Once again I felt the all too familiar bump through the rod. This was about the tenth bump for the morning. The 1/8th black and purple spinner bait was failing despite the fact it had been the go to lure on Bass Electric tournaments. After trying soft plastics, lipless crankbaits and divers that littered my tackle box the fly rod was rigged. I was ready to try again. With a black and purple Bass vampire connected to the leader by a loop knot.The ABT requirements for these tournaments are, two Bass per angler greater than 30cm to the fork. All anglers have six hours to fill their limit and penalties are enforced if anyone is late back. It may sound easy but when there are forty other top Bass anglers trying to do the same thing the pressure is on.
With the new fly rigged, I made the first cast and it was a rough cast at that, not a long cast, only about 40ft in length. As the fly line was sinking, I stripped the remaining line from the reel in preparation for the next cast. With the whole fly line neatly coiled on the floor of the boat the retrieve was started. Now the point I was fishing had a wall that was about 15m long and dropped off from 3ft to 30ft. the fly line was laying straight under the boat by the time I started the retrieve.
Strip, strip, strip, ‘BANG” fish on
I would love to say that the fly line was stripped through my hands and was losing backing at a great number of knots, but this is Bass fishing. Deep power surges were transmitted through the fly line and into the rod. The Bass made a few more last chance power dives before it was safely in the environet. Why did it take so long to pull out the fly rod? Within the next hour I had landed 15 fish and my limit of two Bass over 30cm was filledTackle Box
A fly rod outfit between 6wt and 9wt is recommended. 6wt’s are great for, the social/fun aspect but when its tournament time go for the heavier outfits. The wind seems to always be stronger on comp days. This is the world of the new age fast action fly rods. Full length sinking lines are heavy and require a high line speed to cast them effectively.
Reel need to be of the large arbor type. These reels help prevent line memory and have a quick line retrieval rate. Good if that monster takes the fly at the start of the retrieve you will be able to retrieve line quickly. Types of reels are a personal thing starting at the low cost graphite to full bar stock coloured anadised aluminum reels. Most guys when setting up their outfits for tournament fishing choose the low cost option and spend their money on other reels such as baitcasters and threadlines. If you are serious about fly, go for the best you can afford. Tackle
bling is always a good thing.
Lines come in two form for deep fly fishing
1- Full length sinking lines which sink at around 6 inches per second
2- A shooting head system with a running line. Especially the lead core lines
Twisted fluorocarbon leaders are the most effective leader system. They help turn over the weighted flies used and they sink quicker than the more traditional tapered leader.
Flies
There’s not much that a Bass wont eat, therefore there are hundreds of flies out there that will catch them. Vampire styles, Pink things, Clousers, Deceivers, BMS Fuzzles and Bulletheads to name a few. These flies need to be tied sparsely as a bulky fly will sink slowly.
A fly rod outfit between 6wt and 9wt is recommended. 6wt’s are great for, the social/fun aspect but when its tournament time go for the heavier outfits. The wind seems to always be stronger on comp days. This is the world of the new age fast action fly rods. Full length sinking lines are heavy and require a high line speed to cast them effectively.
Reel need to be of the large arbor type. These reels help prevent line memory and have a quick line retrieval rate. Good if that monster takes the fly at the start of the retrieve you will be able to retrieve line quickly. Types of reels are a personal thing starting at the low cost graphite to full bar stock coloured anadised aluminum reels. Most guys when setting up their outfits for tournament fishing choose the low cost option and spend their money on other reels such as baitcasters and threadlines. If you are serious about fly, go for the best you can afford. Tackle
bling is always a good thing.Lines come in two form for deep fly fishing
1- Full length sinking lines which sink at around 6 inches per second
2- A shooting head system with a running line. Especially the lead core lines
Twisted fluorocarbon leaders are the most effective leader system. They help turn over the weighted flies used and they sink quicker than the more traditional tapered leader.
Flies
There’s not much that a Bass wont eat, therefore there are hundreds of flies out there that will catch them. Vampire styles, Pink things, Clousers, Deceivers, BMS Fuzzles and Bulletheads to name a few. These flies need to be tied sparsely as a bulky fly will sink slowly.
Counting down
For this technique to work you must know where your fly is throughout the retrieve. I am young (well young at heart) and didn’t go to school when inches and the old foot were used but these units make this style of fishing easier. The line sinks at six inches per second. Therefore with your sounder set up to show the depth in feet all you have to do is count down the fly to double the depth. Eg: if the fish are showing at 10 feet on the sounder simply count the fly down after the cast for 20 seconds. It’s that simple, I get confused if I try and work in metric units 150mm, 300mm, 450mm what’s next.
For this technique to work you must know where your fly is throughout the retrieve. I am young (well young at heart) and didn’t go to school when inches and the old foot were used but these units make this style of fishing easier. The line sinks at six inches per second. Therefore with your sounder set up to show the depth in feet all you have to do is count down the fly to double the depth. Eg: if the fish are showing at 10 feet on the sounder simply count the fly down after the cast for 20 seconds. It’s that simple, I get confused if I try and work in metric units 150mm, 300mm, 450mm what’s next.
Retrieves
This can change from day to day and Dam to Dam. Two retrieves that have served me well are the strip, strip, strip pause technique and a consistent retrieve. Once you have counted down the fly to the depth the fish are holding at, start your retrieve with three 20 to 30cm sharp strips. Pause for five seconds and start the three strips again. Keep this up all the way back to the boat. Secondly, try to get the fly moving at a medium pace and keep it moving consistently with as little break in the retrieve as possible. The ability to lay out a long cast is a huge advantage for this technique. Bass are known to follow the fly almost to the boat and than strike. This makes for some white-knuckle fishing.
As always the rod should be facing straight down the line. Put the rod tip in the water or just above it. This prevents any slack line and increases the sensitivity between the angler and fish. If a bite or bump is detected just keep stripping and usually the hook will find its mark. Do not strike with the rod as this will end up being a very frustrating day.
With two of the biggest Bass in the live well, it shows how effective this technique really is. The long rod is now my go to technique for impoundment Bass. Pick it up and show others that the fly rod is still a force to reckon with.
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