch warmwater fish. Unlike trout, bass and pike are not exactly leader-shy, so you don't have to worry about landing them on ultra-light tippets.

The leader follows the fly line, and the fly follows the leader.

Rather than purchase manufactured knotless, tapered leaders, try making your own. All you need is a spool of heavy monofilament, I use 30 pound-test Suffix Elite, and a couple of spools of lighter line. The 30-pound test will form the butt of the leader and the lighter line is the tippet. You should make the butt about two-thirds the length of the leader, and the tippet one-third. This will ensure that the fly turns over. For subsurface presentations I use 14 pound-test fluorocarbon, which sinks and is practically invisible underwater. For top-water presentations I use 8 pound-test monofilament. If you attach the thinner tippet material to the butt with an Albright knot, the tippet will break before the knot.

Custom leaders with a fluorocarbon tippet are perfect for casting and presenting Clouser Minnows.

If you are fishing a stream or river with heavy flies, try a simple length of fluorocarbon. Cut a piece that is about twice as long as the water depth. The thin material cuts through the water and will allow your fly to get down in a hurry. Don't worry too much about casting a heavy fly on a leader with no butt. When you cast heavy flies, you are really lobbing them more than you are "fly casting" anyway. Unless you try to cast it like a trout fly, your leader will straighten out.

Monofilament leader material is the right choice for top-water bass bugs.

 These simple leaders will get you through most warmwater fly-fishing situations. They are durable and, best of all, inexpensive. You can easily drop $3 or $4 on a manufactured leader, yet a few spools of monofilament and fluorocarbon will produce more leaders than you will probably use in an entire year. Try it out sometime.

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This largemouth bass was lurking in the weeds--the perfect place to use a bass bug.
 

Grandpa Perk's Fishing Lures

A Vamp on the left, a Wounded Spook on the right. The brochure is a Florida fishing guide from 1990. The licenses are from Indiana, circa 1980 and 1981.

I was fortunate enough to have known all of my grandparents very well. In fact, my grandmother Patty Perkinson is still living in Shelbyville and doing well. My grandfather, Robert Perkinson, passed away in 2008. On one of our visits he gave me his old tackle box, which was filled with all sorts of old lures, a couple of reels and a collection of the random odds-and-ends that all fishermen acquire over the years.

A Heddon Wounded Spook, designed to float on its side and imitate a struggling baitfish. One of my favorite topwater lures to this day is the Heddon Torpedo, which features spinning propellers like the Spook.

A few years ago I cleaned up some of the hooks and tied them into flies, which I gave to family members as Christmas presents. The tackle box has sat untouched on the back porch for a long time since, but I decided that I should give these old lures a chance to get wet again. After a Father's Day filled with bluegill fishing with my older son off the dock behind our house, I tied on the Spook and Vamp for another swim. I did not catch anything, and only tossed each lure a couple of times, but they both work well in the water and appear no worse for the wear after many, many years.

The Vamp resting on a 1980 Indiana fishing license.
 

 I must admit that I was a little worried about losing the lures, so I used wire leaders to fend off any pike that might take the bait. Since both lures float, my backup plan was to swim out to get them if I lost one due to a busted swivel or broken line.

The Wounded Spook on a 1981 Indiana fishing license.

It was fun to see those old lures on the water after so many years. I think that my concern was unwarranted, however. As sure as I'm sitting here right now, I know that, had a monster pike stolen one of these lures, Perk would just look down from heaven, chuckle quietly and take a long draw of Half-and-Half from his favorite pipe.

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The Noisy Bucktail Baitfish

The epoxy head and bucktail collar add action and noise to this streamer.

 Sometimes it just takes a little tweak to add some interest to a basic fly dressing. I like the simplicity of bucktail flies and they definitely catch fish. Basic streamer patterns can become a bit complicated and tedious when you are tying bodies with tinsel and tails. I produced this one with a little experimentation at the vise and on the water.

A long, two-tone baitfish profile add to the effectiveness of the Noisy Bucktail.

 The Noisy Bucktail is a simple pattern. It features a collar of bucktail folded back to move water, which creates a disturbance like many "muddler" patterns. The epoxy head encases reflective eyes, increases durability and adds action to the fly.

The Noisy Bucktail Baitfish has proven its worth so far on the bass lakes around southwestern Michigan. I have been a bit land-locked this summer, but with steelhead starting to run in Lake Michigan I anticipate some hot fall surf-casting action from this fly.

You could tie a bucktail like this one in any number of colors. Here are the combinations I have been using this summer:

I tie the Noisy Bucktail Baitfish on Mustad S71SZ hooks, size 2. These hooks are resistant to saltwater corrosion and are heavy enough to handle anything that you might hook into. The hook size is not as important as the overall length of the fly; you should try to match it up to your local baitfish and according to the size of fish you are pursuing. The flies that I use are about 3 inches overall.

Feel free to comment on these flies or to add photos of your own flies in the comments below.

 

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The Fort Wayne Bucktail

The Fort Wayne Bucktail

 As a native Hoosier with strong ties to the Fort Wayne area, I was excited to see the Fort Wayne Bucktail listed in an old fishing book. It took a little detective work to find a recipe for the fly, and was next to impossible to find any photographs or diagrams of it.

I tie a lot of flies, both for our personal use as well as for clients. There is no doubt that woolly buggers and muddler minnows lose their allure for the tier after a few dozen, so I like to look for side projects like this one for a little break.

A sleek and colorful fly, perfect for bass.

My research credits the Fort Wayne Bucktail to Mr. John P. Hance of Fort Wayne, Indiana, around the year 1886. Even lacking the notoriety more celebrated patterns, I would say that the age of this fly alone could qualify it as a classic.

The multi-colored tail is a distinguishing characteristic of many nineteenth-century attractor flies. Notice also the lack of any hackle, beard or belly.

The recipe that I found online was credited to a book called Fly Patterns and Their Origins by Harold H. Smedley. The book is long out of print, but I discovered some used copies available through online retailers. Here is the dressing:

Fort Wayne Bucktail

Body: Orange
Rib: Gold
Tail: Red, yellow and wood duck
Wing: Large lock of deer hair beyond the tail

As you can see, this is a pretty basic recipe that affords the tier a lot of latitude. This is part of the fun of old fishing books; they are full of descriptions, dressings and techniques, but lack any of the excellent color photography that we are now accustomed to. Thumbing through these books allows us to discover hidden treasures like the Fort Wayne Bucktail, as well as exploring the origins of flies that are still used today.

The Fort Wayne Bucktail is a link to the past, as well as a viable streamer pattern that can be used today.

I hope you enjoy this little article. If you have any old flies you would like to share, feel free to do so in the comments or you may email me. Tight lines!

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The Half and Half: A Great Fly for Freshwater and Salt




The Half and Half in an always-popular red and white dressing.

The Half and Half is a combination of Lefty Kreh's famous Deceiver and Bob Clouser's Deep Minnow. It features the Deep Minnow's familiar deer-tail fiber belly and wing along with the Deceiver's saddle-hackle tails. This fly is deadly in a variety of sizes and color combinations, in both freshwater and salt.




This head-on view of a wet Half and Half reveals its bass-tempting baitfish profile.

Like other Clouser-style flies, the Half and Half makes use of weighted eyes, long deer-tail fibers and a generous amount of flash to create an irresistible baitfish imitation. The long body materials flow in the water and the heavy eyes ensure that the fly is always in motion. Unlike the Clouser Deep Minnow, the Half and Half also has a saddle-hackle tail for added bulk and action.
The Half and Half is commonly fished with long strips and pauses. This retrieval technique causes the fly to rise and fall in the water column. Like many weighted streamers, you will find that this motion often causes fish to strike the fly between strips.



This crayfish-colored Half and Half makes a fine deep-water presentation.

Another useful technique for fishing the Half and Half is to let it sink and hop it along the bottom like a crayfish. Again, the weighted eyes and long body materials add realistic action to this type of presentation. The additional bulk of the saddle-hackle tail helps create the illusion of a big, meaty crayfish darting about the streambed.



The Half and Half is a great fly for bass in lakes or rivers.

As mentioned, the Half and Half was developed by Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh, both of whom are well-known saltwater anglers. This pattern is popular for large, aggressive saltwater species like striped bass, in addition to freshwater black bass. Be sure to use lead eyes and stainless-steel hooks if you are tying Half and Half streamers for salt.



Putting the Half and Half together.

The Half and Half is no more difficult to tie than an ordinary Clouser Deep Minnow. If you are uncertain about tying these flies, I strongly recommend the book Clouser's Flies by Bob Clouser. His masterful step-by-step instruction and great photography make this book a must-have for both novice and experienced tiers and anglers. For years I unknowingly tied Half and Half and Clouser Deep Minnow streamers incorrectly, never quite being able to match the flies I saw in books or magazines. Clouser's Flies shed a new light on the technique for tying these flies. Here is the recipe for the Half and Half:

Half and Half

Hook: Mustad 3366, size 2/0 through 6
Thread: Danville Flymaster 6/0, color to match the body
Eyes: Lead or brass dumbbell eyes with large, black painted pupils
Tails: Six saddle hackles, 3X the hook length
Collar: Bucktail, 2X the hook length
Belly: Bucktail, 3X the hook length, tied before and after the eyes
Flash: Flashabou or Krystal Flash
Wing: Bucktail as long as the collar, tied in at the hook-eye
Head: Tying thread coated with epoxy

Be sure to coat the head, eyes and thread wraps with epoxy for maximum durability.

Although the Half and Half is a lesser-known combination of its famous predecessors, it is a brutally effective streamer pattern. Feel free to post any pictures of your Half and Half flies as well as any stories of great fishing with this Clouser-and-Kreh creation. Tight lines till next time!

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