In years gone by, whenever I went fishing I would always bring a fly rod. But more often than not it would stay stashed away in it’s tube and instead I would fish all day with spin gear. Why, because I simply had more confidence in catching fish with lures. After all, a fish can feel the vibration of a lure from a much greater distance than a fly right? But as I grow older the tables have turned. I now find myself reaching for the fly rod for the majority of my fishing. Initially it was because I love the challenge, but to my surprise I seem to be catching more fish on the feather & fluff.
It would be nonsensical to say a fly will out fish a lure every time. Or visa versa. Every situation in fishing is different. But at Clarrie Hall I am definitely noticing a pattern. Many times I have witnessed lures being fished from the same boat as fly. Being fished in the same location, at the same time and in a similar way. But the fly often catches more bass than lures. And I have a theory why.
The fishing at Clarrie Hall can often be challenging. I often hear folks say they never catch anything there or they only get one or 2. Their reasoning is that Clarrie is perhaps under stocked and Fisheries should put more bass in the dam. But I am not so sure. My theory is that there is literally millions of bass in Clarrie Hall. Some days you can see hundreds schooling up on the sounder, but this is during winter when they leave the protection of the lily pads and head out into open water. The rest of the year they are happy to spend most of their time under the lilies. After all this is where their food source is, their oxygen is and their shelter is. For the most part, these fish are inaccessible to fisherman.
Firetail gudgeon
But first thing in the morning the bass will move to the edge of the lilies in search of food. This is the window of opportunity. It is likely that all these bass have seen lures of all types swimming past. Indeed many have been caught and released which perhaps makes them weary of lures. But for the most part, the bass at Clarrie probably have enough baitfish to feed on without having to risk attacking a large vibrating food item. There are literally billions of Firetail gudgeon that live under the lilies, which is the likely food source for the bass.
Flies on the other hand are much more subtle in their presentation. They can more closely resemble the size and action of a smaller baitfish like the gudgeons. I think this makes a fly generally more appealing than a lure to a Clarrie Hall bass. My theory is further supported by the idea that a lure is much more likely to get noticed by a greater number of fish, compared to a fly. A fly makes very little vibration (if at all) and no sound. Where as a lure simply cannot be missed. Diving lures, crank baits, blades, spinnerbaits etc all leave a sonic and visual signature in the water that would be very hard for a fish to go unnoticed. Yet the fly often gets more hits.
My other theory is that perhaps the bass are attracted to the fly line. Bass are a bit like cats, they are inquisitive. Often you will see them on the sounder just sitting under the boat. Perhaps the fly line is a curiosity to them. They follow it and watch it go past. Then low and behold there is a small baitfish (the fly) following the line too. Well that must be breakfast!
October 27 Report
Another typical start to the day out on the water with a misty haze providing low light conditions needed to give the fish the confidence to move out from the cover of the lilies. There were plenty of bass milling around the points and I landed 4 fish up to 42cm before the sun burnt through the fog and pushed the bass back to the safety of their homes.
The water in Clarrie remains nice and clear despite the recent deluge of rain. However the top end of the dam is now choked with the dreaded weed Slavinia molesta which must have been washed out from the lily pads and into the open water. To avoid the weed I simply headed out towards the down stream end of the dam.
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