New season, New Line, old Fly.

Well, it seems that the season is now well under way over here, and though the Bass are not here yet in the huge numbers of summer proportions, there are still plenty to go at and We seem to be getting into some on a regular enough basis. There is an upshot to not having large numbers of Fish around yet in that so far We have been able to get through to a better stamp of Fish. During the Summer months this is more difficult due to the vast shoals of smaller Fish that are resident inshore. Whilst these are are enormous fun on Fly gear, being a specimen Angler I yearn for the Heart Pounding, Adrenalin pumping fight that big Fish give you. To that end We will be attempting to seek out the better Fish this year, and being more single minded in our approach, as well as trying out new venues and Fly patterns.

I mentioned in an earlier entry that I was about to change over to a Shooting Head line, which I have now done. I've changed over to a Rio Outbound Integrated Shooting Head line, and I have to say it has made casting so much easier, especially if there is any wind. It has a short 37.5 ft head that is heavier than AFTMA standards and an 82.5 ft running line, which gives it an overall length of 120ft or approx 40yds. Simply the reduction in the number of false casts needed over the course of a session has been a bonus, and there is no need to double haul except on the last false cast before shooting the line. I'm now casting further than ever with a lot less effort which can only be good! Less casting and more time with the Fly in the water Fishing should help to increase My catch rate. Trout lines will do the job, but this is designed specifically for Saltwater Fishing and is easily able to cope with the task.

So far just about all of the Fish we've had have fallen to the ubiquitous Clouser Minnow Fly, Charteruese over White being the winning colour combination. The smaller the better it seems as well early season, Flies tied on size six hooks, proportionally material wise, have done far better than size four or bigger, with one exception, the decent Fish I had the other night fell to a different pattern and larger hook size. But the venue this Fish came from has, so far, not fished particularly well to the Clouser, this may be due to what the Bass are actually predating on here, but time and experimentation will tell. For the most part however, the Clouser is a very successful Fly and is the 'goto' Fly in any box when trying a new venue for the first time. As the season progresses I expect larger sizes to come into their own especially when trying to target the bigger Fish.