Help with fly fishing for bass/trout/perch

[OS_BRANDON]

i have had a cheap rig-up for quite some time now and i am just starting to use it. i plan on trying to catch some bass, perch, and trout with it but i do need some help on reaching what i want to accomplish. i want to learn things like: how long of a leader to use? what flies are best for each species? Are there any things that one must know in order to have success fly fishing? More questions might come later but these are the only ones i can think of at the moment.

I plan on fishing the local rivers like : medina river, sabinal, frio, nueces, but mainly the sabinal river.

In the past grasshoppers and mayflies have seemed to be a good source of food in that environment so i bought an assortment of grasshopper flies along with a mayfly life cycle kit. I also purchased a dragonfly, worm,popper, and some other 20 or so flies that are all mixed that i got at a garage sale.

I think that should be ideal for the trout, perch, and maybe a bass or two.. what do you guys think?

[Hornfan]

For rivers for bass/perch use a 4 lb or heavier 8 ft leader. Go to Cabela's or any decent flyshop and you can get pre-made panfish/bass leaders. They are tapered which means they are lighter at the tip and cast much easier than just tying on 8 ft of 4 or 6lb test to the flyline.

Go buy some small clousers. These are standard lead eye flies that catch anything from perch, bass, bonefish, to larger ocean fish. When in doubt, use smaller sizes than you'd think. They cast easier that way. The flies you listed are dry flies, but clousers and other streamer types flies that go anywhere from inches to a couple ft underwater will get many more strikes.

[OS_BRANDON]

oh ok.. ill make a trip to the store. i believe academy has those leaders. and dang 8 ft long . i never thought it would be that long but it does make sense. and oh yeah that "mix" that i said i had . it has some of those clousers. i just dont know whats considered small for them but i do have some.thanks

[Fishndude]

Go get you a 7 1/2' flippin' stick and some 50 lb. braid........and...........oh nevermind!!

[OS_BRANDON]

any other help?

[theluckyhunter]

i have caught lota of perch on with a topwater fly and a 3 foot leader, cast it where you are seeing them jump and just pop it around. its a blast.

i have caught a few bass the same way.

[roundtuit]

Brandon, having fly fished for many years myself just remember dont make it harder than it really is they are just fish...use an 8 to 9' leader in the 8lb to 10lb range. river ad pond bass can be caught on about the same flies. small poppers in black, yellow,chartruese, white/red all work well as well as clousers for bass. most river bass are smaller than there lake cousins because of the food chain so popprs in the size 10,12 work well. When targeting just bass as in a lake I use much larger flies and heavier leaders but then again I am targeting larger fish. Just have fun regardless and just fish and the learning curve will all work out

[holdem]

You can make your own leaders from monofilament (size is on the spool).
I use loop to loop connections on both ends of the leader and improved clinch for the fly.

As follows:
Short 1 foot piece of .021 on the flyline with a nail knot and loop.

Homemade leader formula for panfish:
.018 from right armpit to left finger tips
.015 from left armpit to left fingertips
.012 from left elbow to left fingertips

The first large knot is a blood knot, other one is surgeon's knot when tying these sections together.

Tippet is 2X or 3X depending on hook size from left armpit to left fingertips. So the lengths come out about:
3',2',1',2'

I say again the leader has a loop on both ends for loop to loop connections. The tippet has a loop on one end for loop to loop connection to the leader. I use surgeon's loop.

I hate tying knots and measuring stuff.

Also see here to refresh on knots:

http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

[txbowkill]

the BEST fly for perch hands down is a little fake spider
i had a green one and caught 12 decent sized perch yesterday in my neighborhood pond

[tvc184]

the BEST fly for perch hands down is a little fake spider
i had a green one and caught 12 decent sized perch yesterday in my neighborhood pond

Bream getters. If they aren't the best, they are right up there.

[CTR0022]

IMHO it is absolutly pointless to spend the money on a tapered leader or waste the time building your own leaders. just get a spool of 6lb, 8lb or 10lb (what ever lb test you want to use in respect to the situation and size of the fish. i use up to 20 lb for striper fishing). just take a 5-8 foot section of the mono (or flouro) tie a loop in one end and attach to fly line and put the fly of choice on the other end.

best fly for a beginer is a wooly bugger, get size 10-14 for panfish/crappie and trout in olive or black. for bass look at sized 2-8 in same colors. i have probably 100 wooley buggers in sizes 2-14 in black, olive, brown, white, chartuse. with bead heads and without.
Cabelas sells there wooley buggers for a good price.

go to texasflyrepot.com and texasfishingforum.com they have a fly fishing section
bot places has alot of info

other flies are small pooper or grasshoppers for perch and bass, along with deerhair bugs for bass. but if you start off with the wooley bugger you will catch fish and always catch fish. just cast it out and strip it in.

[cosmiccowboy]

IMHO it is absolutly pointless to spend the money on a tapered leader or waste the time building your own leaders. just get a spool of 6lb, 8lb or 10lb (what ever lb test you want to use in respect to the situation and size of the fish. i use up to 20 lb for striper fishing). just take a 5-8 foot section of the mono (or flouro) tie a loop in one end and attach to fly line and put the fly of choice on the other end.

best fly for a beginer is a wooly bugger, get size 10-14 for panfish/crappie and trout in olive or black. for bass look at sized 2-8 in same colors. i have probably 100 wooley buggers in sizes 2-14 in black, olive, brown, white, chartuse. with bead heads and without.
Cabelas sells there wooley buggers for a good price.

go to texasflyrepot.com and texasfishingforum.com they have a fly fishing section
bot places has alot of info

other flies are small pooper or grasshoppers for perch and bass, along with deerhair bugs for bass. but if you start off with the wooley bugger you will catch fish and always catch fish. just cast it out and strip it in.

bingo.

Tapered leaders are massive (dollar) overkill for warm water freshwater fish.

Learn to throw/roll out an un-tapered leader and you will save yourself a ton of money.

[OS_BRANDON]

yeah i was looking at the prices for the tapered fly line and they are pricy. luckily i found one on ebay for 10 dollars =]. from what ive read the tapered leaders do make a big difference though. but i have yet to try so i wouldnt know. im going out fishing on saturday so hopefully ill find out then. thanks.. brandon

[CTR0022]

again in my opinion, tapered leaders are only good for throwing small dry flies while trout fishing.

[holdem]

again in my opinion, tapered leaders are only good for throwing small dry flies while trout fishing.

in my opinion, tapered leaders are only good for throwing small dry flies while perch fishing.