Fly Fishing Insider Newsletter featuring Bass Tips

G. Loomis Demo Day Sunday, June 13, 11:00am - 3:00pm

Join G. Loomis rep Mike Perusse at
The Fly Fishing Shop for a back yard salmon barbeque (all you can eat).

Two StreamDance fly rods will be given away. One will be given to the winner of a general drawing the other will be given to the winner of the back yard accuracy casting contest.
A huge selection of G. Loomis fly rods will be available for your examination.

Come early & stay late. Have fun!

Smallmouth Bass Fishing Tips by Marty Sheppard Marty Shepard guides for John Day River Bass.
	Bass fishing On the John Day River is a lot of fun. Catching 75-100 fish per day is not uncommon. Most of them average between 8"-12". Every day we catch a fair number in the 13"-16" range. Trophy 18"-22" smallmouth bass will come to the fly, but only with the right approach. These older, more experienced fish have given me a challenge. I am committed to the art of landing more of these
monsters. Here is a list of flies and techniques that have proven most effective for trophy smallmouth bass. First of all bass have pecking order, especially in the morning, and prime feeding stations can produce the big one. We will strip a popper or a diver at the top of a back eddy or a foam line...often with good results. Size 4 and 6 have proven effective in a variety of colors. When the sun comes up these large fish seem to disappear. This is the time to go to the sink tip and fish a wooly bugger deep and slow. Letting the fly sink to or near the bottom. Strips should be short and aggressive with long (5-8 seconds) stalls between. These mid-day big bass sulk deep and save there energy for easy prey....usually the small bass that get comfortable mingling around this predator while he acts uninterested in chasing them, thus fooling them into becoming a meal. One of the most productive methods for big bass comes in the late afternoon. Find the basalt walls that protrude into deep slow moving pools. With shade on the water these giant smallmouths will cruse along these walls. I have found Chernobyl Ants and Hoppinators to be most effective. The technique is to cast inches from the wall and give the fly very small twitches. The secret here is to not move the fly far and be patient. Leaving the fly on the water for as long as you can stand it. Heavy fish are slow movers and are not interested in the chase. These methods are my best secrets to solving the mystery of taking the bigger fish on the John Day. The biggest problem comes from the smaller bass getting to your fly ahead of the 20 incher. Not a problem though because smallmouths of all sizes are all great fighters. Sometimes as that 8-incher is tiring from battling your rod, it will get swallowed up by some bass that could easily be the next state record. More Information on Catching John Day River Smallmouth Bass.

Peacock Chernobyl Why do you think that big John Day bass position themselves tight to steep rock walls? No doubt there is the shade factor during certain parts of the day. Also the cliff faces often funnel and trap food. Terrestrial insects such as crickets, beetles, ants and bees that get trapped anywhere in the currents will eventually wind up sliding along some rock wall. Stone flies crawl from the river one rock walls. Some John Day River cliffs are plastered with stone fly shucks.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
00116-08	Peacock Chernobyl	8	3 for $5.25	-->SALE ENDED

Stonefly Maidens Women's Fly Casting Clinic
	The 2nd annual Free Women’s Casting Clinic is set for June 12, 2004 at Blue Lake Park from 1pm to 5pm. This is a ‘rain or shine’ event. This clinic is sponsored by the club but you don’t have to be a member to attend. You do need to register.
Once again, Katherine Hart will be teaching us all how improve our cast. Bring your rod and reel if you have one, if you don’t we will have some you can borrow. Barbequed lunch will be served. Click here for more information.

Placing the fly where it is most vulnerable or irritating to a bass is very important if you want to catch it. If the fly lands in exactly the right spot the first cast, it will often get an instant strike. A presentation that takes several casts to get the fly into play is less effective.

A fly rod is the perfect weapon for bass sight fishing. It can be a rapid fire instrument rendering pin-point accuracy. Selecting a rod and line combination that performs smoothly in all your normal casting ranges is important. Few casts of over 40' are required. Super fast rods are not an asset. They give a herky-jerky presentation that destroys accuracy.

Bass flies are larger than most trout flies. Casting bulky poppers and hair bugs takes practice. It also takes the right rod and line combination to enable you to perform at your best. Often loading your rod with a heavier fly line can be useful. A heavier line will slow your rod down and provide the energy needed to launch larger, bulkier flies.

Bass come in a wide variety of sizes. Most Oregon bass are 1 to 3 pounds. These small to medium size bass seem to prefer poppers and hair bugs in the size #6 and #8 range. A #5 to #6 fly rod is ideal for fish of this size.

A #7, #8 or even #9 rod is appropriate where 4 & 8 pound bass might be encountered. Bigger bass often respond quicker to bigger flies. A heavier rod is more comfortable for casting really large flies and might be needed to pull larger fish out of heavy cover.

It is always handy to have two rods rigged. One rod should be equipped with a floating line and the other should be equipped with a sinking line. That way bass can be fished at a variety of depths without restringing your rod.

Favorite (9' 6-weight) Bass Rods
Thomas & Thomas HE 906S-4 4-piece, extension butt, fast action, Price: $630	Sage 690-4 VPS 4-piece, no extension butt, moderate-fast action, Price: $400
G. Loomis StreamDance FR1086-4 GLX 4-piece, extension butt, fast action, Price: $630	Winston 690-4 Ibis 4-piece, no extension butt, fast action, Price: $295
Winston 690-4 Boron II X 4-piece, no extension butt, moderate-fast action, Price: $595	Redington WFR596 5-piece, no extension butt, moderate-fast action, Price: $195

Free Fly Tying Class Sunday Evening: 6:00pm - 8:00pm.
	June 20 Pale Morning Dun #16 Pink Cream Puff Parachute #18 PMD Sparkle Duns (Pale Orange and Pale Olive)
At: The Fly Fishing Shop. All materials provided. Bring your fly tying tools if you have them. Some tool sets will be provided for in house use. First come, first served. Beginners & experienced tiers welcome. Instructor: Trez Hensley.

The Rio Clouser Line Is A Great Bass Line
Casting heavy or wind-resistant flies has always been a challenge, even for good casters. RIO collaborated with Bob Clouser, famed fly tier, guide, instructor and conservationist, best known for inventing the Clouser Minnow, one of the most versatile flies for both fresh and saltwater. The Clouser™ line, with a unique reverse compound taper and a bullet front taper, smoothly transfers energy to prevent the
characteristic “kick” with heavily weighted flies. This taper effortlessly turns over heavy flies into the wind for both short and


Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
21269	Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line, light chartreuse color	WF4F	$54.00	-->SALE ENDED
21270	Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line, light chartreuse color	WF5F	$54.00	-->SALE ENDED
21271	Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line, light chartreuse color	WF6F	$54.00	-->SALE ENDED
21272	Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line, light chartreuse color	WF7F	$54.00	-->SALE ENDED
21273	Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line, light chartreuse color	WF8F	$54.00	-->SALE ENDED

A Shad Tale - how to fly fish in really big rivers.
	About 250,000 shad poured through the ladder at Bonneville Dam Thursday, June 3. The water was perfect temperature, 57 degrees. Air temperature in the middle of the day was 77, bright sun, very little wind. The perfect day to catch a boat load of shad, or at least you would think so. Patty and I, with our friends Jeff and Tilda Runner loaded our gear in my Duchworth and put in a Dodson. Being newbies to the Columbia River scene, we were in for a bit of a
shock. The bright sun produced a hatch of anglers and a horde of boats. And the river was up two feet since our last trip a week ago. When we got to our fishing area, there were boats anchored everywhere we wanted be, except one. Only problem was our anchor wouldn't hold in that spot now that the river was two feet deeper and a lot swifter. To bad....the fish finder showed shad passing through in a steady stream. We tried other spots throughout the day. All the spots where fish showed on the fish finder were to deep and swift for the fly gear that we had brought with us. Also the bright sunlight made the shad run deeper in the water than last week when the

weather was heavy overcast. Meanwhile anglers in every other boat were catching shad after shad. This went on all day. People caught fish all around us. We were the only boat with fly anglers and the only boat not catching fish. The gear guys could reach the fish. We couldn't. I kept moving, looking for a position that had fish, and was shallow enough that we could reach them with our flies and sinking lines. Finally just after 3:00 in the afternoon (after 9 hours of fishing) Jeff landed our first shad (a little male). The skunk was off the boat. We got a couple more strikes in that

spot, then the shad left. Our break around four o'clock. Many boats had left. I had been eyeing a shallow riffle where it broke around the end of a gravel bar. A a guy there earlier had caught shad quicker than anyone else. As the boat taxied into position, dozens of fish lit up the screen on the finder. We put the boat right on a seam with slow water on one side and faster water on the other. The results were immediate. For the next four hours we caught shad after shad. Now surprisingly,

the other boats around us weren't doing very well. For the next four hours we were the only boat with fly anglers and the boat that was catching the most shad. The tables had turned. Our persistence had paid off and we were able to turn a humiliating day into a day where some valuable lessons were learned. The end result was that we wound up catching a lot of fish. What did we learn?
The old adage is still true. "The fly has to be in the water to catch fish." If we had given up, we would have quit before we figured the solutions to our problems (and I wouldn't be writing this article). Water level makes a lot of difference. For me a river the size of the Columbia is hard to read, but it's the same as your favorite trout or steelhead stream, just on a much larger scale. Position in the river is everything. If you are in the right spot, fishing gets easier. Shad will bight

flies as well as anything else, if the fly can be presented at their level. Shad don't seem to rise to the fly. The shad that we caught were the same size as the gear people caught, which averaged two to four pounds. These are perfect fish for a six weight fly rod. However these fish don't always travel where you can get at them with with normal six-weight fly lines. At times it is handy to have a heavier rod and very fast sinking line. Full sinking lines probably do a better job getting the fly to the fish than do sinking tip lines when fishing from a boat. We also learned that we still have a lot to learn about shad fishing.

A quick update from the Keys, the wind has been a major factor lately but is starting to subside. The tarpon run is well underway on the ocean side flats as is normal for June. We had action with 2 good size bones this AM and fished the tarpon all afternoon. Hundreds of fish poured by and we had good sunlight, the fish were picky but after about 10 attempts and 2 fly changes we got a hook-up. The 70#er gave 3 good jumps before throwing the hook.
That was to be our only silver king for today but man what a show.

The tarpon are usually around in good numbers through about the 2nd week of July and then we go back into the backcountry for resident fish which are typically "laid-up" and of course there are bones, permit, jacks and many other species to catch here in the Florida Keys.

I still have some days open in June and July so give me a ring (or email) with any questions you may have.

Thank You and tight lines to all.

Capt. Chris Morrison
Tel (305)743-6948
www.captchis.com

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Flies For Smallmouth Bass It's never too early to plan your next smallmouth expedition.
Mega-Whammy	Olive Bugger	Peacock Chernobyl

ChewyPop	Peacock Bugger	Hoppinator
	Full Set

Frog Mega-Wammy is a natural colored popper simulates a number of bass foods such as frogs, sunfish & salamanders to name a few. These popper heads are Epoxy coated for shine and extreme durability!
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
99614-06	Mega-Whammy Bass Popper, Frog	6	$3.25	-->SALE ENDED
99614-08	Mega-Whammy Bass Popper, Frog	8	$3.25	-->SALE ENDED

Black ChewyPop with rubber legs, marabou and silver Flashabou is a winning combination over the widest range of conditions. This popper is especially effective in low light conditions. Chuck this popper up against the bank or into holes in the weeds on a full moon night and see what happens. Use a short, stout leader.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
CHEWYBL6	Chewy-Pop Bass Popper, Black	6	$2.95	-->SALE ENDED

Flash-A-Bugger, Olive A wise man once said that if you want to catch trout from alkaline lakes your best fly would be inch long & green. In some lakes and rivers inch and a half long and green is an even better option. This is a must have fly no mater where you fish in fresh water.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
11888-04	Flash-A-Bugger, Olive	4	3 for $5.25	-->SALE ENDED
11888-06	Flash-A-Bugger, Olive	6	3 for $5.25	-->SALE ENDED

Flash-A-Bugger, Peacock This is a very good early season fly for many lakes which contain trout or large mouth bass. Troll is slowly across the bottom.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
11899-04	Flash-A-Bugger, Peacock	4	3 for $5.25	-->SALE ENDED
11899-06	Flash-A-Bugger, Peacock	6	3 for $5.25	-->SALE ENDED

Hoppinator, Brown/Yellow Smallmouth Bass are a lot like trout in that they will station-up under over hanging grass and wait for grass hoppers to fall into the water.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
00106-06	Hoppinator, Brown/Yellow	6	3 for $5.25	-->SALE ENDED

Marty's Smallmouth Bass Fly Collection
Item	Description	Price	To Top
JDSMALL-2	(3) Mega-Whammy Popper, Frog #6 (3) Mega-Whammy Popper, Frog #8 (3) Chewy-Pop Bass Popper, Black #6, (3) Flash-A-Bugger, Olive #4, (3) Flash-A-Bugger, Olive #6, (3) Flash-A-Bugger, Peacock #4, (3) Flash-A-Bugger, Peacock #6 , (3) Peacock Chernobyl #8, (3) Hoppinator, Brown/Yellow #6,	$58.95	-->SALE ENDED