Blue back with a lighter belly has been good to me
Hopefully one of you seasoned pros can answer my question. I am tying up some new panfish dropshot flies and was wondering if it matters if the hot spot is at the head of the fly or the back of the fly.
I have fished forever, but just in the past few years have started targeting panfish. It kinda started when I had uncooperative smallmouth bass to deal with. I started taking some UL panfish gear with me and said screw the bass! Now I am kinda addicted to panfishing. The funny part about it is, I get tons of smallmouth on small panfish baits. Throw a 4" worm and you can't get a smallmouth bite, but toss a 1.5" panfish bait fished slow and they will nail it!
So here I sit at my tying desk with my new top secret material laid out in front of me in a myriad of colors, struggling to figure out what colors to tie. This year my hot colors have been purple/chartreuse, black/chartreuse, black/hot pink, black/brown, and brown/orange. I have about every color you can imagine, so....... What colors do you like?
moonrunner, Jamesdean LIKED above post
Blue back with a lighter belly has been good to me
The love for fishing is one of the best gifts you can pass along
Colors , especially jighead colors are an individuals preference.
What works for one may not for another .
My buddy swears by a white jighead .
Me , any color is good as long as it’s black , with a plain head coming in second .
Body color , I let the fish tell me what they want . I’ve gone fishless for several casts until I find the color of the day and the light a switch turns on , they’re all over my jig .
In bodies , I like black, chartreuse, chartreuse/orange ( firetiger) ,and chartreuse with black back .
Black seems to work for me in all kinds of water conditions. I think it looks the most natural .
In my spider flies , a black and yellow variegated body with black and white legs has been my favorite, with solid black with black and white legs , second .
I tie a variety of color combos to try when the favorites don’t seem to work .
“ The bigger the Bend , the Wider the Grin ! “peshtigost LIKED above post
Gillchaser thanks for the reply. Sounds like our color choices are similar.
Do you use a fly rod for your spider flies?
Dropshot fishing with flies has been a game changer for me!
I’ve fished them with a flyrod , a Tenkara rod , under a float , and with a drop shot rig .
They work great on a drop shot . Depending on conditions. In the winter is drop shot time for me , except in the afternoon on a shallow flat that’s been getting sun all morning, then it’s time for the float and fly . I’ve found the sun warms up the flats , especially the surface .
Here’s a box of my spiders . Very simple fly .
“ The bigger the Bend , the Wider the Grin ! “S10CHEVY LIKED above post
Those look great. I haven't fished with live bait for the last 20 years! I haven't had as much luck with float and fly. Dropshot along weed edges and shore brush has been working great for me. I cast the dropshot and work it back slow.
I have my eye on a Tenkara, but that method seems to be cast and let the current carry it. How do you fish your Tenkara?
I’ve found Tenkara to be fun but it’s very limiting . You almost need a multi length rod and a few different lengths of of leaders . It’s more a jigging pole than a casting pole .
Drop shot fishing can be addictive. The concentration needed and waiting for the thump is very relaxing and a lot of fun . I like a 5’-5’6” rod for drop shotting. They seem more sensitive to me . For weights , I cut the heads off jigheads and use a snap so I can adjust my weight to the conditions.
“ The bigger the Bend , the Wider the Grin ! “
Prefer my “hotspot” on the head for crappie, some trout lures have them on the other end
Not sure on sunfish is me ...
If it’s just sunfish I like brown orange and black mixes
sum kawl me tha outlaw ketchn whalespeshtigost LIKED above post