OBX Pond Fish on the Fairy Wand

[DanMarino]

Had fun catching these today on a bead chain eye streamer I tied up this winter.

[Mark]

It makes winter a little more bearable when you know the flies you tie then will yield good catches in the spring.

Nice work on the vise and with the rod.

[DanMarino]

Day #2 at the pond and my son joined in with the fly rod.

Day #2 and my son joined in the fun.

[DanMarino]

No smallies here, but the little largemouths were active this morning.











The bass were not interested in anything top water. They definitely eat small minnows in this pond ecosystem. Caught them all on a chain bead eye clouser style fly I tied up in white and chart.

[Mark]

The bass were not interested in anything top water...

Good adjustment, Tom.

Some days are like that. I had a distinctly inglorious outing on a Delaware pond yesterday. I popped for an hour without a hint of interest. However, rather than go full subsurface, I switched to a slider.

Think Gaines Sneaky Pete. That's a great commercial choice.

It's a surface fly but rather than creating a lot of commotion on the water during the retrieve, it slides under the surface briefly and floats back to the top. It's useful when bass want a subtle fly.

Or if you make your own foam poppers, simply reverse the position of the popper on the hook. Instead of this:

P1010488.jpg

Try this:

P1010595.jpg

I switched to a fly like the one immediately above yesterday. It dives just like a Sneaky Pete. No doubt it saved me from a bass skunk with a fly rod while still giving me the fun of a surface strike. They definitely were not remotely interested in a noisy surface fly. But the slider caught the eye of a couple.

[DanMarino]

Thanks Mark. I've not tied up any slider style top waters yet. I'll give it a shot this summer.

We need more fly fishers here.

[Mark]

We need more fly fishers here.

Perhaps folks think it's harder than it is.

Also, it's not always the most effective way to catch fish. But sometimes it's the ideal method. I just enjoy it. I feel more in touch with the catch than when using conventional tackle because after a hookup I'm holding the line in my left hand with the fish on the other end. There's no reel between me and the fish.

[Cluelessandfly]

Nice stuff! I have not been to the outer banks in a long time, but when I was younger, we'd always fish the ponds behind a Food lion in hatteras. Caught some of the biggest bass i've ever caught.


Along the lines of the slider, I fished a dahlberg diver I tied this winter for the first time in the tidal basin in DC Saturday. I really loved the action of its dive and gentle resurfacing. the bubble trail was also kinda cool. Unfortunately no takes though. I will be fishing this more soon!