BRIMINATOR SEASON

The days are getting shorter, the water getting colder and the bluegill / sunfish are ignoring my Betts topwater poppers. That means "Briminator Season" has began. The Briminator is by far my favorite pattern to use in the Winter and Early Spring. I not only catch big sunfish and bluegill on the fly; I've also caught trout, catfish, crappie, buffalo, gaspergou and lots of 18 to 19 inch bass.

There are several techniques and presentations I've found to be very effective when pond fishing.

First, I usually start with a size 8 or 10 unweighted fly in olive, black or crawfish orange. I throw it out in deep water and let it sink slowly. If the fish are active I'll see a twitch in the line and I set the hook.

If they aren't taking it on the fall, I will let it sink to the bottom and start stripping it in with 3 small pulls then pausing. If that doesn't work I will let it fall then swim it back to me as slowly as possible. I tie one pattern with dark crawfish colored rabbit fur. I have great luck with crawfish patterns in the winter. But I found that large rabbit fur bass patterns get extremely heavy once wet. I use that to my advantage. The rabbit hair Briminator bridges that gap in sink rate between an unweighted marabou Briminator and a weighted one.

If none of these techniques are working I will try a weighted Briminator. I let it sink deep into the weeds and swim it slowly back to me. The Briminator rides hook up and moves extremely well through weeds as compared to a woolly bugger.

I posted a thread on the Briminator in the Fly Fishing section last year and the inventor of the fly, Tony Guzman chimed in on the thread. It is an interesting read with several pictures and links to other people's Briminator ties. The Briminator was originally tied with a single pheasant church window feather but I've experimented with lots of different materials.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/10670395/1

Below are a few of the fish I caught in the last few days on Briminators.

The Crawfish Briminator, tied with Crawfish colored rabbit fur has been one of my favorite patterns. Me and a friend were fishing on Friday. I was using a crawfish briminator and he was using a chartreuse colored fly. I caught 5 Green sunfish and he only had one. He switched over to a crawfish colored fly and immediately caught 5. It's definitely one of my confidence baits.

I also tie weighted Briminators. I usually wrap the shank with .015 lead. I add flash to all my weighted Briminators so I can easily distinguish them in my cluttered fly box.

Great post !

Makes dig my fly stuff out and try it for some bluegill. Been a long time for me. I used
to fly fish with my grandfather on the Llano river when I was a kid.

Those are some beautiful bluegill you caught !

Awesome Post Jamie! Watching you last year using your fly rod on the Comal was like watching a surgeon in action. You covered that whole part of the river! You need to bring those flies down here!

Good story. If you dig out that fly gear you may not pickup the conventional gear for a while. Especially on the Llano.

Thanks

Thanks Chuck, That was an awesome day on the Comal. I appreciate all your help and support, as always.

Super post J-Moe and some very nice flies! Good job Sir!

Thanks

Excellent post, thank you very much.

later...don

Nice post Jamie, I'd like to throw some flies with you next spring.

Do you have a kayak?

Thanks Don

Thanks Fitz, that sounds awesome!!

Yes, I have a Kayak.

Then we are in business

Nothing like a Spring day in Winter!!! Temperatures got up to 88 degrees yesterday and the bite was on fire

I went out pond fishing around 4 PM. I ran into a friend. He said the bass weren't biting, but the bluegill sure were. He said they were pecking at his plastic worm the entire time he was fishing. Man was he right. I was getting a bite on almost every cast. I ended up catching 28 green sunfish and 8 small bass.

By far, the most productive fly pattern was the Crawfish Briminator. I caught 24 of the 28 Greenies on it.

Fantastic post and nice fly. Those look like Bluegill catchers for sure!

Thanks Laker One

Hey guys what is the first fish shown on this thread I caught one just like it , I know its a sunfish but which species? Thanks

Bluegill

Plus #1 and a fat one at that!

Cool a new one to add to my collection , have caught tons of green sunfish but my first bluegill.

I've went out to the ponds a couple times over the last week. I had to work hard to catch 4 or 5 sunfish and a few small bass on each trip. I have continued to have my best luck with the Crawfish Briminator. I was out today dragging the Briminator through the weeds and catching a few small bass when I hooked into a big greenie. He hit it like a bass but as soon as he started to fight and run parallel to the shore I knew what it was. Always fun on the 4 weight.

Supposed to be over 70 degrees on Thursday and Friday. Friday afternoon ought to be some good pond fishing.

J-Moe. Have you tied any with Chartreuse colors? Seems I have been getting pretty good results with flies that have Chartreuse colors in them. Especially the Bluegill!

Yes, I tie some chartreuse and some chartreuse & black Briminators and bait fish patterns. I have great luck catching everything except Bluegill & Sunfish on Chartreuse patterns. Me and a friend were fishing the other day. I caught 5 fish on crawfish color and he caught one on Chartreuse. He switched over to a crawfish color and immediately caught 5.

I don't understand it, but I just don't have much luck with chartreuse on sunfish or bluegill. Black, Olive and Crawfish Orange work far better for me. And trust me, I have tried hard, LOL!!

I was curious. Are you catching them in a river or creek?

I did notice that in moving water environments the chartreuse does work better than when I am fishing them in the ponds.

When I creek fish for White Bass with conventional gear I use chartreuse curly tail jigs about 80 percent of the time.

I went out to my favorite Long Ear pond this morning. It is a spring fed pond that is very clear with lots of underwater vegetation.

The wind was 18 mph with some gusts up to 30 mph. The pond is also tree lined with some tall vegetation growing on the banks. Combine that with a light fly and 4 weight fly line and it sure makes fly fishing difficult. I ended catching 2 green sunfish, a bass, 3 trees, 2 wind knots and this beautiful long ear in about 45 minutes, then hung it up. I used a black and chartreuse Briminator today. I keep trying it Laker One.

I catch most of my Long Ear by making 3 quick strips and pausing. This is the opposite of Bluegill which usually want a very slow swim.

Nice fish Jamie! Looks like you are finding a few this winter. Good job.

Nice fish guys, and the jig [fly] is great.

Nice Longear!

Thanks Chuck, Larry and Laker One.

I tied up a Briminator with bright orange rabbit fur and tested it out yesterday evening. The dark crawfish orange Briminator worked much better again though.

I tried one of my favorite greenie ponds first with no luck so I headed to a different pond. This particular pond is overpopulated with stunted red ear, native bluegill and what seem to be hybrids of the two.

I caught about 10 to 15 of these sunfish and another 6 or 7 bass before I got bored.

Nice flies and some nice fat fish. Good job J-Moe.

Man, yall are killing me! 6" ice cap in CO Springs. Pink/brown is a great pattern to use to tie briminator. Especially when craws spawn or when they molt. The soft shell craws are really top of the list for big sunfish. Even for minnow eaters like bluegills and redbreasts.

Great information. I will tie up some in pink and brown.

Love this thread. Will be breaking out the fly rod after the Crappie run for sure. Spring is right around the corner.




Side Note: I did manage a limit of trout on the fly last week!

Thanks Laker One, Limit of trout on the fly sounds awesome to me.