I had a charter Friday. I took a first-time kayak fly-rodder to Lake Manatee. We did super well on big bluegill. The wind was blowing, so I had him anchor and cast a No. 12 gold bead nymph under a strike indicator. He had a blast, catching pound bluegill.

I saw a fish bust about 30 feet out in the open lake. I watch for a while, then saw a tail pierce the water's surface. I had no clue what it was.

I made a cast, immediately hooked up. Turned out to be a bass that I estimated close to 8 pounds.

Wow!

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Steve

Marshall Univeristy, 1971

Heritage-endorsed guide

The biggest bass I ever caught was nothing huge, a smidgen under 5 #, was caught on a popping bug while fishing for bream.

Of course, being a kid, I insisted that mom cook it up for supper... teh nastiest fish we ever tried to eat! There's no telling how long it took that critter to grow to that size in grandpa's pod! Still, that strike and getting it to the bank is something that is as clear as yesterday, not 30+ eyars ago.

Thanks for that post.
Tommy

Nice fish. Took a 5-6 lb, (the guy that took the pic. est. the wgt) on my 4 wgt/7' w/a 3lb tippet. Lots of fun when you get a surprise like you got & me, while crappie fishing on my yearly trip to ARK.

Steve,

I bet it was fun. The biggest LMB I've taken on the fly was ten pounds on a creek with a simple little yellow chartreuse popper. But that was in my younger days not long after I finished high school.

BTW, I tied up two of your flies. Going to give them a try. I've used the HEN (Hare's Ear Nymph) before but have never really done that well on them but I tied up one just like yours with the pheasant tail for the tail, dubbed hare's ear body, and gold beadhead. The bream here seem to like that black MDN (Marabou Damsel Nymph). I also tied one of those foam surface flies of yours with the green chartreuse marabou tail, cactus chenille underbody, foam strip outerbody, and sequin face (I think my sequin needs to be bigger). Now all I need it is some water to put them in. LOL The drought is still ongoing here.

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Robert B. McCorquodale

"Flip a fly"