Leg-Pullers and Stumpknockers

Steve Kantner gives the lowdown on bluegills and shellcrackers and just about everything related to fly fishing for bream in Florida Sportsman. He also offers a list of 12 Florida hotspots for panfish. “Bream bugging is generally best in low light. I like to canoe at sunset. I’ll work my way down an Everglades canal and wait for the wind to subside. It’s only then, when the light begins to fade and the surface glasses over, that I’ll begin casting. It starts with a bass here and there. Most are inconsequential yearlings. However, the rhythm is frequently interrupted by a succession of stumpknockers and now and then, a gar. Leg-pullers, I call them from the way they jostle the bug and chew its rubber legs.”