Puppet Master

[Tom L]

After encountering the selective smallies on the Rock R (while fishing with Eugene and Ron) and the Fox R (on the way back) this past Monday, I've been pondering. Last night as I was tying flies, David James Duncan came into my head. In "Trout Grass", he said we (fly fishermen - I think lure fishermen are included) are puppet masters, the rivers are the stages and the fish are the audiences. We make believe that the fly which made out of feathers and synthetic materials that we tied to the end of the line are alive. We make it dances and moves. And if we do a decent job of convincing, Our audiences will respond.

 

Just want to share this thought with you as you're heading out to the river on this long Labor Day weekend.

 

Be A Puppet Master

[cbagdade]

Very interesting, Tom. I believe you have made a valid connection. Now I have to learn to manipulate my puppets with only one "string"!

 

Chuck

[Rob G]

Tom,

I agree, I've come to believe that the actual animation of the fly is more important than the specific fly itself. What we do with our rod tip and how we manipulate our strip is the essence of how we capture (and release) our audience.

[mikea]

Spot on Rob, this and presentation are ninty percent of fly fishing. There's other small facets to it that we foolishly agonize over, fly size, color, water temp, the right line.....it's endless.

Tom,

I agree, I've come to believe that the actual animation of the fly is more important than the specific fly itself. What we do with our rod tip and how we manipulate our strip is the essence of how we capture (and release) our audience.

 

[Tom L]

Very interesting, Tom. I believe you have made a valid connection. Now I have to learn to manipulate my puppets with only one "string"!

 

Chuck

Thanks Chuck, one string puppet master.

[Tom L]

Tom,

I agree, I've come to believe that the actual animation of the fly is more important than the specific fly itself. What we do with our rod tip and how we manipulate our strip is the essence of how we capture (and release) our audience.

 

 

Spot on Rob, this and presentation are ninty percent of fly fishing. There's other small facets to it that we foolishly agonize over, fly size, color, water temp, the right line.....it's endless.

 

Rob & Mike, I totally agreed that most of the times the presentation is more important than the fly itself. However on rare occasions, having the right presentation just isn't enough; the right fly and even the right fly color is also needed. Smallmouth are opportunistic feeders most of the time; but at times, they also can be very selective as trout.

 

This had happened to me enough times that I'd come to firmly believe in this theory. The latest was this past Monday fishing with Ron and Eugene on the Rock R. We threw everything in our fly-boxes, but only the brown Foxy caught fish. That same day on the Fox R, I changed many flies and colors; but only the chart CF Muddler caught fish.

 

http://illinoissmallmouthalliance.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12098

[ronk]

90 percent of any kind of fishing is putting a fly/lure/bait whatever the kind to a fish,ie location ,location location.Unlike trout I don't believe bass particularly stream bass with the harder conditions they face can afford to be selective as to type/color as long as it looks like something to eat & enters his "strike zone" except in very specific circumstances such as when K3 bass are on the white fly hatch for example.I think this is especially true in murky water,Fox/Rock etal. Years ago there was a similar discussion on our site wherein some anglers argued that big lures were needed to consistently catch big bass.While it's likely that a big bass would prefer a big meal it's also highly unlikely that he'd pass up a smaller one hoping for a bigger one to come along."A bird in hand....".As more ffers came into the club with their reports of big bass caught on flies smaller, often much smaller, than their spin/baitcasting counterparts I think that argument was put to rest. I do agree that after a fish or 2 are caught in a spot the other fish if any in that spot might become reluctant towards that fly.Changing might overcome their reluctance. I primarily change flies to achieve the strike zone bass are in ie switching to a subsurface fly if it seems bass aren't topwater interested, switching from a mid depth fly like a streamer to a deeper pattern like a crawfish if the fish are bottom oriented (& vice versa) and than switching those flies to stay near bottom in different depths/current speeds.

[Eric]

Tom those spots you hit on the Rock might have been fished a day before and many of the big bass that setup there may have been sore-mouthed, some even kept. No doubt you were in fishy locations under Eugene's guidance and were presenting the right offerings. That's what I read into it. I'll bet another time you'd connect just fine.

[ronk]

Tom those spots you hit on the Rock might have been fished a day before and many of the big bass that setup there may have been sore-mouthed, some even kept. No doubt you were in fishy locations under Eugene's guidance and were presenting the right offerings. That's what I read into it. I'll bet another time you'd connect just fine.

Eugene did say that in checking things out the day before in preparation for our outting he found the fish to be active. Sometimes that old saying is true