Bass in heavy structure....

[swsmith]

Hey guys.....best wishes for the new year ahead....hopefully many screaming reëls and in G's Case a screamer

I fished a dam with my Uncle and got my *SS handed to me trying to Pull fish out of the lilies....i was Fishing my 6w and 15Lb tippet....couldnt Pull them out
. I always thought 8w and heavier was overkill but now i know Why guys use thise heavy stuff in the thick stuff.....

Lesson learnt........

[Gerrit Viljoen]

I haven't had to pull that many Largies from structure last season,probably 7 or 8 but those ones required quick side pressure,heavy tippets and a bit of luck. It is that simple! I was fishing anything from 15lb,16lb 17lb and even 22lb at some stages on my 7wt and you were left at their mercy case closed. A fast, powerful rod helped but it was a matter of how quick you could exert side pressure.Copolymers like the Rio stuff helped a lot too!

[E.T.]

Yip an 8/9wt is the way to go when targeting Bass around structure, etc. Normally the fight is not that long as it would be with an 6wt, but it gets the job done.

You can get away with a 6wt, but then you need to be on a Tube or Boat and fish towards the Lilies, Structure, etc. Pulling them to open water you will land them on a 6wt.

Fishing right in the lilies is tricky even with a 9wt, cause you snag up a lot and the fly doesn't always come loose when you yank it and when it does come back, it does so at Mach 3. Don't know about you, but I am not fond of flies attacking me at that speed!

[firephish]

I normally rig my tube holders with a #5 & #7. 5 is most fun, but if there is heavy weed i switch to the 7 - but some bass you just can't turn, thats what keeps us comming back for more

[swsmith]

They wêre right in the thick stuff.....couldnt Pull them out and presenting a Fly in there was Tough....fished the holes in the lilies but they headed straight into it when hooked.....decent size Bass.....i will be back with the 8w.....

[Korrie]

I spent some time with an experienced bass angler, trying to get more hardcore info on how they fish.

On areas with plenty structure, they go up to 25 pound breaking strain, fluoro.

2 reasons
1. if you get stuck on lillies, weeds, palmiet branches etc, you have enough pulling power to get the lure/rapala/cranckbait out/off.
2. if you hook your big fish, there is only one way he is going and that is straight to you. no structure, nothing

Since then, i have increased my breaking strain for the tippet. losing a lot less flies and landing a couple more fish.

[E.T.]

I spent some time with an experienced bass angler, trying to get more hardcore info on how they fish.

On areas with plenty structure, they go up to 25 pound breaking strain, fluoro.

2 reasons
1. if you get stuck on lillies, weeds, palmiet branches etc, you have enough pulling power to get the lure/rapala/cranckbait out/off.
2. if you hook your big fish, there is only one way he is going and that is straight to you. no structure, nothing

Since then, i have increased my breaking strain for the tippet. losing a lot less flies and landing a couple more fish.

Shot Korrie, some solid advice. But honestly, how deep do you nymph for Bass?