Fly Fishing White Bass

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JMS
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Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by JMS »

Quick question am planning to hit Rebecca Creek for White bass this year was thinking of brining the fly rod, I'm new to fly fishing and only have one setup with floating line.

Was reading various articles on line that recommend sinking line or sinking tipped line. I don't really want to buy another spool and line, why can't I endure a long enough leader with split shot about a foot up from fly?

Also my strategy is to throw small Beatle spins, jigs, and rattle traps until I find fish then switch to fly, does this sound like a good strategy?



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Kirk B.
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Kirk B. »

That should work.
The split shot setup is a pain to cast with a hinge point at the shot. I also had an issue with casting the shot off.
Another option is a sinking leader, like the Rio Versaleader. It loop-to-loop connects between your line and leader and acts like a sink tip. Another setup that requires a modified casting stroke. I usually do a roll cast to bring the line up in the water column, and then go straight into an overhand cast. If you let it go real deep, like over 10 feet, you might have to strip in to about 20 feet of line out before you roll cast.
I still like the Versaleader better than the split shot. It hurts less when it hits you in the back.

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JMS
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by JMS »

No kidding those split shots do hurt...Use to floss Red Salmon in Alaska those weights really hurt


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Ron Mc
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Ron Mc »

quoting myself from corpusfishing on the topic
bulldog1935 wrote:after the crowds dissipate from the white bass run, there will be harems of a single large male with smaller females waiting to ripen.
They're harder to catch because the girls do everything he does, and he's hard to impress.
I catch them with a sinking line cast straight down, my small whistler, slowly bottom bouncing, and even crawling on the bottom. They will follow, and pick it up from the bottom when it's sitting still.
You don't need bright colors - it's the mud-ball that gets their attention.
This is your best chance of catching a 4-y-o male, 19-21"
I've caught 5 of them in my life.

The mud ball thing works for trout and big bass. On clear hill-country flagstone, I've watched 5-10-lb bass follow the mud balls from a tiny fly and slam their head sideways on the bottom 4 or 5 times trying to eat it. We even got it on camera on the episode of KT Diaries where I took KT hill country fishing.

In fact, any time during the white bass run, when no one is catching fish, try this technique, and you'll be the only one catching fish. My favorite line for this is Teeny T-130, and it's very easy to shoot this line out 70' with only one back-cast.
pm your e-mail, and I'll send you the slide show pdf - just keep in mind it's aimed at the hill country, but still good information about how to fish for white bass, and the fish itself.

I like white-bass fishing with a multiplier, because white bass will often follow all the way in and take the fly at your feet. A good multiplier will get all that working line back on the reel and out of the way in 3-4 seconds.
That said, people use weighted flies, sinking leaders, sink tips - all offered in the white bass talk I've given a few times - all of those approaches have a built-in hinge - but a full sinking line like a Teeny T130 makes the straightest possible line from your rod tip to the hook point.
They're designed differently from a floating fly line and for a different purpose. The teeny T-line is a sinking shooting head spliced to a fine floating running line (which also keeps all that working line from sinking to your feet).
They cast like a shotgun (actually shoot) with the least possible false-casting to build up line speed. You don't have to work like a one-armed paper hanger to cast 70'
Cast distance is Everything in white bass fishing, because the fish follow forever, often waiting to your feet to pick up the fly.

For anyone who may decide to buy a reel spool and a Teeny line, keep in mind the diameter is so small they only take up 1/8" or less on a reel spool - buy copious backing to fill up the spool the rest of the way.
I also fish Teeny's 4' tapered leaders, attached to the line using a Zap splice, and add up to 18" tippet to the leader.
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As Kirk said, fishing deep, you begin everything with a roll cast to get your rig up to the surface. With a Teeny line, you can usually shoot from a single back-cast, and shouldn't ever need more than one false cast to bring up line speed and shoot.
Fishing a TS-250 salt line in the surf one day, I consistently cast 140'.

these are just the 2-y-o males - I released everything else
I let my friends fillet from this stringer, too, and while they were doing that, caught the other 4 for my limit.
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Finn Maccumhail
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Finn Maccumhail »

The run here in SE Texas is in full swing. We just need it to stop raining for a couple days so the flows in the creeks are fishable and they clear up a bit. At least as much as they ever do here. I hit a creek above Lake Houston a couple weeks ago on a Friday afternoon where I just needed to get out and get bit. I hammered them- over 30 fish in just under 2 hours but they were all males and the water temps were still in the low-50's. I mainly quit because I had a bad leak in my waders and was soaking wet- had to towel off with a little shammy towel I keep in my truck and drive home in my underwear. Didn't keep anything though. All on a chartreuse & white clouser bumped slow on the bottom. At little mixed bag too with crappie & yellow bass showing up to play

Vintage fiberglass Scientific Angler System 5 & matching reel were the ticket- purchased on Ron Mc's rec.
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Kirk B.
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Kirk B. »

Heading to Mills Creek on Rayburn this weekend. Probably fish conventional until I get enough for a mess, then start throwing the Clousers I've been tying up.
I just never ...enjoyed throwing sinking lines or sinking leaders enough to get good at it. I've got it if I need it, tho.

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roger.simonsen
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by roger.simonsen »

" I don't really want to buy another spool and line, why can't I endure a long enough leader with split shot about a foot up from fly?"

No reason why you can't, trout fishers world wide do it every day. If you stick with fly fishing you'll eventually want to choose your lines for the conditions you're facing but if your just starting out do it any way that gets it done for you.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Ron Mc »

Finn Maccumhail wrote:..
Vintage fiberglass Scientific Angler System 5 & matching reel were the ticket- purchased on Ron Mc's rec.
you own one of the sweetest fly rods of all time - from any MOC.
KT fished mine on tv for endemic Guadalupe bass
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Finn Maccumhail
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Finn Maccumhail »

Ron Mc wrote:
Finn Maccumhail wrote:..
Vintage fiberglass Scientific Angler System 5 & matching reel were the ticket- purchased on Ron Mc's rec.
you own one of the sweetest fly rods of all time - from any MOC.
KT fished mine on tv for endemic Guadalupe bass
It is indeed sweet. And frankly, I think the $300 I paid for the combo was a steal. Aside from some soiling on the cork the rod and reel are mint condition with all original tube, sock, and reel case too.

Now if I could just find a System 7 combo in the same condition and price range...
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Ron Mc
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Re: Fly Fishing White Bass

Post by Ron Mc »

I had the System 7 combo, and it was great - sold the rod and will never part with the Hardy Marquis 7 - it's a great rod, just have so many great 7-wts around, including this 4-pc Fisher Original

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as far as the trout fishing argument and split shot, I fish streamers/wets for trout using the Teeny line the same way I fish for stripers and white bass - there's no better tool for fishing light strikes by feel.
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