Midsummer Day’s Dream

FLY FISHERS FIND FAST ACTION WITH POPPING BUGS

Sallyann Brown says “thanks” to a green sunfish before releasing it. Brown caught the feisty sunfish on a deer-hair popper she made herself.
Sallyann Brown says “thanks” to a green sunfish before releasing it. Brown caught the feisty sunfish on a deer-hair popper she made herself.

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Sallyann Brown lays out a cast with her fly rod while fishing along the west shoreline of Rocky Branch park at Beaver Lake. West-facing shorelines remain shady well into the morning and are good spots to fish with popping bugs.

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A white popper drew lots of strikes from sunfish at Beaver Lake near Rocky Branch park.

ROCKY BRANCH - Sallyann Brown doesn’t bring insect repellent when she goes fly fishing at Beaver Lake. She brings her own bugs - popping bugs, that is - to entice bluegill and black bass in the faint light of dawn.

A rising August sun lit up a fabric fly box filled with dozens of popping bugs Brown has made herself. Some were small as a pencil eraser to target bluegill and other sunfish. Big poppers the size of a thumbnail plop and splash to entice black bass.

Some of her home-made bugs had wispy rubber legs that dance when Brown gives the lure a pop with her rod tip. Others bugs were dressed in multicolored feathers to give them lively action like a live breakfast morsel.

Fishing with popping bugs is a summertime delight. Brown and I picked a scorcher day on Aug.

13 to chase bluegill and bass with poppers at Beaver Lake.

Made In The Shade

The forecast promised heat of more than 100 degrees by midday, so Brown and I met in the pale dawn at Rocky Branch park to go a few rounds with the fish in the cool of morning.

We never fired up the outboard. The quiet trolling motor carried us along the park’s west-facing shoreline. Boulders and underwater bushes were the lairs of bass and bluegill that surely waited to ambush our popping bugs.

Shorelines that face the west are ideal for morning fishing.

They stay shaded the longest.

The steeper and higher they are, the longer they’ll hide the climbing sun.

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Popping bugs come in an array of colors and sizes. Larger bugs are generally used to target black bass while anglers after bluegill lob smaller poppers.

At Rocky Branch, the shoreline between the north and south boat ramps is perfect for a morning of popper fishing.

Brown fished from the stern and laid out an artful cast. When her popping bug landed a foot from shore, Brown brought it back with twitches of her rod tip.

“It’s not how fast you do it, but you want to do it right. You’re fixing dinner is what you’re doing,” she said.

The fish wanted slow food on this morning, not fast. An occasional twitch drew the most strikes.

Color didn’t seem to matter.

Small white bugs worked well.

Darker hues got bit, too.

A popper Brown made with deer hair got plenty of attention from small but feisty green sunfish. Longear sunfish, or “punkinseeds,” attacked as well.

None were large, but Brown and I had big fun with little fish and plenty of them.

“If we kept them to eat we might have enough for hors d’oeuvres by now,” she said.

The hand-sized bluegill we hoped for never bit. We tried bigger poppers for black bass, but they sulked in deep-water haunts and were no-shows. It was the little fish in this big pond that made our morning.

Hand Made

I used store-bought popping bugs, but Brown was havingdouble the fun catching sunfish on bugs she made herself.

She’s an accomplished fly tier who has taught fly tying and fly fishing for years. In 1994, Brown was named the Federation of Fly Fishers Woman of the Year for her contributions to the organization.

She’s quick to shatter some myths about fly fishing. No. 1, it isn’t dift cult.

“If you can bend your elbow you can fly fish,”she said.

No. 2, equipment isn’t expensive. Fly fishing combos, with a rod, reel and fly line, start at around $60.

No. 3, fly fishing isn’t just for trout.

“Trout are actually fourth on my list,” Brown said. Smallmouth bass are her favorite, followed by largemouth bass, bluegill, then trout.

Insect repellent is optional for a midsummer popping bug expedition at Beaver Lake.

Outdoor, Pages 6 on 09/02/2010

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