Fly Rod Wiper (Hybrid) 5-3-2011

I had a tip from a fellow fly-angler yesterday that the white bass are starting to run in the local river. I LOVE catching white bass!! So, yesterday evening I gave it a try.

I had to rush out of the house after a quick supper, to take my kids to some lessons (during which I went fishing), so I didn't get to grab the stouter gear I would have preferred to use. I just had to go with what was already in my car.

So, I used a 5wt rod, WFF line. I had at least 5 boxes of flies in the car, but not the flies I wanted for the river. I dug through and found a 3" chartreuse bunny-strip pattern with lead dumbell eyes. I fished that for awhile.

I missed one really good hit near shore. I saw the fish, but not well enough to identify it. I have a suspicion it may have been a medium-sized smallmouth bass. The bunny strip had wrapped around and was covering the hook point, which likely is why I missed the fish.

I continued casting around, and finally got another awesome strike! I tried to hold it, but it took line out of my hands and off my reel anyway. It was straining my gear, for sure. Fortunately, I was able to land the fish. It was a really nice 18" Wiper. I didn't get any more strikes after that.