Flyfishing for Leervis

keyjam

New member
Hi Guys

Ive just spent the easter weekend fishing the breede river.

Does anyone have experience tying there own poppers / plugs for leervis ?

My father and I did some Kob fishing with live bait and we caught a couple of harders which i examined very closely as these little suckers make up the leery's staple diet as far as i know.

I noted some interesting features - like a little gold spot about 2 centimeters behind the eye. And the fact that these fish are quite green on top.

I would like to tie a fly that would imitate these harders, as i have yet to find one that imitates them correctly.

As i had many follows and only a few hits, i figure the fish were seeing something that was putting them off.  -  and this was using a plain white popper with some tinsel at the base of the body and a white feathered tail.

i hade the same results on other poppers (poppers wrapped in shiny stuff, different coloured tails and tinsel etc).

I only managed to hook small ones 20 - 30 centimeters.  the bigger leervis would charge the fly and then turn at the last minute. so frustrating !!!!


All in all i figure i learnt alot.

1. first light up to an hour after the direct sunlight hits the water is definitly the most productive time to fish for leery.

2. I got strikes on all sorts of retrieves leaving me no closer to knowing which retrieve is best.

3. 70 centimeters is quite an ask for these fish ?  is there a reason their size limit is so large.

4. contrary to popular belief - smoked leervis is awesome eating. although i wouldnt make a habit of it as these fish are best for fighting :)

thanks all.
 

sebastiaan

New member
I've heard that a 'leerie ice-cream' works well (check out flytalk they have a article on how to make it).

I would rather just try make a clouser in mullet colours if i were you.

good luck
 

Aldo

New member
Hi keyjam,

If the leeries don't pick up the popper you need to strip it faster. Next time try a double underhand retrieve. Strip it as fast as possible. Remember you can never strip it faster that the leerie can swim!

If the larger leeries don't pick up a fly, you need a bigger fly! The bigger the better. Large clousers work well and also large decievers.

In our area (PE) pink, blue and chatreuse are your best colours.

I have also had large leeries chase and turn around the fly and bob and dart around inspecting it from all angles, thus understand the frustration. Some days they are just smarter than us!

Does however do the heart muscles alot of good! ::S

 
 

will101

Senior Member
I once had a take on a popper with a dead drift. Of course this was when I was looking down and only when I looked up I saw the popper re-surface. DOH!

Any retrieve will do but to get an agressive take you need to speed it up.

I have tied some silicone mullet specifically whith that yellow spot - I will find a pic and post it. I noticed in the past that these fish appear brown over the sand so I have also incorporated some tan bucktail into some of my flies. in the end of the day we always turn to what works and that appears to be the clousers and flippers and salty buggers.

The size limit for most fish are chosen such that the breeding stock can be protected so you  will find that leeries will probably start breeding at about 60cm or whatever (talking off the top of my head here). Personally I would never kill a leervis. Snoek tastes a whole lot better and I have a freezer full of them buggers.
 

keyjam

New member
Thanks for the replies guys.

Up until now i've only ever fished poppers / flippers / gurglers on the surface for leery.

I think its time to expand my line and tippet collection for some sinking action.

Are the retrieves just as fast when fishing decievers and clousers  below the surface.

I cant wait to get back to the river with some larger flies !
Ive also only recently started with the double overhand retrieve method , it takes a bit of getting used to with the rod under the arm and all.

ps. i agree snoek is better, i thought i would just post that bit anyway as it was the first time i actually tasted leery.   but to be honest, it will probably also be the last.

thanks again
 
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