Joey Bagels
Well-known member
As a boy growing up in Wyoming, I always looked forward to the damselfly hatches on the plains lakes outside of Laramie. Big rainbows and browns cruised the weed beds and reed lines, gorging on nymphs and slashing at adults. This usually started in late May and lasted until July and the action could be fast and furious. Here in Texas, the damsel and dragonfly hatches began a week or two back and are in full swing now. And the bass are behaving just like the trout in those lakes of my youth.
It was another fine day for a tubing expedition with the 3 weight. The water in my local pond is low, but the weeds are growing in and a dizzying array of damsels and dragons are hatching in all shades of green, blue, tan, and red. The bass are taking notice. Big time. I decided to experiment today after catching my first bass on the new dragonfly pattern and another on a bugger.
Bugger bass was healthy and ate it solidly. She was 19” and I figured she’d be the big fish of the day. I figured wrong. Considering the amount of surface action, I rigged a small, blue damsel patterns as a trailer on the dragon to see what would happen.
In a word, chaos. For the next several hours it was almost nonstop action on both flies.
Grandpa George’s net got a workout today.
Most were average, 14-17” fish. No complaints from me! They’re a blast on the 3 weight. I was sight casting to most of them. I’d see a boil or a splash, cast the tandem rig, twitch it a couple of times, and almost every time, a bass would inhale one of the patterns. Again, the dragon attacks were savage, while the damsel almost always just disappeared or was taken with a gentle roll. Very interesting contrast.
A couple showed up at the parking area and set up with lawn chairs and bobbers. They were quiet but with the still weather I could occasionally hear them chatting clearly. After about an hour they left. Bass had been splashing into my net the whole time.
The weedy flat was where it was at today. Up against the shore, I saw a big splash and headed over to check it out. My first cast had a small bass attack the damsel. I set the hook too quickly and both flies flew behind me. Reflexively I brought my arm forward again and the flies touched down in exactly the same place. This time, the water exploded.
A beautiful 20” bass pulled like a freight train and jumped a couple of times before coming to take a selfie.
A real blast on the 3 weight. This time I was using 8# tippet for just such a possibility. After sending her back to her business, I returned to catching average sized bass.
More fish ate the damsel than the dragon, but bigger fish ate the dragon.
A scissor tailed fly catcher was swooping over the water’s surface, grabbing damsels as it went. A barred owl called out its “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you allll?” cry from the surrounding trees. I thought about having been laid off in February and retired in my late 40’s. I looked around, listened, and began kicking back to shore. My wife had texted to let me know she’d gotten hungry and was going to eat, but told me to stay out as long as I wanted to. I’d already started making plans for my next trip to the pond in my tube.
If you’re on bass water and you can’t buy a bite, give some damsels a try. Bass really like the blue ones. So do I.
It was another fine day for a tubing expedition with the 3 weight. The water in my local pond is low, but the weeds are growing in and a dizzying array of damsels and dragons are hatching in all shades of green, blue, tan, and red. The bass are taking notice. Big time. I decided to experiment today after catching my first bass on the new dragonfly pattern and another on a bugger.
Bugger bass was healthy and ate it solidly. She was 19” and I figured she’d be the big fish of the day. I figured wrong. Considering the amount of surface action, I rigged a small, blue damsel patterns as a trailer on the dragon to see what would happen.
In a word, chaos. For the next several hours it was almost nonstop action on both flies.
Grandpa George’s net got a workout today.
Most were average, 14-17” fish. No complaints from me! They’re a blast on the 3 weight. I was sight casting to most of them. I’d see a boil or a splash, cast the tandem rig, twitch it a couple of times, and almost every time, a bass would inhale one of the patterns. Again, the dragon attacks were savage, while the damsel almost always just disappeared or was taken with a gentle roll. Very interesting contrast.
A couple showed up at the parking area and set up with lawn chairs and bobbers. They were quiet but with the still weather I could occasionally hear them chatting clearly. After about an hour they left. Bass had been splashing into my net the whole time.
The weedy flat was where it was at today. Up against the shore, I saw a big splash and headed over to check it out. My first cast had a small bass attack the damsel. I set the hook too quickly and both flies flew behind me. Reflexively I brought my arm forward again and the flies touched down in exactly the same place. This time, the water exploded.
A beautiful 20” bass pulled like a freight train and jumped a couple of times before coming to take a selfie.
A real blast on the 3 weight. This time I was using 8# tippet for just such a possibility. After sending her back to her business, I returned to catching average sized bass.
More fish ate the damsel than the dragon, but bigger fish ate the dragon.
A scissor tailed fly catcher was swooping over the water’s surface, grabbing damsels as it went. A barred owl called out its “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you allll?” cry from the surrounding trees. I thought about having been laid off in February and retired in my late 40’s. I looked around, listened, and began kicking back to shore. My wife had texted to let me know she’d gotten hungry and was going to eat, but told me to stay out as long as I wanted to. I’d already started making plans for my next trip to the pond in my tube.
If you’re on bass water and you can’t buy a bite, give some damsels a try. Bass really like the blue ones. So do I.
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