Go to stocker fly?

[detra]

Save me from powerbait... Anybody willing to share their best "stocker" fly? I'm thinking attractors here, beyond match the hatch. I've had some success with an olive beadhead wolly bugger.

[haguebrook]

Assuming that you are fishing lakes or ponds, I've always had success spinning with a bubble & fly, using a Dark Hendrickson on a #10 or #12 hook. A Black Gnat or Mosquito has worked well too.

[MKDeceiver]

The Hardware Fly...

Tied to imitate the metal guys lures which usually do the best this time of year....

Pretty much a wooly bugger, with grey or white marabou...Throw in flashy estaz body, grizzly hackle or white or grey....

If the powerbait guys are catching all the fish on the pond, that tells all. The fish are right on the edge, maybe 8-14 feet, laying on the bottom stacked up. You need to get on that bottom and fish the fly at a snail's pace, with maybe a few jerks...

If your still not getting them, well then try the stupidest biggest, ridiculous fly you can find. ALl this said, you still may be able to fish closer to sunset with more natural looking flies, like black wooly buggers closer to the surface....Stockies like black wooly buggers...

[MKDeceiver]

If your not a fly guy, well I would use metal. Get on the waders and work the edges. Why bubble fish when you can chuck metal? That's much more respectable than powerbaiting also...there should be a law that if your not under 16, you can't use powerbait!!!

There is nothing worse than seeing some guy using powerbait and treble hooks. That takes skill. Then again, at least if you see them catching fish you know where the fish are...

Not many holdovers caught on powerbait. How you could automatically take yourself out of the running for a holdover is beyond me....

[bdowning]

Although I fish metal a lot, there are times when the bubble and fly works better. And sometimes I've seen the bubble and fly outfish Powerbait and mealworms!

Be prepared for everything I guess.

-bd

[Pauper Piscator]

This works best on smallish deepish rivers. Glow bug doped with Dr Juice and a fairly lg split shot. (YES I feel shame.) High stick. LAST resort.

Otherwise, of you want to be a "purist" (ha ha) try a #12 bead head nyph tied with with a sparkle dub body and a short flashabou or similar tail.

What does it imitate? Hell if I know but it is shiny.

Black wiggly wooly bugger.

(How to spot a PB guy from 100'.... Untucked flannel shirt with pack of butts in pocket. One hanging out of mouth. One behind ear. DD coffee. Yankees hat (covering mullet). TWO rods on forked sticks. Pack of snelled Eagle claws in back pocket. Buck knife. Chain stringer. 5 gal bucket. No licence OR Lic pinned priminently to back of shirt because last year got hassled by the MAN.)

[haguebrook]

(How to spot a PB guy from 100'.... Untucked flannel shirt with pack of butts in pocket. One hanging out of mouth. One behind ear. DD coffee. Yankees hat (covering mullet). TWO rods on forked sticks. Pack of snelled Eagle claws in back pocket. Buck knife. Chain stringer. 5 gal bucket. No licence OR Lic pinned priminently to back of shirt because last year got hassled by the MAN.)

Don't forget the pile of trash he will leave behind, usually consisting of tangled mono, nightcrawler styrofoam cartons, old potato chip bags and empty coffee cups. :mad:

I am in favor of an age limit for using Power Bait. Once you turn 16 and get a driver's license, you lose the right to trick or treat and to use Power Bait.

[Slappy]

(How to spot a PB guy from 100'.... Untucked flannel shirt with pack of butts in pocket. One hanging out of mouth. One behind ear. DD coffee. Yankees hat (covering mullet). TWO rods on forked sticks. Pack of snelled Eagle claws in back pocket. Buck knife. Chain stringer. 5 gal bucket. No licence OR Lic pinned priminently to back of shirt because last year got hassled by the MAN.)

I resemble that remark!
Ok first off, I don't have a mullet, that wasn't powerbait, it was corn. Those weren't trout, they were carp. Trout are too easy to catch, gotta fish for something challenging if you are going to use bait.

I will second the small metal for non-ff. But keep casting that bubble and fly, but beware--there is no better lure for tunoids!

[detra]

Hey guys, thanks for the tips and for the humor. I prefer to use the fly rod, next bubble and fly, metals, and finally, although I'm well over the age limit, I do early sometimes dunk powerbait on the way home from work, with forked sticks even! Though I usually have my four-year old along for "cover".

[Fly Deacon]

(How to spot a PB guy from 100'.... Untucked flannel shirt with pack of butts in pocket. One hanging out of mouth. One behind ear. DD coffee. Yankees hat (covering mullet). TWO rods on forked sticks. Pack of snelled Eagle claws in back pocket. Buck knife. Chain stringer. 5 gal bucket. No licence OR Lic pinned priminently to back of shirt because last year got hassled by the MAN.)

You forgot to mention he is having a conversation with his buddy who looks just like him but he is fishing at the other end of the pond - and it's 6:00 AM in the morning. The conversation may or may not include Nextels.

[haguebrook]

[QUOTE=Slappy]I resemble that remark!
Ok first off, I don't have a mullet, that wasn't powerbait, it was corn. Those weren't trout, they were carp. Trout are too easy to catch, gotta fish for something challenging if you are going to use bait.QUOTE]

Slappy--as a carp guy, you are exempt from the PB stereotypes. This is reserved for guys who catch trout through lowdown means like Power Bait.

[Pauper Piscator]

Oh yeah. For pretty much any species except salmonoids,chars, and tunas, the gentleman and his gear that I descibed is perfectly acceptable.

Now don't get me started on bass fishermen or welcome recent arrivals to our country and striper fishing... (275 Verados, dunloppers, dip lip, beef jerky, handlines and cut off shorts, etc...) :rolleyes:

[detra]

Boy, when did flyfisherman get to be so elitist?

[tclprin]

I know, in order to be an Orvis Poster Boy AND catch trout, I will dab my Wooley Bugger with PB! That should do it!

And I for one still use bait for stripers when I want dinner.

PB MAN with an ORvis vest.

[Strat]

Boy, when did flyfisherman get to be so elitist?

I'm not sure 'scent additives' still qualify as 'flyfishing' --125-3

[Slappy]

[QUOTE=Slappy]

Slappy--as a carp guy, you are exempt from the PB stereotypes. This is reserved for guys who catch trout through lowdown means like Power Bait.

Thanks for the exemption, but I can use my own lowdown means. This sunday I was running rings around the PB guys. The micro kastmaster is a great probing lure for the stockies, and once you find them, the bait guys will circle their wagons around you. It was pretty funny, once I hit the school they surrounded me, but I kept up the attack. Final score was slappy a bunch, all the bait guys combined about half a bunch!

Detra, for the stocked trout, it isn't the fly so much as how you fish it and how much water you cover. One of my favorites is the tube jig knockoff, a tuft of maribou with chenille all the way up the shank. (finer profile than a bugger).

[albacized]

You always flyfish with a fast sinking line, two feet of leader and a hunk of powerbait on the hook --127-3- :-% --125-3