Water Connectivity - Bass'n

Well, not totally sure where the month of June went but here we are in the middle of July. Fishing has been great when the water and rain have cooperated with us. June was a great month for both bass and trout, however we did have to get a little creative with some of the high flows. This pushed us to put drift boats in places they shouldn't and use all our time spent of the water to our advantage. July can be a fickle month with weather as well, and we have been battling high water most of the month. With August right around the corner, I'm hoping to see more consistent water levels and some clear water. I know in September I'll be complaining about low water, but such is life.

Two Favorites - Dry Flies

With the caddis and sulphurs in full swing here in PA, I wanted to share two of my favorite dries.

The first is the Bubble Back Caddis, it is a Rene Harrop original with a spin. I love this fly for almost any situation during a caddis hatch. It can be a cripple, emerger, or an adult, or maybe not, but the fish still seem to gobble it down at all times. It is a great fly to use for a dry dropper rig when the fish are keyed in on emergers. With lots of loose cdc fibers it is easy to see at all distances and it can hold up a tungsten bead head fly with ease.

Bubble Back Caddis

Materials:
Hook: Partridge Patriot Dry - 12-18
Thread: UNI Thread 8/0 - Tan
Tail: Wood Duck - Lemon Barred
Wing: CDC Feathers -Natural Brown
Body: East Coast Dubbing - Yellow/Tan Caddis
Collar: Partridge Feather - Natural
Antena: Wood Duck - Lemon Barred
Head: East Coast Dubbing - Caddis Thorax 

The second is another stand by that I love. This is a CDC Parachute Sulphur. I love to use the cdc as a post because it always lands perfect on the water. It is also a lot lighter and drops on the water much quieter than para post material. I like to tie mine with very sparse hackle, just enough to make a footprint on the water. This is another one that can be used as an indicator fly, I tie it with Chart. or pink cdc feathers to see it easier.

CDC Parachute Sulphur

Materials:
Hook: Partridge Patriot Dry 12-18
Thread:  UNI Thread 8/0 - Yellow
Tail: CDL Fibers - Dark
Abdomen: Goode Biot - Sulphur Yellow
Para Post: CDC Feathers - Chart.
Wing: Grizzly Hackle
Thorax:  East Coast Dubbing - Sulphur Yellow

Early Season Bass Days

Back blogging again. We had a killer early season for bass this spring. Water levels stayed floatable for the most part, but we did have a few blow out mixed in. It seems that the spawn was good and we didn't have too much high water to blow the beds out. If you are every interested we run smallmouth floats in the spring from late March until mid May. I am going to let the photos tell the rest of the story.