Snakehead Fly

[HeaveToo]

I made two prototype flies. The idea of the fly is to be like a Moss Boss where it is a weedless lure that can go on top of the pads and vegetation. Hopefully it will irk a snakehead enough to make it strike.

Here is a picture. Think it may work?

[Mark]

Yes. I think it will work.

I believe the key will be keeping it weedless so that you can drop it into their strike zone and also so you can lift your line in the heavy vegetation and shoot it back without false casting.

I have caught only one snakehead in my life and that was on conventional tackle with a weedless frog. I've read that they are wary of what goes on in the air immediately above them. A well known fly angler in the area says they are difficult to hook on the fly because of their preferred habitat deep in the weeds and their keen awareness of the fly line moving above them which inhibits their strike.

Good luck.

[DanMarino]

It would be pretty neat to catch a snakehead on a fly.

[HeaveToo]

The two I caught on the fly were during the early season and they were caught in streamers. They get into the back of the Occoquan and you can site fish them. They seem to be in spawning mode and not really want to eat. You have to trigger a strike by placing the fly right by their mouth and they bite out of reaction.

The snakehead do seem to weed up in June and I have had a few try to strike a popper but they missed. I tend to catch a lot of largemouth when I was trying to catch them by weeds.

I wanted to create a fly that will dance across the pads without snagging them. Getting a snakehead out of the weed mats after they hit the fly may be hard though.

[HeaveToo]

Here is a picture of one of the Snakehead that I caught on my Flyrod. Snakehead 2.jpgSnakehead 05-29-13.jpg

[HeaveToo]

Update to the fly.

I have tried this fly. I did get a few blow-ups on it but no fish. The water was quite stained etc.

This fly is totally weedless. I like it but it is a bear to cast. I was using an 8 weight rod too.

The saga continues and as soon as I get a good weather window I am going to make another attempt at this.

[Backdoc]

Looks good. What type of leader are you using? Looks like you would need something stiff to turn that hoss over. I use a Sage XP 8wt on the Susquehanna a good bit and have had to experiment with a lot of leaders to get to where I am pretty proficient at throwing the big flys that I use for stripers.

[DanMarino]

That fly does look terrible to cast. I am struggling with my 7 wt fly rod to toss even medium sized poppers. I need lots more practice. What does everyone use for leaders for these big flys? Would straight mono work?

[Backdoc]

I use RIO striped bass leaders which are actually made of nylon. They work the best when it comes to turning over a large fly. They are also strong. I have lost many, many stripers on flies but I have never had a RIO break. I lose them due to my incompetence. I used a Reddington 8wt for a couple years and and I got to the point where it felt like the spine was bending on the release. I talked to a friend of mine who is a master at big fly fishing and he told me I was outcasting the rod. I moved up to a Sage XP 8wt and I was blown away at the difference. It was pricey and worth every penny. I use barbell head turkey feather flies for the bigger stripers and they turn over fine with the RIO leader. I am pretty sure I could throw the fly shown at the beginning of this thread without a lot of problem.

[Mark]

That fly does look terrible to cast. I am struggling with my 7 wt fly rod to toss even medium sized poppers. I need lots more practice. What does everyone use for leaders for these big flys? Would straight mono work?

Tom,

Most commercial leaders made for bass flies have heavy butt sections of 30 to 40 pound mono. That stout butt section helps to turn over big flies.

So look for a leader that specifically states it is for "Bass" or "Striped Bass" as Backdoc mentioned.

Alternately, you can tie your own leader as follows: Make a butt section of 3 feet of 30 to 40 pound mono. Add 3 feet of 20 pound mono to that. Then add 3 feet of 10 to 12 pound mono to that for the tippet.

I make all connections with a surgeon's knot: https://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/surgeons-knot It has never failed me.

A commercial bass leader or the homemade version I suggested should turn over anything you want to throw on your 7 wt. However, more important than the leader is the line. Do you have a Bass Bug taper on your 7 wt? Most certainly it should be weight forward line, but not all weight forward lines are created equal. A Bass taper will add a little more bulk at the end of the line to cast bass bugs. So you might want to look more closely at the line you have on your rod and make sure it is designed to throw poppers.

Lastly, you can indeed use straight mono. I've done it in a pinch. When I have resorted to straight mono, I've used 20 pound test and I've shortened the leader to 5 or 6 feet. Bass are not leader shy so you don't have to worry much about a delicate presentation like you would casting to trout in a stream. In fact, if a popper plops down hard that might entice a bass to bite.

[HeaveToo]

Weird, I replied yesterday but apparently the reply didn't take.

I fish a 5 foot clear airflo leader with 3-4 of 0x tippet. I may switch up to my 10 foot airflo clear floating leader and 3 foot of 0x tippet.

It is better if I doublehaul when I cast that fly. It just has a ton of stuff to catch wind. I fish BIG flies a lot of the time and I have learned that big heavy flies or big flies with lots of surface need a good backcast. If you mess up your cast then a lot of the time it is the backcast where the problem is.

[DanMarino]

I saved the box for the floating fly line I put on my 7 WT, so I'll see what it was. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of bass taper.

[Mark]

I saved the box for the floating fly line I put on my 7 WT, so I'll see what it was. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of bass taper.

OK. If that's the case, all you have to do is practice and perhaps use a heavier leader than you are accustomed to on your 5 wt. Shorten that heavier leader if necessary until you master your stroke with your 7 wt. A shorter leader will help to turn over a bigger fly as you are learning. And as HeaveToo suggests, allow your rod to fully load on the back cast.

It's no coincidence that fly casting instructors often teach students to cast with no leaders on the end of the line or a short leader with a piece of yarn tied to the end. They know how difficult it is to throw a wind resistant fly.

It will come together for you. You'll know you're casting well not only when you get the fly to where you want it but when you're not thinking about every motion in the act of fly casting as you do it. In time you'll make casting adjustments automatically to fit the conditions in which you're fishing, or to flex of the rod you're using, and you won't even think about them.