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Author Topic: st marys  (Read 7122 times)

jackie

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st marys
« on: July 06, 2015, 02:45:42 PM »
I am going to st marys lake from the 11th to the 18th and am hoping t do some fly fishing. What patterns would be good for the lake? I am hoping to target bass, trout and perch.
Any help is appreciated.
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DanL

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Re: st marys
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2015, 03:45:17 PM »
For bass, leech patterns. Had lots of success there on leeches working the shallows, docks, and lilypad edges with a slow sink line (type 1) from a belly boat. The slow sink allowed you to fish the super shallows with a faster retrieve as well as deeper sections by counting down before retrieving. My go to pattern was a purple rabbit leech while my friend swore by a clown leech.

If not flies, then spinnerbaits and crankbaits would really produce too.

We used to go around the May long weekend which was during the spawn, I believe. Never tried it during the middle of summer. Cant help you with the trout or perch as we never targeted them.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2015, 03:47:06 PM by DanL »
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jackie

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Re: st marys
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2015, 06:56:14 PM »
Thanks a ton. Do bass go deeper in the summer I'm unsure...
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RalphH

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Re: st marys
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2015, 07:31:16 AM »
Yes they do. Smallmouth actually prefer colder water temps than largemouth. Mostly you don't need to get deeper than 10 to 15 feet which is easy with a type 3 or better sinking line and dumbell eyes on the fly. Work the edge of drop offs and shelves. Early mornings and evenings should be best. ST Mary's has a problem with a smudgy brown algae bloom in summer into September which may impact fishing success.
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jackie

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Re: st marys
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2015, 01:31:52 AM »
Today was the first day of my trip on st marys lake. I fished for around 4 hours and caught 35 - 40 bass using black/olive buggers and bunny leeches. However my friend who was fishing bass worms caught around 15 but all of them were much bigger (2 pound average). Any ideas why this would be?
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fishingwithegg2

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Re: st marys
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2015, 08:21:39 AM »
Quote from: jackie on July 14, 2015, 01:31:52 AM
Today was the first day of my trip on st marys lake. I fished for around 4 hours and caught 35 - 40 bass using black/olive buggers and bunny leeches. However my friend who was fishing bass worms caught around 15 but all of them were much bigger (2 pound average). Any ideas why this would be?

What size of flies are you using? In my experience larger bass prefer to attack larger prey in the summer, or else it's not worth their effort
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jackie

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Re: st marys
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2015, 02:41:59 PM »
I have been using size 6 buggers on a intermediate sink line.
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DanL

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Re: st marys
« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2015, 04:01:16 PM »
Quote from: jackie on July 14, 2015, 01:31:52 AM
However my friend who was fishing bass worms caught around 15 but all of them were much bigger (2 pound average). Any ideas why this would be?
Was he using texas rigged worms or similar? A possibility is that the bullet heads gets the worms right down into the thick stuff and right into the big bass wheelhouse where your flies dont or cant penetrate that far into the salad.

If the big fish are lazy due to hot weather maybe you need to literally smack them right in the face with your presentation to get a strike out of them but that's just pure speculation here. Maybe try some heavily weighted leeches tied weedless and try bouncing them off the bottom?
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