SUMMER TIME BACKWATER THUMPERS

[shooter]

i catch most of my fish in the back waters of lake chicot,what i call thicket fishing, a fly rod longer then seven foot is useless.
the only cast is a roll cast,your rod never gets behind your ear,it is rare that i use a leader longer then four feet ,you just can not roll a long leader under the low limbs of cypress or
tupelo gum trees not to mention the button wood bushes.
to generate the line speed needed to make those tight rolls i use 6 to 10 wt. line on 61/2 and seven ft. rods . those rods take a beating no mater how careful you are ,so i do not take any high dollar rods into this battle,and battle it is . when you hook a big chink between three or four cypress trees the first place he runs is for the roots,so you have to turn him the right way and now, not an easy chore with a 4lb. leader and not much room to maneuver.
my reason for this post is i was just curious if there is anyone that fishes like this with fly rods and flies.
let me say i did not get up one morning and decide to fish back water timber with a fly rod
,this has taken years of trial and error ,and has evolved into what i am doing today.but if you want to catch big gills and chinks,you are going to find them here,let me quantify that statement, i do fish large open water and i do catch big fish there,but most of the nice fish i catch are back water thumpers,in the quite cool shade of the backwater timber.

[shooter]

well David it does work,i do go  as heavy as 11WT-DT on some of my short rods.tell your son  i just finished a 7 ft. from a Batson Enterprises blank i wanted a heavy duty 11 wt, i have another in waiting.

 tell your son to check out their blanks,here is a link to a sitehttp://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11567.  thanks for the reply  shooter

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

YA KNOW SHOOTER I just read this and it is an outstanding concept of the shorter rods and heavy duty tippet's .

My sons favorite fly rod for close quarters smallmouth stream fishing here is a 5 1/2 foot old eagle claw and its' his favorite rod for stream fishing . He's starting to make rods now and is concetrating on shorter rods just for yours and his type of fishing . GREAT POST !

[Jim Gronaw]

Hey guys, although I don't have quite that kind of fishing in my area, I do get to do some spillway and tumblehole fishing in and around millponds on the eastern shore of MD and in Delaware when the fish are spawning and the tides can push water into areas that get flooded for a few hours and fish then move in. Its a timing thing, and fish are there, then they are gone when the water drops back. Big crappies and gills and hand to hand combat. Every spillway is different, with different challenges. Good stuff, though.

[shooter]

well gentlemen ,you never know where you will find'em in the back water. i have caught fish in corners and nooks most people do not fish.
although i fish flyrods only,i am a beliver in what ever workes for you.
it is obvious we all love catching those big'ole big'uns, there's nothing like a day on the lake or stream.

gators make nice purses too

[bluegillboogieman]

Hi Shooter,

I just came across this blog. I keep a fly rod on my boat just in case I see 'em feeding on top but I'm not very skilled with one. I do love to scull around under the cypress trees though and I too have caught and lost some nice ones there. I'm just real partial to crickets and real small bream buster poles. I just love to see that quill stand up just before it goes downtown. I've learned you better use both hands on that pole to turn him if you can. Nothing feels like that does it?


Boogieman

[Howard Webster]

Shooter
I Just learned to fish areas that flood back from a lake. I think up here it has to do with water temp. I have been using ultra light spinning outfits. They will not touch my flys unless tippd with a small piece of worm. Again that could be a temp thing.