panfish and chironomids?

does anybody fish for crappie/sunfish with chironomids under an indicator? having a hard time fishing with anything that uses a retrieve in my local pond b/c of the heavy weed growth. i'm would think this would be a normal component of their diet, but i haven't had any luck so far (though i have only given it minimal effort). trying in particular to coax crappie cause i want one for the tank. thanks for any advice.

dave

You can certainly get them on chironomids. More important, I think, is hanging just about anything tasty looking under an indicator. Hare's ear, pheasant tails, prince nymphs, damsel patterns, micro leeches . . .experiment and find the flavor of the day.

Not crappie/sunfish, but I've caught nice bass on chirnos under an indicator while trout fishing.

How about a wax worm imitation?



http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=58592

Not mine and I've never actually used them, but I've always want to try.

I've got something similar, I'll give that a try on the way home this afternoon. Good idea! Thanks.

I wonder if slowly jigging a weighted soft hackle would work?

Short answer, yes. This method works well on a local weed choked lake I fish, kind of just dropping them in the open pockets/ between lily pads, etc. I use an 11',4wt and a 13' 5wt (converted from a 2pc gear rod, just changed the guides, grips, seat) for this. The 13'er is actually a 2hander, sorta ultralight spey if you will.

i dont know if theres really anything panfish wont go at, considering iv'e caught them on just dropping bare hooks into the water. i once put a booger on a hook and caught a big bluegill. . .whos got the booger patterns?

I get strikes on most anything, but a small softy seems to result in the most hookups.

On Nunnally lake I definitely catch pumpkinseeds on chironomids under an indicator in 5 to 15 feet of water while fishing for trout

and when I would take my kids deliberately to fish for these sunfish when they are in the shallows nesting, we would use chironomids under an indicator then too

When they are schooling at the surface, casting and stripping the nymph of your choice stimulates the take and hookup

Jay

now we know how you earned your nickname, nasty.

I used a very similar tie in a warm water lake some years ago. I was fishing for blue gill at the time and a perch came out of nowhere and killed it. I think this is a much overlooked pattern for warm water fishing. Maybe all water fishing.

Mine was tied with white yarn and black thread rib. Can't much more simple than that.