Joe Coakley
I visited Blackman’s Lake on Monday and was searching for bass. I am totally new to bass fishing and am inspired by the huge fish I see fellow club member Francis Huynh and his brothers catch at random. The water temperature was in the high 70’s and felt like bathwater. All of the fish on my Garmin 4 Fish Finder were stacked at the opposite side of the lake to the left side (facing the water from the launch). I got one tug and that was it. I even switched to trout gear on my second rod and the Olive Willy got the tug. BTW: the 2020 article written in Windknots is my new guide for searching new bass waters. (Great job to our great editor Dick Lange! ) I worked the docks to the left side of the launch then the lily pads, only busting off one fly. Question for any bass gurus’ out there: when do you decide to use a popper vs. a surface fly and how do you select the fly you decide to fish? I have scoured the wonderful book written by past OFFC Guest Speaker David Paul Williams and the patterns appear to be endless in choices. Any help would be much appreciated as I have no idea how many of you Bass Masters may be hiding in the lilies.
