Stan Fagerstrom
05-15-2003, 05:34 AM
The Best Bugs For Bass
Former Guide Reveals Secrets
By Stan Fagerstrom
Part Two
In the last issue of this column I detailed the approach Glenn Young, a former guide and a fly rodding expert, uses to take largemouth bass on a fly rod. This time around let's look at a couple of the fly patterns he finds most effective and consider where and how he presents them.
I have written before about Glen's favorite underwater patterns. He developed both of them himself. If you're into fly tying, you'll want to give them close attention. I say that because Young has used these two flies to catch scores of bass right here in the Pacific Northwest, not some far off part of the country when fish tastes might vary.
http://www.ifish.net/sfgys.jpg
The former guide, now an executive with Gamakatsu Hooks, calls this his "Catch All" pattern. It is equally effective for crappie, bass and bluegill.
The first is one he calls Young's Special. He's been using this pattern ever since his high school days at Salem. It is tied like this:
Hook: Gamakatsu S11S-4K2H in sizes 6 or 8
Tail: 3 pieces of peacock hurl
Abdomen: Peacock hurl
Thorax: Yellow rabbit dubbing
Legs: Hungarian partridge hackle
The second pattern, one Glenn calls the Bunny Worm, is designed to include some of the same principles that make rubber worms such an effective lure for bass anglers. It is put together like this:
Hook: Gamakatsu G-Lock Worm Hook in a size 4/0
Tail: 3 ½ to 4 inches of natural color stripped rabbit hide
Eyes: Medium painted lead eyes
Body: Mixed black, tan and white marabou
Wing: Black or blue rabbit fur strip
http://www.ifish.net/sfgbf.jpg
What you see here is the Bunny Worm that former guide Glenn Young uses for largemouth.
http://www.ifish.net/sfgbluebf.jpg
Here's the same pattern but tied with a strip of blue rabbit fur.
Glenn uses the smaller Young's Special for bluegill and crappie as well as bass. He calls it a "catch-all" pattern. The larger pattern utilizing rabbit hide was designed especially for bass. "The size of the dumbbell eyes can be varied for shallow water or deeper fishing," he says. "It can be crawled along the bottom or jigged or retrieved like a streamer fly. Even when it is dead in the water the rabbit fur breathes and pulsates with water movement."
In the first of this two part series I told about how those fish in the lure demonstration tank at an outdoor show went for Glenn's fly patterns. If you ever have opportunity ask him about the time he demonstrated the two patterns in the lure demonstration tank at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Missouri. "I demonstrated the larger rabbit fur fly first," Glenn says. "Most of the bass in the tank grabbed it and it was also attacked by one of the carp. A crappie tried to eat it but it was too large. Then I tied on my Young's Special. Virtually ever fish in the tank tried to eat it."
The hook point had, of course, been removed from these patterns for demonstration purposes. Glenn's objective was to demonstrate that fish indeed eat something that resembles their natural food sources. If he hadn't snipped the barb off those pin-sharp Gamakatsu fly patterns he'd have caught every fish in the tank.
So where does an expert like Young look for bass with his fly rod? "I love wood cover he says, "but I won't turn my back on reeds or pads. Actually, I'll fish reeds before anything else. I throw right into them if I can. My casts may only be from 15 to 25-feet long. Accuracy is far more important than distance."
The first thing this former guide does is study the shoreline of the area he's fishing. Points always get his attention. So does rock, downed timer or any of the other cover bass are so prone to seek out.
Young does most of his fishing from a float tube or a pontoon boat. Once he pinpoints the area he wants to fish his casts are usually short. He concentrates on accuracy as opposed to distance.
Glenn Young can get his flies out there farther if he chooses to do so. He's one of the region's best at long distance fly casting and has won some of the contests staged for that kind of competition. I've watched him do it.
With his Young's Special, Glen begins his retrieve as soon as the fly hits the surface. Most often he employs a medium fast retrieve with stop-and-go pauses. He expects to get most of his hits when the fly is moved after a pause.
With the Bunny Worm he casts to cover and lets the lure drop. "I expect to get most of my hits on the fall," he says. "You need to be especially alert as the fly drops. Always watch for line movement while the fly is sinking."
I've caught some good-sized bass myself on top water bugs. But I learned a long time ago most---not all but most---really big bass are caught deeper down. Perhaps that's why an 8-pound, 6-ounce largemouth gobbled Glenn's Young's Special one day down there on the Willamette River Slough. That's a whole lot of largemouth to catch even with a flipping rod and 20-pound line. Hook one that size on a fly rod and the ensuing contest takes on some of the aspects of a three-ring circus.
I think there's a definite parallel to be drawn between the reaction of those fish in the lure demonstration tank when Glenn gets up there with his fly rod and the fish in your favorite lake. Every time you go out there you see probably have plenty of competition. But are any of those other guys fly fishing? No Way! What they are doing is pitching spinnerbaits, crankbaits and big plastic lures that the fish they are after have seen ten thousand times before.
What's likely to happen on that favorite pond of yours if someone comes along with a fly rod and some of the patterns like my friend Glenn Young uses? Are those fish likely to react just like those bass in the lure demonstration tank? Young thinks so. I'm inclined to agree with him.
"All fish eat bugs of one kind or another," Young says. "The flies I'm presenting closely resemble the type of things they've always been eating. Did you, for example, ever hear of a spinnerbait hatch?"
Anybody who has been around as long as I have has witnessed a tremendous surge in bass fishing interest. That's as true here in the Pacific Northwest as anywhere else. But one aspect of bass fishing remains virtually untapped and it's fly fishing in general, but going after them with sinking patterns in particular.
Want to add a little zing to your bass fishing this season? Try Glenn Young's approach. You might wind up just as "hooked" on using the long rod for largemouth as he is!
[ 05-15-2003, 05:35 AM: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]
Former Guide Reveals Secrets
By Stan Fagerstrom
Part Two
In the last issue of this column I detailed the approach Glenn Young, a former guide and a fly rodding expert, uses to take largemouth bass on a fly rod. This time around let's look at a couple of the fly patterns he finds most effective and consider where and how he presents them.
I have written before about Glen's favorite underwater patterns. He developed both of them himself. If you're into fly tying, you'll want to give them close attention. I say that because Young has used these two flies to catch scores of bass right here in the Pacific Northwest, not some far off part of the country when fish tastes might vary.
http://www.ifish.net/sfgys.jpg
The former guide, now an executive with Gamakatsu Hooks, calls this his "Catch All" pattern. It is equally effective for crappie, bass and bluegill.
The first is one he calls Young's Special. He's been using this pattern ever since his high school days at Salem. It is tied like this:
Hook: Gamakatsu S11S-4K2H in sizes 6 or 8
Tail: 3 pieces of peacock hurl
Abdomen: Peacock hurl
Thorax: Yellow rabbit dubbing
Legs: Hungarian partridge hackle
The second pattern, one Glenn calls the Bunny Worm, is designed to include some of the same principles that make rubber worms such an effective lure for bass anglers. It is put together like this:
Hook: Gamakatsu G-Lock Worm Hook in a size 4/0
Tail: 3 ½ to 4 inches of natural color stripped rabbit hide
Eyes: Medium painted lead eyes
Body: Mixed black, tan and white marabou
Wing: Black or blue rabbit fur strip
http://www.ifish.net/sfgbf.jpg
What you see here is the Bunny Worm that former guide Glenn Young uses for largemouth.
http://www.ifish.net/sfgbluebf.jpg
Here's the same pattern but tied with a strip of blue rabbit fur.
Glenn uses the smaller Young's Special for bluegill and crappie as well as bass. He calls it a "catch-all" pattern. The larger pattern utilizing rabbit hide was designed especially for bass. "The size of the dumbbell eyes can be varied for shallow water or deeper fishing," he says. "It can be crawled along the bottom or jigged or retrieved like a streamer fly. Even when it is dead in the water the rabbit fur breathes and pulsates with water movement."
In the first of this two part series I told about how those fish in the lure demonstration tank at an outdoor show went for Glenn's fly patterns. If you ever have opportunity ask him about the time he demonstrated the two patterns in the lure demonstration tank at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Missouri. "I demonstrated the larger rabbit fur fly first," Glenn says. "Most of the bass in the tank grabbed it and it was also attacked by one of the carp. A crappie tried to eat it but it was too large. Then I tied on my Young's Special. Virtually ever fish in the tank tried to eat it."
The hook point had, of course, been removed from these patterns for demonstration purposes. Glenn's objective was to demonstrate that fish indeed eat something that resembles their natural food sources. If he hadn't snipped the barb off those pin-sharp Gamakatsu fly patterns he'd have caught every fish in the tank.
So where does an expert like Young look for bass with his fly rod? "I love wood cover he says, "but I won't turn my back on reeds or pads. Actually, I'll fish reeds before anything else. I throw right into them if I can. My casts may only be from 15 to 25-feet long. Accuracy is far more important than distance."
The first thing this former guide does is study the shoreline of the area he's fishing. Points always get his attention. So does rock, downed timer or any of the other cover bass are so prone to seek out.
Young does most of his fishing from a float tube or a pontoon boat. Once he pinpoints the area he wants to fish his casts are usually short. He concentrates on accuracy as opposed to distance.
Glenn Young can get his flies out there farther if he chooses to do so. He's one of the region's best at long distance fly casting and has won some of the contests staged for that kind of competition. I've watched him do it.
With his Young's Special, Glen begins his retrieve as soon as the fly hits the surface. Most often he employs a medium fast retrieve with stop-and-go pauses. He expects to get most of his hits when the fly is moved after a pause.
With the Bunny Worm he casts to cover and lets the lure drop. "I expect to get most of my hits on the fall," he says. "You need to be especially alert as the fly drops. Always watch for line movement while the fly is sinking."
I've caught some good-sized bass myself on top water bugs. But I learned a long time ago most---not all but most---really big bass are caught deeper down. Perhaps that's why an 8-pound, 6-ounce largemouth gobbled Glenn's Young's Special one day down there on the Willamette River Slough. That's a whole lot of largemouth to catch even with a flipping rod and 20-pound line. Hook one that size on a fly rod and the ensuing contest takes on some of the aspects of a three-ring circus.
I think there's a definite parallel to be drawn between the reaction of those fish in the lure demonstration tank when Glenn gets up there with his fly rod and the fish in your favorite lake. Every time you go out there you see probably have plenty of competition. But are any of those other guys fly fishing? No Way! What they are doing is pitching spinnerbaits, crankbaits and big plastic lures that the fish they are after have seen ten thousand times before.
What's likely to happen on that favorite pond of yours if someone comes along with a fly rod and some of the patterns like my friend Glenn Young uses? Are those fish likely to react just like those bass in the lure demonstration tank? Young thinks so. I'm inclined to agree with him.
"All fish eat bugs of one kind or another," Young says. "The flies I'm presenting closely resemble the type of things they've always been eating. Did you, for example, ever hear of a spinnerbait hatch?"
Anybody who has been around as long as I have has witnessed a tremendous surge in bass fishing interest. That's as true here in the Pacific Northwest as anywhere else. But one aspect of bass fishing remains virtually untapped and it's fly fishing in general, but going after them with sinking patterns in particular.
Want to add a little zing to your bass fishing this season? Try Glenn Young's approach. You might wind up just as "hooked" on using the long rod for largemouth as he is!
[ 05-15-2003, 05:35 AM: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]