Bobbers and Flies

[Ken Masel]

While I prefer to fly fish, I usually don’t take a fly rod into the mountain lakes. Instead, I will use my spinning rod and reel along with a bobber and fly.

So earlier this week I was at two lakes. First I tried a couple of different spoons and spinners but the fish wouldn’t even look at the hardware. However, there was a nice little mayfly hatch taking place and some surface activity. So, I tied on the bobber and a size 12 adams.

Over the next couple of hours I caught and released enough fish to be satisfied. However, at least 10 times I had fish attack the bobber within 2 or 3 seconds of it hitting the water.

I was using an orange torpedo-shaped bobber about 1 1/2 inches long. Not only did this tell me that the splash of the bobber wasn’t scaring the fish, but that maybe I need to tie up some sort of big, gawdy, orange fly. 😆

So, all I can think of is the fish were mistaking the bobber for some sort of large bug. Maybe a grasshopper, damsel, or dragon fly. Has anyone else had this happen? I’ve never seen it before.

[Brian Curtis]

There’s nothing more frustrating then when a big fish comes up and hits the bobber instead of the fly. I’ve also seen fish hit the wake the line makes where it enters the water when I’m fishing with a lure. That makes me think they aren’t always keying on the shape of the fly as much as the disturbance on top of the water.

[Anonymous]

I have had the same thing happen but I have used two different bobbers. WHen I ust the red one I get hits but if you use a clear bobber you don’t get to many that mess with it. And if you were to use a spinner, my suggestion is to use a thunder bug, red. It really kicks but.

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