Color Question

Hopefully one of you seasoned pros can answer my question. I am tying up some new panfish dropshot flies and was wondering if it matters if the hot spot is at the head of the fly or the back of the fly.

I have fished forever, but just in the past few years have started targeting panfish. It kinda started when I had uncooperative smallmouth bass to deal with. I started taking some UL panfish gear with me and said screw the bass! Now I am kinda addicted to panfishing. The funny part about it is, I get tons of smallmouth on small panfish baits. Throw a 4" worm and you can't get a smallmouth bite, but toss a 1.5" panfish bait fished slow and they will nail it!

So here I sit at my tying desk with my new top secret material laid out in front of me in a myriad of colors, struggling to figure out what colors to tie. This year my hot colors have been purple/chartreuse, black/chartreuse, black/hot pink, black/brown, and brown/orange. I have about every color you can imagine, so....... What colors do you like?

Blue back with a lighter belly has been good to me

This is very similar to what I am tying up and have been using most of the summer.

Attachment 442534

Colors , especially jighead colors are an individuals preference.
What works for one may not for another .
My buddy swears by a white jighead .
Me , any color is good as long as it’s black , with a plain head coming in second .
Body color , I let the fish tell me what they want . I’ve gone fishless for several casts until I find the color of the day and the light a switch turns on , they’re all over my jig .
In bodies , I like black, chartreuse, chartreuse/orange ( firetiger) ,and chartreuse with black back .
Black seems to work for me in all kinds of water conditions. I think it looks the most natural .
In my spider flies , a black and yellow variegated body with black and white legs has been my favorite, with solid black with black and white legs , second .
I tie a variety of color combos to try when the favorites don’t seem to work .

Gillchaser thanks for the reply. Sounds like our color choices are similar.

Do you use a fly rod for your spider flies?

Dropshot fishing with flies has been a game changer for me!

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

Gillchaser thanks for the reply. Sounds like our color choices are similar.

Do you use a fly rod for your spider flies?

Dropshot fishing with flies has been a game changer for me!

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I’ve fished them with a flyrod , a Tenkara rod , under a float , and with a drop shot rig .
They work great on a drop shot . Depending on conditions. In the winter is drop shot time for me , except in the afternoon on a shallow flat that’s been getting sun all morning, then it’s time for the float and fly . I’ve found the sun warms up the flats , especially the surface .
Here’s a box of my spiders . Very simple fly .

Those look great. I haven't fished with live bait for the last 20 years! I haven't had as much luck with float and fly. Dropshot along weed edges and shore brush has been working great for me. I cast the dropshot and work it back slow.

I have my eye on a Tenkara, but that method seems to be cast and let the current carry it. How do you fish your Tenkara?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

Those look great. I haven't fished with live bait for the last 20 years! I haven't had as much luck with float and fly. Dropshot along weed edges and shore brush has been working great for me. I cast the dropshot and work it back slow.

I have my eye on a Tenkara, but that method seems to be cast and let the current carry it. How do you fish your Tenkara?

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I’ve found Tenkara to be fun but it’s very limiting . You almost need a multi length rod and a few different lengths of of leaders . It’s more a jigging pole than a casting pole .
Drop shot fishing can be addictive. The concentration needed and waiting for the thump is very relaxing and a lot of fun . I like a 5’-5’6” rod for drop shotting. They seem more sensitive to me . For weights , I cut the heads off jigheads and use a snap so I can adjust my weight to the conditions.

Prefer my “hotspot” on the head for crappie, some trout lures have them on the other end
Not sure on sunfish is me ...
If it’s just sunfish I like brown orange and black mixes

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

Prefer my “hotspot” on the head for crappie, some trout lures have them on the other end
Not sure on sunfish is me ...
If it’s just sunfish I like brown orange and black mixes

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Thanks for the reply. I am going to put the hotspot on the head. That is what I did this summer and it seemed to work quite well. That brown, orange, and black mixes have worked well for me also.

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I’ve found Tenkara to be fun but it’s very limiting . You almost need a multi length rod and a few different lengths of of leaders . It’s more a jigging pole than a casting pole .
Drop shot fishing can be addictive. The concentration needed and waiting for the thump is very relaxing and a lot of fun . I like a 5’-5’6” rod for drop shotting. They seem more sensitive to me . For weights , I cut the heads off jigheads and use a snap so I can adjust my weight to the conditions.

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I am an ex fly fisherman and haven't done so for about 18 years or so. I fished for smallmouth with a fly rod for 4 years and loved it. I just got tired of fighting the wind and tying knots all day! As the kids got older it was just easier to switch back to spinning gear. I just got the bug to buy a cheap fly rod for fishing with poppers and spiders. I have done poppers behind a casting bubble and had some success.

For rods I have longer 6'6" to 7' for my dropshot rigs. I also use an Outlaw 11' rod to reach into shore line brush and dropshot vertical.

When you are using flies on your drop shot do you tie the fly to the main line, or have a dropper line off the main line. If a dropper line how long is that line generally?

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Originally Posted by Flyfisher66048

When you are using flies on your drop shot do you tie the fly to the main line, or have a dropper line off the main line. If a dropper line how long is that line generally?

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I use a palamar knot to tie to the main line with hook point facing up. After tying the palamar, run the tag end through the top of the hook and then attach your weight. This helps keep the fly perpendicular to the main line. I don't use droppers because the walleye bite them off! The small panfish flies catch walleye and bass just as well as they do panfish!

I know a lot of guys like to use a really light dropshot weights. I prefer a heavier weight and usually use 1/4 to 3/8 ounce weights. I cast my dropshot rigs and work them back slowly with twitches and pauses, or slowly drag it and pause. The heavier weights help keep slack out of line when doing this. I typically cast this in front of and parallel to deep weed edges and work it back to the boat. This technique is deadly and will catch just about anything hanging out around the weeds. My normal approach is to pull right up to weed edge and anchor/spot lock 2-5 feet in front of the weed edge. Cast out about at a 30 degree angle from the weed edge and work slowly work the dropshot back to the boat. Next cast is less than 30 degrees. I keep doing this to probe the weed edge until I am right in front of the weed edge. I usually accomplish this in 4-5 cast. You catch all kinds of fish out in front of the weed edge while working your way in to being right in front of the weed edge. The cast right at the edge of the weed edge will bring any fish in the weeds out. I do this off both sides of the boat and then move. This way I cover ground quickly until I find the hotspot!

Makes sense Peshtogost.

You never know what your going to catch on weed edge.

I use a double loop knot with jighead about 1”-1 1/2” from main line .
1/16 oz is about the heaviest I use in weights . But I’m using 2-3# test line .
Sometimes I’ll go to 4# test .