Tag Archives: Streamer Fishing For Bass

Date: 8/24/18

Time: 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Location: Local Lake

Weather: Sunny and Warm, Air Temperature 80 - 85, Water Temperature 75+, Water Was Cloudy Brown, Maybe a Foot of Visibility or a Little More, Wind SSE 7 mph, Moon 93% Visible, Pressure 30.21 and Rising

Catch and Thoughts: After fumbling, losing flies, and feeding my feet to local mosquitoes, this turned out to be a great trip.

These largemouth were a year in the making. Last summer I hooked a bluegill on this lake. When it was close to me and my SUP, a solid bass came straight up from the bottom and took a swipe. That fish got burned in my brain.

I'm not surprised that quality largemouth bass are in this spot, but they're tough to reach with a fly rod and floating line. This lake is large, deep, and dark. The water's never clear. And even though there's ample shoreline structure, I believe the bass stay deep, especially in the heat of summer. For example, when fishing panfish poppers first thing in the morning, you'd expect a bass every once in a while. That has yet to happen. 

On this trip I left the 5 weight at home. The floating line stayed back too. I committed to an 8 weight, a full sinking line, and a 6 foot 1X tapered leader. My plan was to use unweighted streamers and strip them deep. After struggling for a solid hour or more, I found some structure and had a take.

I'm really excited about this presentation. Mostly because I know I'm showing fish something they rarely, if ever, see.

It's the line that's sinking the fly, not the fly itself. When retrieved, these unweighted streamers track basically straight. When stripped, they're not jigging up and down because of dumbbell eyes, a bead or a conehead. And the fly isn't getting constantly pulled to the surface by a floating line. Also, with no weight on the shank, the feathers and bucktail are left to breathe and flow. These flies scream life. That's a different look compared to a crankbait or a jointed plastic plug that you'd throw on spinning or baitcasting gear.

The two fish pictured ate a fly that was given to me by my friend and coworker Kevin Freeman. His flies are beautiful. He knows nature and has a really artistic eye. I'm totally into his color combinations. This particular fly was a dead ringer for a small bluegill. I dig it. So did the fish. Mission accomplished.