Finally Caught A Bass On A Flyrod

[aquaholic]

Ive been practicing casting a lot in my backyard over the past year, but could never really find a good spot to fly fish. Well ive been fishing a new pond that hasn't been producing very well for me. The cool thing is that at one time it was actually two ponds that the made  into 1 by flooding it. Because of this right down the middle is like a sand bar  about 1-2 ft deep that you can walk down and cast both sides. I was having issue with a lot of the small blue gill destroying the small flies ( first fish on a fly rod).  So i went with one of those tiny poppers. First cast with it and fish on. No records or anything and most likely under 1lb but still feels good. I have to say it was much harder to fish than i thought.  Setting the hook was odd, and most of the time i wasnt sure whether or not i should be reeling the fishing in or pulling it in. With the bass i kept tension on the line but slowly let it out letting him run a little so i could work the reel. I have to say my arm got a hell of a work out, and a couple of the really small bluegill got the ride of their life when i set the hook and rocketed them out of the water. If you havent given fly fishing for bass (or anything) a try, then i definitely suggest doing so!

[bassflyfisherman]

Congrats! I agree completely. It took me a while to be able to catch bass consistently on the fly rod - particularly bass of any real size. The largemouths are fun, but my favorite are BY FAR smallmouths. Smallmouths are also a bit easier for me to catch on the fly rod too.

[aquaholic]

Congrats! I agree completely. It took me a while to be able to catch bass consistently on the fly rod - particularly bass of any real size. The largemouths are fun, but my favorite are BY FAR smallmouths. Smallmouths are also a bit easier for me to catch on the fly rod too.

Oh i would prefer hooking into a smallie any day, but for now im content just catching things until i get a hang of it a little more.

[MichiganFishing1997]

Its a whole different experience isn't it! I love it. Unless its a big fish I don't usually get down to my reel. I have found that you always need to have that pressure on the line or else the dish will shake the hook easy when fly fishing. Good job and good luck!

[Ratherbfishing]

It's a hoot, ain't it?!! Playing a fish is (or can be) a lot different-at least at the onset. If I have a lot of line hanging loose in coils in front of me, I'll usually take and/or feed line manually and I won't attempt to reel in all the loose line. If, on the other hand, there aren't any loose coils and there's only a llttle slack line, I'll try to let the fish strip the remainder out (while still maintaining tension) so that all the line is taut between the fish and the reel. Guess it also depends on how hard the bass is pulling. But with a long limber fly rod, it's a heck of a good time.