Switching Thing Up...
Monday, July 11, 2011 at 11:21AM 
My alarm chirped at 4:50 am sharp and I hopped out of bed and snuck out of the room, careful to not wake Katie. I clicked on the coffee maker in a sleepy haze and slapped on my spf 50. A big A couple minutes later I had a hot mug of jo in one hand, and pushed the Lund away from the dew-covered dock. I still had 15 minutes until the sun would peek from behind the far shore, and I noticed a lot of loons on the water as I made my way up Gull Lake to Grassy Point and the bulrushes. Only now do I tend to find bass in these shallows early in the morning. While you can chuck a bunch of different stuff to these early-morning feeders, I prefer to switch things up this time of year. I keep my baitcasters in the rod locker and instead pull out a fly rod. Over the years I've found fly roddin' to be deadly for shallow fish and maybe, just maybe, I find throwing unconventional gear in conventional territory a bit fun. In fact, it's become such a hobby of mine that each spring, I now brainstorm and tie a couple dozen homemade bass poppers. A few friends have even started collecting 'em. Most recent was the series made out of wine corks, the result of a bet from a buddy...
On this morning, I reached for my fly rod. Whoops. 
A Mess!
Appears one of my crank boxes didn't want me using that darn rod. Spent the next ten minutes untangling that mess, took a swig of my now lukewarm coffee and grabbed my popper box and pulled out one of my 2009 patterns. It's essentially three sheets of 2mm foam glued together and cut to size. I tie in a 3/0 hook and legs and add eyes. 
My 2009 and 2010 Patterns
I like to throw my bigger bass poppers using a 6 or 7 weight fly rod with heavy bass lines and 10lb leaders. I picked up a 6 wt and got to the casting. 
A Fishy Spot...
When I fish a long line of bulrushes, I set the boat to slowly move parallel to the outside edge of the weeds and I just start casting, picking out pockets and lanes. I prefer to have an accurate shot, so I keep my casts to about 60 or 70 feet. The other thing about shorter casts? It can be tough to get good hook sets on fast takes when you have too much line out....
Hooked Up!
As the sun just started to peek over the edge of the trees, I threw my first casts, letting the popper settle, then pulling just a couple of aggressive twitches, "BLOOP!" "BLOOP!" I love that sound on quiet mornings.... Eventually, that swirl I love so much....
Fish on the Bottom! He sipped in the popper, I set the hook and we battled it out, fish jumping from the water repeatedly and me slowly working him closer and closer to the boat until I leaned over, lipped the tired fish and popped the fly from his mouth. As I laid the fish back in the water and he slid away, I laughed a bit, knowing my summer topwater bite had started.
I REALLY look forward to this fishing pattern. Maybe it's the fact that I'm about the first person on the lake. Maybe it's the idea that I'm tricking fish into biting using something I created? Maybe it's the sounds of sunrise on open water. All I know is I wait all year long for mornings like this. In a window from 5:45-7:30 I boated around two dozen fish. A couple pushed the 3lb mark, pretty good for Gull Lake. I lost one popper to a fish that startled me when he took the fly. Let's just say my hookset was a bit too much for the 10lb leader. I also used my 2010 pattern tied using wine corks. That fly worked just fine too.
The Wine Cork Popper!
By the end of the weekend, I had torched my 6 wt, probably the result of hard use over the years and a bit of rough treatment in the boat. I prefer to tell people I simply caught too many fish for the rod...
Another One Bites the Dust....
Reader Comments (1)
Nice write up Bill! IO felt like I was there with you. Early morning, topwater Bass fishing with a flyrod is my favorite thing to do.