Fished Bethany Lakes this afternoon in hopes of trying a new Crawdad Pattern. Had a couple of strikes, and then lost the fishing fly. Switched to a White Grasshopper and hooked a few Bluegill and Bass; lost the White Grasshopper, so switched to a Yellow Grasshopper. Hood a few, missed a few... forgot that the Yellow Grasshopper was barbless... needed to keep constant pressure else fish was lost Had a good time, regardless!
Went with a Crawdad Pattern this morning and headed to Bethany. Caught four Bass, largest went 16" in length. Fun stuff... going to tweak the pattern a little more; think we may have our version of a simple but effective Crawdad Fishing Fly!
Went to Bethany Friday evening for another round of fishing. Slow at first but once we found the pattern, it was steady action the remainder of the time. Algae and other "greenery" is growing, so lures and fishing flies tend to foul more. Started out with a COAF Damsel Fly and had a few follow it but no takers. Switched to a Foam Grasshopper and hooked up with several Bass. Caught a few, lost a few, and then bite quit near sunset. A "hatch" was going on, and Bass and Bluegill were feeding on the bugs. A quick switch to a Griffith's Gnat on a Caddis Hook enabled a few more hook ups. Fun stuff!
No fishing today. Did write a new article - "A Simple Fish Tail Mount", that may be of interest to some of our Readers! Do check it out and try it out on your next "trophy"!
Cold front came and changed the pattern slightly. Had a couple of Bass strike at the Purple COAF Damsel Fly but messed up on the hook set; did manage to land one. Not a Bruiser but still counts! And then, noticed bugs flying about and ripples in the water where something was feeding on them. Seen this happen in the past after a cold front passes and things start to warm up, a hatch occurs and then the Bass and Bluegill start feeding on them. Good thing we had a Griffith's Gnat Variant handy. It's the one we tied using a Caddis Hook. Made a difference this round, catching a few, missing a few, having fun with all of them!
Rain and more rain this morning. Decided to put on rain gear, and give Bethany Lakes a try. Good thing... caught Bass, a couple of Bruiser Catfish, and then lost a big one (think it was a Catfish). Bent the fly rod double; same fly rod that was used to land a 6 pound bass several years ago. The Bass did not bend the fly rod near as much as the one that was lost today! Fun stuff... good to know Bruisers are still lurking in the area. The Bass, one of the Catfish, and the lost fish took the Purple COAF Damsel Fly. The other Catfish went for a COAF San Juan Worm Ball. Fun stuff!
Here is a variant of the Griffith's Gnat to try for Bluegill - Griffith's Gnat on a Caddis Hook. It's a simple tie and few material is needed. Used a Caddis Hook and Olive Tying Thread; did not have any dry fly hooks or black tying thread.
Went back out for another round of fishing; this time went to Bethany Lakes. Having run out this morning, tied a purple COAF Damsel Fly to restock the fly box. This time used red tying thread instead of olive. Not sure if it made a difference but did catch eight Bass this round. Fun stuff!
Decided to fish Stoney Hollow again. Same setup as yesterday - Five Weight Rod and a COAF Damsel Fly. Windy conditions but the action was steady. Caught three Bass and a Sunfish, and then had video camera issues. Ended up erasing the video; User error! No worries; kept fishing and caught two Crappie and a Bass and Bluegill using the Purple COAF Damsel Fly in size 12. And then, lost the fishing fly to a snag on the backcast. Switched to an Olive COAF Damsel Fly in size 10 and caught more Bass and Bluegill. Not sure how many were caught and released as well as threw the hook; no matter... had a great time fishing! PS: Need to tie more; down to one Olive COAF Damsel Fly and no Purple ones. Gave one away to another fisherman; hope it helps him catch a Bass or two!
Decided to fish Stoney Hollow Park pond in Plano Friday evening. Had good success there in the past. This round went with a five weight fly rod and a Purple COAF Damsel Fly in size 12. Been having good success with the size 12 lately. This round started slow but did pick up with Bass, Bluegill, Sunfish, and a Crappie! Did see a Bruiser Bass lurking in the area but was not interested in a fishing fly. Fun stuff; gonna have to come back for another round later!
