Little rods for little fish

I got an opportunity to fish lake McIntosh again this morning.
It was 79 degrees and sunny when I left the house and windy . A west wind 11mph with gusts to 22mph . It was 88 when I got home around 1:30 .
A great day to test ultralight equipment. Not ! :)
I took a couple of my St Croix UL’s , a 5’ Premier ULM , paired with my Shimano Soare 500 BBspg and my 5’6” Avid ULF paired with the Soare XR 500spg . Both with 2# Floroclear.
I started out with one of my new jigs made with #12 streamer fly hooks and tungsten beads . A black Bobby Garland Itty Bit Swim’r was the plastic used .
The ones I made before were brass . The Tungsten makes a big difference. I was casting 50-60’ into the wind with low sidearm casts .
I fished with the Premier for the first hour , then switched to the Avid for the next .
Total catch today was thirty-two with twelve of those being crappies .
I tried monkey milk color without a fish , switched to black/chartreuse and caught fish almost as good as the solid black .
Both rod combo were a lot of fun even with the small fish .
I had to hurry one bluegill in when I had another good size bass trying to eat it .
This lake has a good population of 4-5 lb bass .
A fun day even battling the wind.

Nice looking set up

Nice variety of fish and good pics.

Aaaaah, my fellow St. Croix fan. Nice catch.

Nice catches and outfits!

A couple of those fish look pretty stout. And I’m jealous of you fishing on a Monday. Glad you’re enjoying those outfits, they sure look nice.

Nice setup, love the St. Croix stuff:ThumbsUp, and those are some purty feesh:biggrin

Any chance you could post pictures of that top secret fly?

Like this .

Good report and catches. Thanks for sharing your experience with us

Nice going. I need to get out my short rods more often.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Nice fly. Tungsten beads come in various colors if you decide to go down that rabbit hole!

Nice catches, Gill, especially the crappies! They seem to be either nonexistent or invisible in this here part of the west. I like the color of 2nd from last bluegill pictures...it looks like a long ear to me. Thumbs up!

Sent from my SM-S918U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I like the black swimmer. After watching a video the other night about solid black lures, I thought that I’ve used a lot of different styles but all black sure has its place. When I remember to try it. Now I have to dig em back out, see whatcha done? I’ve pulled cranks for crappie and solid black is always in the spread and it’s productive.

The black swim’r imitates so many things fish eat

I have a bunch of tungsten beads that I bought years ago thinking they would sink faster than a lead head jig of the same size diameter but in my experience that isn't the case. Since tungsten beads are hollow and a lead head jig is molded around the hook in many cases the lead head jig is heavier or the same weight wise as tungsten beads of the same diameter. And tungsten beads are not cheap. A molded tungsten jig is heavier but are really expensive. Black is killer color, should definitely use it more than I do. When a bass tries to eat a bluegill I'd let her and give her time to swallow it before engaging. Bigger bass are a lot of fun on ultralight tackle and with tiny jigs the only one hurt is the gill and there are billions of those out there.

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Originally Posted by MCG1

Nice fly. Tungsten beads come in various colors if you decide to go down that rabbit hole!

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I'm already well down that rabbit hole!

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

I'm already well down that rabbit hole!

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Me too :)

In my past life I fly fished for smallmouth bass and tied flies. Now for some unknown reason, I decided to start tying again, but this time tying flies for spinning reel fishing. I tie and sell, have a FET 637, pay federal excise, state taxes, etc. All above the board and legal. If you want to get rich and make lots of money, DON'T tie flies!!!! I have a really bad habit of dropshot fishing with flies. This method is a panfish slayer. I also like to make my own inline spinners, jigs, and about anything else I can tie on my line. I know it sounds stupid, but there is some sort of sheer satisfaction that comes from catching fish with something you made. Despite this, I can still be caught with a secret stash of plastics in my boat!

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

In my past life I fly fished for smallmouth bass and tied flies. Now for some unknown reason, I decided to start tying again, but this time tying flies for spinning reel fishing. I tie and sell, have a FET 637, pay federal excise, state taxes, etc. All above the board and legal. If you want to get rich and make lots of money, DON'T tie flies!!!! I have a really bad habit of dropshot fishing with flies. This method is a panfish slayer. I also like to make my own inline spinners, jigs, and about anything else I can tie on my line. I know it sounds stupid, but there is some sort of sheer satisfaction that comes from catching fish with something you made. Despite this, I can still be caught with a secret stash of plastics in my boat!

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Doesn’t sound stupid to me . I’ve been doing the same thing for several years .
Started drop shoting flies a couple of years ago , especially in the winter months.
Works great in our town pond , but when I tried it in a big reservoir I lost my rig about every other cast . Too many hang ups .

I’m another dummy that spends his free time building what he could buy, probably pretty cheap. I also carry lots of plastics too. Plastics are easier to change colors with. Once I find the hot color, I go looking for the right hand tie and don’t have to change and fool with plastics. I haven’t tried the drop shot yet. I’m always busy catching fish or lost in thought. Either way, I sometimes fish an unproductive lure for too long. I only tie for me and a few friends.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

I’m another dummy that spends his free time building what he could buy, probably pretty cheap. I also carry lots of plastics too. Plastics are easier to change colors with. Once I find the hot color, I go looking for the right hand tie and don’t have to change and fool with plastics. I haven’t tried the drop shot yet. I’m always busy catching fish or lost in thought. Either way, I sometimes fish an unproductive lure for too long. I only tie for me and a few friends.

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I tried copying my favorites by tying , but in order to get them to cast the same as the ones with plastics I needed to double my jig weight .
I tried a few 1/32nd handties but they seems to sink faster and wouldn’t cast until they got completely soaked .
My favorite was a woolybooger pattern that had palmered hackle feather that caught the wind and slowed it down .
I like a 1/80 hand tied under a weighted float .

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I tried copying my favorites by tying , but in order to get them to cast the same as the ones with plastics I needed to double my jig weight .
I tried a few 1/32nd handties but they seems to sink faster and wouldn’t cast until they got completely soaked .
My favorite was a woolybooger pattern that had palmered hackle feather that caught the wind and slowed it down .
I like a 1/80 hand tied under a weighted float .

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The spinning rod casting fly is a hard one to master! For starters, most fly designs ride hook point down. I hate that for spinning rods! Correcting this without using a jig head is a challenge. It took me over a year of different hooks, weights, and materials to accomplish this for one fly. Not only that, I went through well over two dozen prototypes.

Try tying on small size 4 Gamakatsu EWG hooks. There is only a small area behind the eye to tie on.

To cast a fly with a spinning rod, simply add a small bullet sinker in front of the fly. I have 1/32 lead bullet sinkers, and both 1/16 and 1/8 tungsten bullet sinkers. You are essentially Texas Rigging a fly. It actually works great.

Carolina rigging with flies also works. If you are dragging the fly on the bottom, use a floating fly. I left several flies on the bottom of the river the first time I tried this!

You can also tie on a small jig head. Guaranteed to ride upright! I do this, but in reality I would prefer a jig head that had the eye straight in front of the lead head. This setup is better for casting and swimming in my opinion.

I don't understand my stupidity. It would be SO much easier to just by plastics like everyone else!

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

The spinning rod casting fly is a hard one to master! For starters, most fly designs ride hook point down. I hate that for spinning rods! Correcting this without using a jig head is a challenge. It took me over a year of different hooks, weights, and materials to accomplish this for one fly. Not only that, I went through well over two dozen prototypes.

Try tying on small size 4 Gamakatsu EWG hooks. There is only a small area behind the eye to tie on.

To cast a fly with a spinning rod, simply add a small bullet sinker in front of the fly. I have 1/32 lead bullet sinkers, and both 1/16 and 1/8 tungsten bullet sinkers. You are essentially Texas Rigging a fly. It actually works great.

Carolina rigging with flies also works. If you are dragging the fly on the bottom, use a floating fly. I left several flies on the bottom of the river the first time I tried this!

You can also tie on a small jig head. Guaranteed to ride upright! I do this, but in reality I would prefer a jig head that had the eye straight in front of the lead head. This setup is better for casting and swimming in my opinion.

I don't understand my stupidity. It would be SO much easier to just by plastics like everyone else!

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Try adding tungsten beads to a streamer hook with a turned upside eye . Rides similar to a jig .

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

Try adding tungsten beads to a streamer hook with a turned upside eye . Rides similar to a jig .

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Not quite sure what you mean by the turned upside eye.

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

Not quite sure what you mean by the turned upside eye.

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It was supposed to say turned up eye and autocorrect changed it .
Like this

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

It was supposed to say turned up eye and autocorrect changed it .
Like this

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Yeah, in my time, autocorrect has sent out some less than desirable messages!

They look like these with tungsten beads glued on them , but if you’re tying a fly , you wouldn’t need glue .
They ride hook up .

Pesh, nothing stupid about it. It’s commonly known as problem solving skills. It’s one of our common threads that bind us together here. And I wonder if you’ve ever tied on a jig hook? They tend to orient hook up if tied proper, and bead chain to barbell eyes of different weight change their personality. I know, something else to fool with. They’ve worked for me in the past.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Pesh, nothing stupid about it. It’s commonly known as problem solving skills. It’s one of our common threads that bind us together here. And I wonder if you’ve ever tied on a jig hook? They tend to orient hook up if tied proper, and bead chain to barbell eyes of different weight change their personality. I know, something else to fool with. They’ve worked for me in the past.

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When I tie for dropshot, it doesn't matter because the hook is tied to line hook point up.

I never considered tying on a regular jig hook. I have some laying around and will whip a few flies up and test them. I avoided this, because in the fly fishing world, you put a tungsten jig bead on a jig hook to get it point up. Tungsten adds money to a fly and although I have no problem with that, my customers do.....

I have used barbell eyes to get casting flies hook point up, much like a Clouser Minnow. I can get them close to 1/8 oz. with the large barbell eyes and they cast and work great. I have caught a lot of smallmouth bass and walleye with them. The problem with barbell eyes is they are weed catchers.

I have some new hooks to try real soon. I have probably spent more hours looking at hooks than the majority of people on this earth!

Yeah I know what you mean about problem solving skills. Sometimes I wish I could just give my mind a rest though! For some unknown reason, I always have to be trying something different.