Christmas? No. TOPWATER BASSIN' SEASON!

I ventured out to good ol' Sooper Seekrit Stock Tank #7 last night, Mini Mag in hand. There was no wind, flat water, and swirls in the shallows.

First bass of the year! (Be patient, they get bigger.)




These next two fish were caught on consecutive casts just two minutes apart.


Ah, the rare and elusive East Texas Fork Tailed Bass Bassius dos-talium.




I missed a few strikes by succumbing to bass fever and jerking the bug out of their gaping, sunfishy maws. Most of them hit like green torpedoes: big wakes, backs out of the water, slashing sideways casting parabolas of cow water into pescatorial arcs of freshwater splendor.

All fish were missed or caught on the... anyone? anyone? Buehler? ...Upside Down Frog. I managed to lose two UDFs, one to a stump and one to a fish after getting in a hurry and not retying after catching a couple of rough-mouthed bassies.

Several months of no fly flinging haven't done my casting technique any favors. The flyline catching remnants of last year's water primrose didn't do me any favors either. However, once I got a little arm weary and remembered to slow down and let the rod do the work, things were better. The weeds still weren't helping though.

You know that local pond that you longingly look at on your way to work (the one you have LEGAL ACCESS to)? Do you see those little weed patches starting to form tiny green protrusions through the water? There are terrified minnows cowering there. Nearby are hungry, grouchy prespawn bass. Go thee hither and entice them. I implore thee!

I think Ishmael from the bass boat Peaquod was talking about fly flingers who go too long without fishing when he said,
�...and Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.�

So get out there and mend, darn ya, mend!

Oh I have been waiting on the top water bite, got to get out and give it a shot.

This post makes me happy. Your tank seems to have weathered the droughts pretty well with those pretty looking bass.

Hey, I thought those udf's were weed/snag/breakoff proof!

Dusty, thanks for your report - been waiting for the topwater bite .....UDFs ready for action...
george

Thank you, gentlemen. This is pretty shallow water with a dark bottom, so I'm sure it's warmed up a bit more than the deeper stuff has. I saw no activity at all on the shorelines with steeper drop offs to deeper water. These were all caught in the magic hour just before dark. The four fish in the individual pictures actually came in one 30 minute span.



The UDF is a very weedless pattern, but less so a woodless pattern, especially when someone's poor casting technique causes the leader to land in a serpentine pattern around three or more vertical sticks. I actually had to pull it out of a bass' strike on at least two occasions just to keep from tangling a fish up in a spot where I would have had to wade out to release it and or losing more bugs.

The key to not snagging it on stumps seems to be pulling it GENTLY around them. I think I read about that in Whitlock's book about fly fishing for bass. You can also try roll casting a fly off of wood. That works more often than you might think.

The breakoff on the fish I wrote of above is a great early season reminder for me to RETIE OFTEN AND CHECK THE TIPPET AFTER EVERY FISH. There are few times I've felt sillier than watching a good sized bass thrashing the surface of the water as it leaves with my bug while I stand there with a bugless flyrod uselessly at hand.

I'm also going to tie up a big, ugly wad of air resistant deerhair weighted heavily with lead and no hook to do some practice casting in the back yard.

Well written and documented report. Not a bad first trip! Congrats!

Thanks, Mick. I'm sure I'll have some trips this year that aren't nearly this good. It's an auspicious beginning.

Excellent, thanks for sharing.

I see you're still practicing the same line control method you use in the GW!!! Nice report anyway!!!

I'm nothing if not consistent. The second and third evenings I fished last week I took the hint and used my belt mounted stripping basket. That way my line tangled with itself instead of the myriad and numerous projections on the ground. It's always fun to have something new to curse at.

From someone who goes fishing way too infrequently, I enjoy reading reports and seeing pics of any species caught by any means. If I can't catch them I like to see others success. Fishing vicariously through others I guess. Keep the reports coming!

Thank you, Grindle. I really appreciate the feedback. Sometimes I wonder how many folks look at these kinds of posts and never say anything.

I enjoy posting the reports of my all too infrequent trips. The hope is that someone will enjoy reading them and seeing the pictures enough to be inspired to find some time of their own to go fling a few.