BUSTING BASS ON BUGS
Schneider's Bama Slammer
 Editor's
Note: Tom Schneider has fished with a fly rod since
1988, and has guided fly-fishermen since 1992. He guides
primarily for saltwater stripers, hybrid-striped bass,
spotted bass and largemouth bass on Lay Lake. But he
also has access to some private ponds and guides some
small streams in Alabama.
Question: What's another fly you tie? 
Answer: I tie a crayfish-pattern fly that is much like
the egg-sucking leech fly with which most steelhead
fishermen are familiar. To build this fly, I start by
putting on a weed guard because I'll be casting the
fly into the weeds. Next, I add silly legs and flashabou.
Then, I tie rabbit strips in tandem to give the fly
claws, like a crayfish. I dub the rabbit fur in with
cross strips, and for the head of the fly, I use ostrich
herl to give the fly a little extra color. Finally,
I'll add the barbell eyes. This crayfish-pattern fly
is a really good early-spring fly.
Question: Tell me about the shadfly you invented. 
Answer: I spent countless hours not catching bass in
the fall, using the conventional flies that I had. I
wanted a fly that would mimic the fluttering fall of
shad, when the shad began to die off in the fall. The
fluttering action wasn't built into any fly that I ever
had fished with, so to recreate that action, I developed
the Bama Slammer fly. I tie this fly on a keel hook,
and the fly is keel-weighted. I tie a little bit of
lead into the shank of a hook. The more weight you have
on this fly, the more the fly appears to swim when you
strip line. The less weight you have, the more the bait
flutters and falls when you stop stripping. On this
fly, I use 9-foot monofilament leader. I can fish this
fly shallow or deep, with either a floating line or
a sinking line, depending on at what depth I find the
fish. Since shad is the number-one forage that bass
eat, and the 2-inch or 3-inch size is the
size bait that most bass eat, that's why I designed
the Bama Slammer to be this size and this color and
have this kind of fall. The shadfly is really effective
anytime I find stripers or largemouth bass feeding on
the surface.
To learn more about how to catch bass with flies, or
to schedule a guided trip with Tom go to www.sunriseanglers.com;
call Tom at Sunrise Anglers at (205) 669-2110 or (205)
410-0964; or e-mail Tom at kingfisher@sunriseanglers.com.
TOMORROW: OTHER TYPES OF BAITS FOR FLIES
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