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Bubble and Fly
(Published in Salmon, Trout, Steelheader, August-September, 1977 )
It was on the Clackamas River in 1971 that I first tested the bubble and fly. Arcing a cast upstream from a steep, boulder-strewn bank one cloudy, late summer evening, I was rewarded with an immediate strike just as the bubble splashed down. Fishing in the same area a week later my three-cent fly stung a fat, twisting rainbow in deep green water. This time split-shot substituted for the bubble.
That fall I entered the Army. In spare moments I read fishing books and articles by the score and was eventually stationed in northeastern California as an MP Security Guard. I now had more time for fly tying and fishing nearby Antelope Lake.
At Antelope I found the 12 to 15 inch rainbows eager for fly and split shot retrieved at a quick pace near the surface. Crouched statue-like on a favorite car-sized boulder in shallows 50 feet from shore, I was thrilled to see the fish home in on the fly like a radio-guided missile.
Winter closed the door on fishing, but on those cold, snowy, quiet winter days I poured over Ray Bergman's Trout, reliving his trouting experiences. Impatiently I waited for spring. In March the ice began straining and breaking on famous Eagle Lake, north of Susanville. At Eagle in April, eager to try my own hand-tied flies, I waded out between curious eyes and huddled groups of patient worm fishermen. On frigid, shivering legs I caught two 18-inchers on fly and split shot in the chilly, wind-riffled water. Several more trips followed with equal success.
A month later began a long and productive summer of dry fly fishing for mayfly dieting Antelope Lake trout. Through June and July it was almost too easy to punch out simple 30 foot casts to multitudes of gorging, surface feeding trout with an 8 foot fly rod. Evenings were more challenging. In the quiet inlets I stalked fish, hunter-like, hidden behind convenient growths of tall reeds. I gently tossed my fly to slow-cruising rainbows slurping in mayflies. I learned to time and place my casts much like a quarterback leads his receivers.
But suddenly in August the rainbows refused my offerings. For several trips I was frustrated with fruitless casting. My fishing partner, Scott Jones, solved the mystery. He tried the floating plastic bubble on his spinning outfit, choosing a number 16 Sandfly nymph, which simulates a mayfly nymph. On a dead-slow retrieve he scored. Inexplicably, I could not hook anything with a 12 foot leader, 2 pound test tippet and the same artificial he was using. I switched to spin rod, bubble and fly, and took fish. Perhaps the splash of the bubble actually attracted the fish; strikes usually came within a minute or two of splashdown.
My tour of duty was over in October. I arrived home in Oregon City and fished a little-known tiny mountain lake near Estacada. From shore it proved impossible to fly cast because of steep slopes matted thick with small firs and rhododendrons. So I switched to the spin rod and floating bubble and experimented with fast and slow retrieves and various flies. Within two hours I netted eight brookies, a rainbow and a surface fighting cutthroat. Nearly all patterns had worked when using a steady retrieve.
For the no-nonsense fisherman who would love to use flies, but hasn't been able to learn fly casting, the spin-fly technique is outstanding. It holds its own with fly casting in at least five very practical ways: first, no arm-straining false casting is involved; second, the exciting strike in dry fly fishing and near-surface wet fly and nymph fishing is in no way diminished; third, greater distances can be quickly achieved; fourth, no fly line drag occurs on intervening stream currents (using an 18 to 24 inch leader); and, fifth, the spin-fly combo is almost a necessity where lots of search-type casting is needed, as in big-lake fishing.
Dry flies, nymphs, wet flies and streamers can all be successfully fished with the spin-fly method. A plastic bubble is used for near-surface fishing and split shot for reaching deep.
When you fish the lakes by boat or from shore, try these systematic retrieves: for subsurface fishing, cast to point "X" and immediately retrieve; next, cast to point "X" again. This time count to five, then retrieve. Cast again, counting to ten this time before retrieving. Retrieve slowly enough to keep the fly at the depth reached in counting. Continue this process until you hit bottom or connect with a trout. Stay the same level if you do connect.
Next, cast left or right of "X" and plumb the same way. At the end of each vertical search, cast to a new spot on your imaginary clock. Be sure to vary the retrieve -- slow, fast, stop and go, jerky -- yet maintain the same depth.
Here's another retrieve for wet flies, nymphs and streamers at or near the surface: begin with short casts and search from farthest left to farthest right. After each sweep, cast five or ten feet beyond the last arc; go left to right again. Vary your retrieves.
With dry flies, use the previous procedure minus the retrieve.
In searching out stream and river bottoms use the split shot with normal drift technique, beginning with a quartered upstream cast. For simulation of swimming, rising nymphs, try a weighted nymph connected to the bubble by a five to ten foot length of leader (careful with the cast!). As the bubble drifts downstream, tighten up now and then to bring the nymph enticingly toward the surface.
For wet flies and streamers in moving water, use split shot again for getting depth. After a dead drift (during which trout occasionally strike) experiment with fast and slow retrieves or let the fly hang in the current -- either method can be deadly. For surface fishing the same wets and streamers, switch to the bubble, let hang in the current and retrieve.
Now for the terminal rigging. Two wire loops are attached at each end of the plastic bubble. Tie the main line (line from the reel) to one loop and a short piece (18" to 30") of leader material to the other. Tie your fly to the remaining end of the leader material. When using split shot for sinking the fly a floating bubble, of course, isn't needed. Simply barrel knot the main line to the leader or use a small barrel swivel to connect the two lines.
The bubbles are sold in various shapes, sizes and colors. I like the torpedo-shaped bubble in a large size for distance casting in lakes and larger rivers. A small round bubble works well for stream fishing. Select the color which provides the best visibility for you; the fish seem little affected by color.
All art work Copyright © Harlan Simantel
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