Bass in heavily-fished waters must, therefore, be addressed with imitations of baitfish and bottom- crawling creatures that look, behave and, especially, FEEL like the real thing. After the bugs, divers and sliders go dead, soft plastic worms, crawfish and salamanders still continue to produce as long as the lake holds fish. This is a hard pill for the fly fisher to swallow, but these baits are pragmatically superior to subsurface flies in all warmwaters. But even bass that have been educated by plastic worms learn to feed with greater caution, becoming very difficult to hook. Once the fish learns that some salamanders inflict oral pain, he will gingerly clasp the bait by the tall and slowly swim away -with it, apparently testing for authenticity. Texture is the crucial variable at this point. If the fly or lure doesn't feel soft and life-like in his mouth (or if he feels sinker resistance), he will immediately drop it. That's why small unweighted worm cast on a fly line will often outfish both flies and conventional baitcasting rigs. Our flies are more visually alluring than the worm, to be sure, but they fall the 'touch and taste" test. A graphic underwater scene in Dave MacMillan's beautiful new video, COMBAT FLY FISHING, documents this common and predictable behavior. A cautious bass briefly nips a seductive rabbit strip fly, only to instantly realize that it is not food.

Bass also learn to associate certain sounds with pain and trauma. They are rarely bothered by swimmers and kiers, but "fishing noises"-vibrations from trolling motors, paddle-banging, whirling spinner blades or even a tuber's fins can all give educated fish a case of "lockjaw,' in bassin' parlance, and drive them deep into cover. But they still have to feed and will venture forth later in the evening when activity on the lake slows-down. In fact, larger bass in heavily-fished waters may become almost completely nocturnal. Fly fishing after dark, however, can be a very difficult and frustrating experience. Lack of visibility requires a lure that's absolutely weedless, fishes by feel rather than sight and has a soft texture to deter precipitous rejection; in other words, soft plastic.

The only sure way to avoid educating bass, short of not fishing at all, is to kill every fish you catch, but catch and eat allows very little fishing time, since the annual harvest should not exceed ten percent of the population. Even a very fertile pond can grow only a few pounds of bass to the surface acre, and no one wants to travel to his favorite bass pond to catch a single fish and go home. Coldwater style "put and take" isn't a viable option either, a least not yet, bemuse bass are much more difficult, and expensive, to rear to catchable size in a hatchery. I hope that goal remains elusive, but aquaculturists are making progress.

Prevention is the best cure for educated bass. Practice moderation. Avoid constantly hammering your home pond with topwater flies, switching to other kinds of tackle and lures from time to time, and don't get greedy. Farm ponds should not be fished more than one angler/hour, per surface acre, per week. A couple of hours a week is enough on a typical three-acre pond, and one doesn't need to release thirty bass to enjoy that two hours. Sometimes you may choose to "tag" fish with a disarmed hook, fishing only for the grab, or simply watch fish feed on naturals.

Most of the problems we encounter in warmwater have already been solved on the trout stream and are readily adapted to our fisheries. Well-known fly tyer and angler, John Betts, spares the trout in his home water by satisfying himself with TAG @touch and go") fly fishing. John breaks the point off the hook and is content to merely experience the thrill of the rise. I am increasingly using this compromised angling style and find it nearly as enjoyable as actually landing the fish. I think most anglers would agree that the single most satisfying moment in fly fishing is the micro- second grab of a dry fly. Fighting the fish is fun, but the greatest thrill is in the take. In fact, tag fishing can be even more exciting than conventional methods when bass are actively feeding - it is not uncommon for an individual fish to continue to chase and repeatedly snatch at the bug even as you continue to yank it out of his mouth. The bass gets angry and frustrated, but suffers little pain and minimal trauma. He will, therefore, remain uneducated and continue to take bugs, divers and sliders.

Breaking the point off a hair bug may change the center of gravity, causing it to ride upside down. It is better to simply bend the hook until the point nearly touches the shank, thereby eliminating any chance of hooking the bass. On softer bugs, those constructed with hair or foam bodies, the bass will sometimes hang-on long enough to give you a jump or, at the very least, you can feel that heavy, momentary throbbing resistance of a good fish that, we all enjoy so much. John calls this 'Pointless' fly fishing, but I think it is very much to the point.

There are several other applications for this technique. I sometimes see a bass feeding way back in heavy timber or other cover. Casting an armed fly to such a fish is unethical because it will surely get tangled and possibly injured, or even killed. Also, the angler is well-advised to practice tag fishing during the spawn. I am reluctant to remove the spawning male from his nest because small sunfish will usually devour the eggs before the released fish returns. A hookless bug alleviates that problem while still allowing me to have a lot of fun with the spawners. Finally, tournament pros often tag fish with an unarmed plastic worm on "Practice' days, in order to locate fish without spoiling the spot, and the versatile fly fisher can use the same technique to find bass in big water. Simply thread the worm onto the hook and bend the point upward until rendered harmless. Once a concentration of bass is located, switch to the fly rod.

Fisheries managers are finding that angling pressure can also severely impact a given population of big bream, which are very slow growing, and anglers have wisely begun to release them. Do bluegill become educated as quickly as bass? I strongly suspect that the answer should be a resounding yes. Despite a dearth of research data, I am convinced that mature bream are even more educable than bass, but the lures and strategies of the bass fisher do not apply to insect-feeding sunfishes. Rather than soft plastic, the serious topwater bream fisher must adopt the far and fine tactics of the coldwater spring creek. Even wild, unmolested bluegill are picky eaters, requiring long leaders, fine tippets and small flies. The more they are fished over, the less inclined they are to rise to the dry fly. The oldest, wisest bream in my home pond will rarely take a popper or large dry (except while spawning, of course), and respond only to micropatterns. They appear to be 'smarter" than bass, because they continue to take large naturals on top. Such maddening behavior has convinced me that a big bluegill consciously and deliberately checks an insect for an attached leader before eating it.

The article first appeared in Jack Ellis's monthly newletter, Refections on the Pond. The newletter is not in publication any more. The reprint of this article was granted by the publisher.

Jack Ellis lives in East Texas on the shore of a secluded private lake. Jack has published two books: The Sunfishes A Fly Fishing Jouney of Discovery (A must for any warm water fly fisher) and Bassin' with a Fly Rod.