Big Bass at Dusk

Last night I got out in the kayak to do some fly testing. And map out a drop off that I knew existed but didn't know the full scope and position of. The fly I was testing is my answer to the heddon torpedo, my favorite topwater plug of all time. I've been trying to translate that awesome chugging dog walking action into fly form for a while now. I recently started making my own popper bodies and realized this was the perfect medium to build a dog walking fly. Not too long ago Joe Cermele a F&S writer and Hook Shots producer, created a fly called the slop mop, a popper on an articulated shank with a wide gap worm hook behind it. A rabbit strip and bucktail clump are tied to the worm hook in a way that makes is pretty much weedless. Building off of this design I used the same upward facing worm hook trailer, a 4 inch length of bite wire, and a long foam popper body with a flat front face and three rubber legs to create a fly that walks the dog and makes just the right amount of noise on a steady, slow two handed retrieve. It works.

I got a number of takes from big bass, a few were real heart stoppers. I landed four fish on it, three largemouth and one smallmouth. The smallmouth was by far the largest I have ever caught in this pond, and to be honest I don't think I've even caught more than 8 of them in this pond in the 6 years I've been fishing it. It fought incredibly well, no surprise. Clearly proof of concept!

For those wondering why the format changed in the second half of this post, I'm writing it in the car on the way to the shore, and my phone will not let me reset the alignment.... I'll fix it later.