Fly Fishing Tactics For Bigger Bass - P3

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Baitfish Imitations Size matters, at least when choosing patterns for big bass. Jim Hendrick looks at a few successful imitations from the USA.

H

ere in Ireland, during September and October, we have a migratory run of ‘sprats’, juvenile herring and mackerel. The autumn shoreline shines silver with millions of tiny scales shed by these small fish in their bid to escape the chasing mature mackerel shoals. This is often a highly visible occurrence, but before or after this happens other small or medium-sized fish are present in our local waters, but we often just don’t see that much activity. Sandeels, pollack, wrasse, gobies and blennies, mullet

in shoals yes, sea trout and flounders, present also, but not in classic baitfish numbers. Bass that I have killed and eaten, upon examining their stomach contents, often seem pre-occupied with crabs or other food sources that are present. The fact remains that they also took the fly that I caught them on. So when they see our fly presentations, no matter if they are Deceivers, Clousers or another pattern, some are imitative yes, but others – probably most – are not. But bass like them, some more than others.

Bass are capable of travelling at reasonable speeds for quite long periods of time as their muscle definition and body shape reveals. When hunting, they have a tendency to shoal together and they will grub easily with their noses down in the mud searching for crabs, worms and shrimps. Given the opportunity the bass shoal will eat and predate upon many things and they will just as easily turn and hit a passing sandeel as crunch and feed on a crab! This is the shoal – fighting, feeding and swimming together on a daily basis.

Joseph Manette’s Sloopy Droopy.

50 Irish angler

If bass aren’t exposed to huge quantities of a singular food item for very long periods – and I’m thinking here of crab or shrimp – they are not necessarily selective in choosing fly patterns. Given our fishing is good, most fish will hit our flies if presented reasonably correctly. However I do believe that bigger fish like bigger patterns. So does American expert, Joseph Manette, creator of the Sloopy Droopy, who writes in ‘Fly Fishing In Saltwaters’: “Many think that only small bass swim in estuaries, but big ones show up as well, it all works It’s nice when t with a iot targeting both the large out! Andy Ell ht on a big fly. ug ca ss ba menhaden and herring. Both these food sources have a similar physical shape, and flies that reflect them are much more likely to attract Many find th the larger bass. Illusion was the key if I was e prospect of casting such to develop a light, large bunker/herring fly to large flies da unting. be cast with a 7-wt. So I selected an amalgam

Some flies are designed to push water, some offer subtle acoustics, others suggest illusions. of materials for the Sloopy Droopy Bucktail Bunker that are soft, fully action-oriented and have unique characteristics.” While we don’t have menhaden in Ireland, we do have mackerel, mullet and herring and Jim Hendrick shares the view of the American experts that bigger fish prefer bigger flies.

this is why with some confidence that you can cast this big fly to big fish. Along the fringes of your local estuary lie the shoals of immature mullet, while off deeper water in August are the arriving shoals of mackerel.

All the patterns resemble, or imitate, the behaviour of small fish in the 15cm to 30cm length range.

As the temperatures drop, herring move closer to shore. These are perhaps our best examples of baitfish. Given that bigger fish hunt differently from their smaller shoaling siblings then they must be presented with opportunities to eat pollack and wrasse too. Big flies can be intimidating, especially if your not confident of your casting abilities. “I’d never be able to cast that,” is something I hear quite often. Like the Sloopy Droopy mentioned above, there is much debate and discussion around the qualities that these flies have. Some like the Spread Fly are tied ‘ghost like’ and are best fished in clearer water. Some are designed to push water, some offer subtle acoustics, while yet others suggest and create illusions. Out of these many type of flies come three or four favourites that have proven themselves for many years in the US for stripers and which work very well on Irish bass too! These are: Bob Popovics’ Hollow Fleye and Bucktail Deceiver (BTD), Ken Abrames’ Flatwings patterns and Joseph Manette’s Sloopy Droopy. Bob Popovics is convinced that fish respond most to shape and profile; hence his Hollow Fleye and BTD possess both of these qualities. Ken Abrames’ thoughts veer more toward the suggestive, while Joseph Manette’s fly resembles the physical shape and behaviour of estuarine prey. Whatever the qualities you want to attribute to these flies and each shares a key property – they all resemble or imitate the behaviour of small fish in the 15cm to 30cm length range. So far in this series we have discussed casting, presentations, clarity and flies. Where and when is next. Bring your torch! ■

Irish angler 51