Sunfish in the Winter from shore-please reply quickly

[falcon1]

I need a break from exam sudying!!! I'm going to walk down to florence lake and fish from shore. I'm not using bait. What are some god small lures I could bring? Flies? Jigs? Please reply quick.

 

[Hindsight]

flies if any sunfish are around

 

[Dan]

Haven't fished for them but I would say smaller the better, or worm on a small hook with a bobber.

 

[seadna]

I used to fish a lot for sunfish. A small black bead head fly or a blank any fly worked well. If you don't have a fly rod, just tie the fly onto a spinning rod with light test line and use a small float 2-4' above it to get it to cast.

 

[kunni]

is there a big enough sunfish fishery to target them? I have accidentally caught them in the summer at elk lake, but there was never many of them, and they were small.

kunni

 

[falcon1]

kunni in the summer it is a madhouse for sunfish at Florence Lake. They have no predators there and the biggest ones can be only inches from shore. Throwing a (real) bug on the water results in it being taken in seconds. They max out at 5" but it is a ball. Unfortunately they vanish for the rest of the year. I didn't catch any fish, but I hooked a massive tree while trying to put the lure next to some dead weeds. Didn't lose it though!

 

[kunni]

wow, I am surprised that theres that many of them in florence. better luck next time

kunni

 

[falcon1]

Thanks, but I didn't really expect a bite. Like I said they are never around except for spawning time. If you ever find yourself in that area with a light action rod in the summer, cast a line! The boat launch is great and so is the place down off the boardwalk with the road behind it. Loads of fun, even with the small size.

I think the lack of bass or trout is the reason they flourish there. If you need bait, grab a sculpin off the botom and hook it. You can also use pieces of dragonflies or other bugs. I once caught one on a little bit of leaf pulled through the water.

 

[kunni]

thanks, next summer, I'll have to try that, do they just hang around the shore, sunken logs ect..

kunni

 

[falcon1]

You can see them. No predators=no fear of anything. A tip though, the big ones are smart, so if you cast towards the lily pads a little further out, you may have a chance at something closer to 6-7". For their size they sure do fight hard. What I like, is that no rules that apply to another fish seem to apply to them. On a hot day you can wade out and literally drop the bait on your foot,and they will take it. Usually fish spook at a bobber dropping heavily on the water, they are indiferent. If you want to know how close they can be to shore:

This is shore










This is a fish. Distance to scale. When you aproach they will head deeper. Most are in about 3' of water, but like I said earlier, the big ones hide out under the lilypads in deep water. I have never done this, but if you have a new fly to test, that would be a good place to start. The only two things I dislike about them are that sometimes, you will see two big fish aproach the bait, they will start to fight over it, and a smaller fish will come and snatch it. They are also expert at stealing bait. You can combat this by using extra small hooks, and hooking the bait firmly. They do not seem to care about presentation, so you don't really even need to leave an end hanging. Oh, and by the way, they hate powerbait.