SWEET TWEET by John McKean

"Exactly 15 trophy bass swim in my private lake," lamented the wealthy landowner, "but I can't trick a single one into striking; NOBODY can!" Whining to my fly tying buddy, Bob, he mentioned that many smaller bass also resided in the well maintained lake -he could always catch THEM. So he pleaded with Bob to visit him that warm summer evening and hopefully analyze this problem, to maybe give him a clue for unclamping a few lunker jaws!

Now Bob is somewhat of a fly fishing genius. He thought the matter over for a bit, and immediately went to work at his well stocked tying bench. He proceeded to form an 8 inch concoction of thick lamb's wool, fluffy clumps of marabou feathers, and a wide strip of bushy rabbit fur. Bob called it a "hybrid" fly; I refer to the natural looking lure as his" hy-BIRD", because it resembled a small, skinny crow!! This was certainly no traditional fly tier's tiny " insect"!

Arriving during late afternoon, Bob set his bird in motion with his big fish model ,custom 9- weight rod. The false casts alone must've alerted the "uncatchable 15" that a whole flock of birds were hovering just over the pond's surface! These giant largemouth bass had never seen a lure presentation like this, but certainly could recognize the feathery critter it mimiced.

As Bob related the incident over the telephone in his usual careful, calm, but detailed manner, suspense got the best of me and I blurted out " C'mon, did ya get any of these wary ole swamp monsters to take, sniff, or even follow?"

"Caught every damn one of them!" chuckled Bob. "In fact, my exaggerated casting antics must have whet their appetites, 'cause I nailed 5 of the granddaddies on my first 5 touch downs!" He went on to tell me that he left some spare "bird flies" for his friend, and the guy continued to catch some of the formerly elusive bass daily for the better part of two months. When the big boys finally wised up and stopped hitting, Bob advised his buddy to simply change colors, and he was back in business again!

These days we need not attempt to master special action fly rods, nor become expert tiers to give bass the BIRD! Sam has provided a more realistic imitation than practically anyone can tie, and his brainchild is easy to cast! Bass show a definite hunger (in largemouth lingo - "tastes like chicken!") and will be taken completely off guard by Kennedy's artificials! So when the BIRD becomes available shortly -well, this is gonna be one heckuva great season!!