Fished Bethany Lakes this evening. Late start on a windy day. Started out trying to get a Bass or two on a Tube Popper Fly. Two missed strikes and lots of wind to deal with made for a change. Decided to switch to a COAF Damsel Fly. The one we tie with Purple Marabou and Red Tying Thread. Used a Gold Bead Chain and size 10 hook (ran out of size 8 hooks). Glad we switched to it; caught four Catfish, three Bass, and a Bluegill. Three of the Catfish went 17"-18"; one went about 15". They put up a good fight especially on the four weight fly rod!
Sunday morning round at Bethany Lakes. First strike ended with a missed Bass using the COAF Purple Damsel Fly. Kept at it, and hooked a Bass after a while. Small guy that went for a Balsa Popper Fly. Then, switched gears working several Bluegill beds. Caught Bluegill and Sunfish using a Balsa Popper Fly and a Foam Grasshopper!
Went simple this afternoon after having fished the morning with a Four Weight Fly Rod. Decided to fish using a Tenkara Rod. Been some time since we used it; good to see that it still can hold it's own when fishing a pond! Caught several Bluegill; used a Foam Grasshopper and a Balsa Popper Fly. Fun stuff!
Fished Bethany Lakes this morning and caught a few Bass and Bluegill/Sunfish. Then, checked out another pond and caught Bluegill, and then one Bass that went 14" in size! Used several fishing flies - Tube Popper Fly, COAF Guadalupana, Purple COAF Damsel Fly, Foam Damsel Fly, and a Balsa Popper Fly. Overall, the Bass went for the Purple COAF Damsel Fly; Bluegill went for the Balsa Popper Fly.
PS: Great to meet Dan and Jody from the Bassgrabbers Organization! Click-on Fish Bulletin Board to checkout fish caught by our readers.
Slow bite this round at Bethany Lakes. We managed two Bluegill and two Bass. Did have a few more strike but missed the hook sets. Bluegill went for the Foam Damsel Fly, and the Bass went for the Tube Popper Fly.
Short on time this evening but still enough to time for a quick trip to Bethany Lakes to try another Tube Popper Fly. Lost the one we made yesterday to a snag. This time brought two; luckily only needed the one. Caught two Bass and missed a third one. Largest Bass went 14" in size.... Fun Stuff!
Cool temps today but overall a really nice day not to pass up a chance to go fishing. Made another Tube Popper Fly; caught a Bass with it before losing it to a snag. No worries, had a Balsa Popper Fly to replace it and managed to catch several more Bass as well as a Bluegill. Did have some missed hook sets, one looked like it could have been a Bruiser. Anyhow, going to make another Tube Popper Fly and see if we can keep it longer next time!
Decided to tinker with "material in the scrap bin" and made a Mini Balsa Wood Lathe for making Balsa Wood Popper bodies.
Got it put together, and made a fishing fly... calling it the Tube Popper Fly based on the same concept of Tube Fishing Flies
where the line passes through the body and the hook is not permanently attached to the body. Like the idea of being able
to change hook sizes as needed.
Tips for my next lure!
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Been tinkering with "material in the scrap bin". Came up with a Mini Balsa Wood Lathe using wood, a small electric motor, and nuts/bolts/nails. Works well making Balsa Popper Bodies. Made two so far... one of which is a Tube Balsa Popper that is based on Tube Fishing Flies. More to come once we get it tested. Also, do stay tuned to our updates; plan to post an article on how we made the Mini Balsa Wood Lathe!
Windy day but did manage to get out and do some fishing. Fished Bethany Lakes; went with the Four Weight Fly Rod and Red Balsa Popper. Liking this one a lot; added some Living Eyes that we picked up from Cabelas. Guess the fish like them! Going to need to make more; down to one in Red (really beaten up, too) and one in Black.
