ff vs spin gear

[Berks]

I’ve waded the same section of the Schuylkill River between Reading and Pottstown a few times this summer and had some success targeting smallmouth with the typical ff gear. Some success for me, fishing this river, means I wasn’t skunked. Generally 4 or 5 fish in the 8-10” range was the norm for a few hours spent.

I thought it’d be interesting to fish the same section with spin gear to compare results. This was the first time I picked up the spin gear in 5 years so new line and a little reel maintenance was needed first. So last weekend I set out with my ff gear and this weekend used the spin gear. Same time of day (dusk) with the river conditions pretty much the same on both days.

I was a little surprised that the results were almost exactly the same between the 2 fishing techniques. Caught fish in the same areas, about the same size and about the same numbers. With the spin gear, it took less time to cover areas but did seem to get snagged more often.

It was a fun, totally unscientific experiment for me even if the fishing results were generally laughable. At least now I have a little more confidence that those nice-looking sections of deeper water with nice structure and current either don’t hold large fish or they’re just really tough to catch (or they’re in somebody’s freezer). Time to move on...

 

[Fishidiot]

Not a Skuke regular here, but the consensus her on the PAFF forums is that the river doesn't fish especially well for bass these days.

It's always a good experience for a long time FFer to break out a spin rod from time to time, especially in a cases such as this one where one suspects that more fish may be present than turn up on the end of a fly. When spin gear produces similar results it can, if nothing else, at least verify that you're doing things right with the fly rod.

More importantly, in my view, fishing with spin gear allows one to get at the river from different angles, depths, and distances and this can often shed light on how a river fishes with respect to bass holding areas or how they respond to different baits that imitate different prey species. It can shorten the learning curve for a FFer who is just learning about bass fishing or is otherwise trying to get a feel for a new river.
I've long been convinced that occasionally breaking out spin gear makes one a better FFer. This is particularly true for bass and salt game fish, but also stream trout.

 

[afishinado]

I agree that the Skuke is not the best place to fish for SMB. But in general I would guess that a spin fisherman will most days have more success.

For bass fishing overall, many times spin fishermen will be more successful. Especially when the fish are in a neutral or negative mood for feeding, a low and slow approach with a jig or soft plastic can entice fish to hit. This presentation is a lot more difficult to execute as a FFer....but it can be done. In murky water, a lure with vibration and flash has a better chance to get bit. Fishing with bait, especially hellgrammites, madtoms or crayfish in the rivers is often deadly.

Stripping a Clouser, bugger or streamer, or using a popper or slider will catch the more aggressive fish. When the fish are "on" there's nothing more fun than smallie fishing with a fly.

I have a little different take than FI above since I gave away my spinning gear long ago. If things are tough and I switch over to spinning, I never really have a chance to learn or try new things to help me progress as a FFer. I've learned more on the toughest days spent on the water, rather than the days when they came easy. If you stick with it you may find success and/or at the very least appreciate catching any fish at all since you feel you've earned them.

There's no shame in having a tough day catching fish with a fly rod....hopefully you learned something during the process. The more you FF, the more you learn, and the more you have success. And at some point, success (catching fish) in itself becomes secondary. It's the experience of being out there fly-fishing and enjoying the day.

 

[Swattie87]

For WW fishing, my experience is much like Berks. Things tend to fish about equally well (or poor) for me with spin gear or fly gear. I rarely, approaching never, take a skunk WW fishing during the Summer. But it’s either red hot, or slow going, regardless of the gear used. Either they’re blowing up crankbaits or stripped Clousers, or if things are fishing tougher I dead drift a weighted Bugger or jighead with a twister tail on it. Either way the action and results wind up being similar.

For Trout it’s different. Very often one technique will drastically outfish the other in my experience. Prime time Spring evening hatch or low water, mid-Summer Brookie fishing the fly rod wins handily. Fresh stockies or wild Browns after a good rain, the "Frank Nale" spinner technique will leave the fly rod in the dust. Not that fly fishing with a weighted streamer won’t catch fish in these conditions…it will, probably pretty well, but the spin gear will be far more efficient and allow you to cover more water and catch more fish.

Each technique has its place and I still enjoy fishing both ways. Ultimately I enjoy fly fishing more, and because of the above mentioned similar results while WW fishing regardless of the technique used, I rarely spin fish for WW anymore. It’s been several years. For Trout, it depends on the conditions, and to some degree my mood for the day. While learning to fly fish, I didn’t spin fish for Trout for a couple of years probably, but I’ve started doing it more again the last few years and find I like the change of technique once in a while…especially if the water’s up and I feel like walking a lot that day.

 

[poopdeck]

I catch 10 times more SMB with spinning gear. There are 2 reasons for this. 1) I have been spin fishing for over 40 years, fly fishing for 2 or 3 years. 2) I have all the spin fishing things I need to fish deep, not so deep and on top.

The best I got for fly fishing SMB is a 5wt with floating line. If I had a 7-8 wt and maybe a sink tip line I could get heavier flies down where it needs to be most of the time. Right now I'm relegated to fishing on top or shallow water with the fly rod.

Otherwise I think it either would be equally effective if properly geared up.