[George Griffin]

I have recently started fly fishing for bass and to my suprise with great success but all the fish i have caught have been very small (less than a pound) and would like to know how to reach the larger fish. I do know a couple of reasons why I`m not catching the larger fish one being that i am targeting the large schools of small fish and the other being the water i fish at one particular mark.
I fish the right hand side of the estuary when the tide floods into the shallows and the tide is out further, the bass push up the river and over the bladder wrack. what i would like to know is what can i do to catch the bigger fish? would there be large fish with the small fish do i need to use larger flies to get through the smaller fish? or do i need to fish the river rather than the shallow 'flats' as i call them?? any suggestions would be grateful to hear.
thanks George.

 

[Gary Evans]

I am not a Fly Fisherman my self but I have a pal who does a lot of Fly fishing for Sea Trout at night on mouths of estuarys and he has caught some nice Bass this year around 3-5ib mark using Sandeel type flies.

 

[Bagpuss]

What line are you using George?

I am not a great fly fisher but my mate is.

Try a ghost tip or intermediate line to get your fly down deeper in shallow water

Small flies still catch larger bass, so match the hatch is important.

Practice your casting, distance doesn't always equal more fish & bigger fish, but sometimes it helps

Vary your retrieve rates until you find what speed they want, sometimes just dead drift to see what happens

Phil with a 4lb 2oz bass caught on a 2.5" clouser size 6 hook at about 15 yards out

 

[kevin white]

george,

it's all about presentation, presentation, presentation.

keep your fly size to between 3-4", you will still get small fish and larger fish.

either use clouser's, bent back weedless patterns, or standard deciever style flies.

when fishing, use the current to move your fly and flyline, try to AVOID having to retrieve your fly by hand until you need to re-cast, even then you could get someone to show you a single handed spey cast to get the most out of your time on the water with less time false casting, read up on using what's called a WETFLY SWING most important and use a floating line to help with mending your line, keep your leaders to about 8ft-10ft long in you can, if not go with the longest you can turn over correctly with a weighted fly, also learn/get some one to show you how to open your cast for helping cast weighted flies etc.

colour wise look at colours that match the bottom where your fishing.................bait blends in to it's surrounding for one reason and one reason only.........not to been seen so it doesn't get eaten.

remember, do less to catch more.

kev

 

[Bagpuss]

Forgot to mention, tie your fly on with a loop knot so that it can move more naturally in the water. I have found that to be very important.

 

[George Griffin]

when fishing, use the current to move your fly and flyline, try to AVOID having to retrieve your fly by hand until you need to re-cast

so with the current would it be good to use the current from the river as the tide is ebbing and flooding in a choke piont where the flow is faster??

 

[Gary Evans]

I allways look for choke points where the tide runs the strongest when lure fishing...I gues the same should apply when Fly fishing.I know fish tend to hold in the strongest current but they also like the back eddys as well.

 

[Mike Kennard]

First of all George I am not a fly fisherman but I don't see why that makes any difference to me or to you. Ask yourself (or dad?) how you would go about catching bigger fish on lures? The bigger fish are most of the time wiser and waryer (spelling?). So you basically have to do what you are doing now but better. Better location, better presentation, more stealth etc etc.
You already have the skills, you have proven that on bass and wrasse now you just have to keep trying harder, working harder and improving on the skills you have. The bigger fish will come. Just take your time and they will come eventually.

 

[Dave Irving]

George,
I would try first or last light. Bigger bass tend to prefer to do their feeding (in shallow water anyway) in lower light levels. Not sure what weight fly rod your using, but concider using a larger fly. A 5" slim fly, will put off some of the schoolies, but still be a tempting target for a larger bass. Just remember the more you focus on trying to get a larger bass, the fewer bass you will land. Up to you, either continue doing what your doing (which is right or you wouldn't be catching) or go for a bigger bass, and accept that there will be plenty of blank sessions with the odd lunker thrown in.
For me, when I did nothing but fly fish for bass, I would concentrate on matching whatever bait was present, catch lots of bass, and smile when the odd bigger bass came along. Hunt the bait/food sources, and you will find the bigger bass.

 

[Charles Nelson]

Hi George,
Good to meet you at the weekend and I think you have performed miracles at such an early stage in your fishing career.
Since last year I have fished the Nevern estuary which is a mini, mirror image of the mark you mention and only a few miles away. You have probably fished it yourself. I am far from being proficient but would like to make couple of observations: I have found that I have caught bigger fish running along the offshore side of the sand bar during the early part of the flood and the inshore/channel side of the bar during the latter stage as you get pushed inshore along the bar by the rising water level. On the ebb the reverse seems to be true although I haven’t had anything much over about 1lb during the latter stages of the ebb.
I always fish along the bar rather than on the other side of the channel to it.
Dawn, dusk, darkness reduce the amount of boat traffic in the estuary which I think helps to encourage the slightly larger fish into the relatively shallow estuarine waters. I use the sand bar as an access route looking for anything either side that may indicate the presence of fish.
Try a slightly smaller estuary which to my mind concentrates all the bigger fish attracting features and allows you to fish the water in a much more effective manor moving shorter distances in order to follow where you think the fish may be. In addition you are generally more sheltered especially on Pembrokeshire’s north coast which I think gives you more time with your fly in the water fishing effectively.

 

[Andy Elliott]

Hi

Jim Hendrick wrote a series of Articles for Irish Angler entitled " Fly Fishing Tactics for bigger bass"

They're on Scribd .. have a read

tight lines

Andy

http://www.scribd.com/document_collections/2520720

 

[George Griffin]

Thanks guy for all your help :wink: i will try all the suggestions, match the hatch, use long slim fly's, use the flow and try on the sand bar side of the estury. cheers for all the help:-D
George

 

[Alex Jordan]

I can't really add more to the posts - but think about fishign it slow and deep and as Kevin says wetfly swing is king!

 

[Paul Houghland]

Hello Charles/George, I've only just started fishing for bass on the fly and am no expert. I've had some success and all good advice on this thread particularly using the current to work the fly. I've found it very similar to sea trout fishing, and the bigger fish need a stealthy approach and when it's gone dark seems to work for me. Try some close in casts under the rocks in front of you before you go trying to cast the full line. I lost a clonker last week on the Nevern estuary right under my feet. Charles I was fishing under the rocks on the opposite side to the sand bar. I did land a smaller fish 2lb Plus later on when it was pitch black see pic.

 

[Austen Goldsmith]

Just had a quick read of this. I would love to be able to brag about endless doubles on fly . I cant . But I have had plenty of 6 lb fish , 3 x 7 's 1 x 8 and 1 x 9 lb all from the shore. All my best bass to date have come from the same type of ground. The good news is that its the type of ground where a fly rod can excel , its that classic bouldery , reef areas that dry out at low tide and fill up on the push, When I started flyfishing for Bass I struggled as I fished too deep . Then I purchased '' Hooked on Bass'' By Mike Ladle and Alan Vaughn. Chapter 5 made me completely change my tactics .

Dawn / Dusk / Night are far more productive when fishing shallow water for big Bass.

I love low tide on a guttless neap at dusk just as the tides turning to flood , standing on boulders , thats when it always seems to happen for me, September / October being optimum for better bass from the shore on fly rods in Cornwall

Oooh Im all worked up just thinking about it !

 

[Richard Bourne]

Forgot to mention, tie your fly on with a loop knot so that it can move more naturally in the water. I have found that to be very important.

Hi Nigel, that sounds like a really good tip, after all a fly doesn't have the in built action of a lure. I am trying to get into this SWFFing lark too, after seeing bass chassing fry but ignoring my plug recently. No luck yet.