Andyconnor wrote:
fishyaker....thanks for the tips....I am fairly new at this but love the sport.....read a lot of books and watch video's.
Is it a good idea to use surface flies in the earlyam/ pm when the bass are active, then go below surface during the heat of the day? Also, this pond I fish is on a golf course...they say there are bass in there but I only catch bluegills. would love to catch a bass!!!!!!
That might be worth an initial theory to act upon...but keep in mind that there are no absolutes. Fish "eat" most of their meals underwater. Getting one to come to the surface for a treat is exciting...so I think that is what drives many folks to "dry fly" fish on top. Since frogs tend to stay near the surface, that is what makes them attractive for bass to rise for. By the way...large adult sized dragonfly patterns are also great for bass on top. Actually, if your frog fly gets super waterlogged, it would still work under the surface film too, you would just fish it in a slightly different way...sort of more like a streamer. I enjoy the top water approach most when the fly is at rest, and a big bass zooms up to thrash it!
Fishing on golf course ponds is especially fun and rewarding, and usually there is plenty of room for your back cast! I have spent many an hour fishing those ponds after a day of scouting...while playing golf. There are a few courses I have played over the years that I have done in sort of a "biathlon way"...meaning that I would quickly flyfish on holes with ponds, and play golf on the others! My playing partners know me well, and would always expect that of me with a good chuckle! Not all course's are "Kosher" with this, so I try to exercise good judgement....
In a golf course setting, the fish tend to hang close to shore...so I suspect that being in a water craft would not be necessary...nor allowed! In those situations, or indeed any typical pond, I try to cast "left and right" of my standing position so that I am not casting to fish directly in front of me. That is to avoid spooking them. Once I cover the water adequately, I step aside to start covering new water. If you are very stealthy, and can stand far back from the pond to "scan" the waters, you may even be able to spot fish ahead of time and then move into a safe position for your cast to deliberately target specific fish.
Be sure to pinch your barb down so the fish can be released unharmed, and I'm sure that you have already thought about this.
This next comment will probably sound weird, but in certain cases, where I know that I will be catching a lot of fish...and then releasing them, I have even gone so far as to take a pair of small bolt cutters, and clip the entire hook bend off on a fly...leaving only the body...making a solid hook up impossible. In my mind, and after catching thousands of fish over the years...mainly stream trout, my biggest thrill comes from getting a fish to come out of cover to strike. I still like to bring them to hand for a picture...but not always. To me, that is the very best way to "catch and release". This is especially true of when I fish waters close to where I live, and I want strong healthy fish to be there when I go next time...or if another fisherman is plying those same waters. You miss out on the tug of war, but the fish goes away safely with only a simple case of embarrassment. In the golf course setting, I think just pinching down the barb would be enough!