Meet Kevin Kurz, lord of the (bass) flies

(PHOTOS)

The Kansas City Star (TNS)

Kevin Kurz used his fly rod to whip a streamer over his head several times, and then laid it perfectly in the shade of branches hanging over the water.

The fly started to sink, but it didn’t get far.

A flash of green engulfed the black leech imitation, and the fight was on.

The fly rod bowed sharply, and the angry bass shot to the surface and leaped out of the water. But Kurz won this tug-of-war and soon had the two-pound largemouth boatside.

Forget the plastic worms, spinnerbaits and crankbaits that bass fishermen often use to fool their prey. Fishing on a pond in rural Johnson County, Kurz was traveling a different route to catch bass.

“We go to the Bahamas, Montana, Alaska, Patagonia, even Chile to fly fish,” said Kurz, who owns K&K Fly Fishers in Overland Park, Kan. “But we’re 15 minutes from my shop today, and we’re into some great fly fishing.

”I always tell our customers that they don’t have to travel a long way to find a place to fish with a fly rod. They can find it right here in their backyard.“

Kurz proved as much on a recent weekday. Fishing with a Starlite Leech, his favorite bass fly, he caught fish after hard-fighting fish. Time and time again, he laid the fly in the shallows under overhanging tree limbs and persuaded the bass to hit.

He wasn’t a bit surprised. Kurz has fly fished for most of his life, and has owned his fly shop since 1987. Through his business, he organizes trips to exotic locations, creating lifetime memories.

But he knows that you don’t have to go exotic to catch fish on a fly rod. He regularly catches bass, big bluegills and crappies on flies in Kansas farm ponds.

”I was lucky enough to have a dad who would take me fishing every weekend,“ said Kurz, 58. ”He was a rural real estate agent, so he knew a lot of great places to fish.

“Eventually, I learned how to use a fly rod, and I found that it was a great way to present a bait to bass. And at least for me, it’s just more fun than using typical bass tackle.”

Kurz dispels several myths about fly fishing for bass. First, don’t think that fly fishermen only catch small bass. Kurz has caught largemouths up to 10 pounds on his fly rod. Second, don’t think that you need a large fly to persuade a bass to hit.

“You are better off with smaller flies – something around 3 to 4 inches long,” he said.

Kurz does well with sinking flies such as the Starlite Leech or the Clouser Minnow. Later, he often goes to poppers to get some topwater action.

The trays in his fly shop are filled with colorful flies that will catch everything from trout to bass to bluegills. But part of the fun of fly fishing is tying your own lures, Kurz said.

“That’s a big part of it for some fly fishermen,” Kurz said. “They can create their own patterns.

”They don’t have to buy something off a pegboard and bring it home in bubblewrap. They can catch fish on a fly they created.“

A 7- to 8-weight fly rod is perfect for bass fishing, Kurz said. Rods of that size have plenty of strength in the butt, but still have the sensitivity to detect strikes.

For Kurz, fishing a farm pond with a fly rod is just one facet of the sport that he loves. He can tell you stories about the day he caught a 350-pound blacktip shark on a 12-weight fly rod. But he can also relate tales about the days he caught and released big bass and bluegills just a few minutes from his shop.

His business is an extension of his passion for fly fishing. He once ran a successful film0developing business in the area. But when the first digital camera became popular, he knew it was time to get out.

That’s when he opened K&K Fly Fishers. The business got a boost in the aftermath of the 1992 movie ”A River Runs Through It,“ which lured many fishermen to fly fishing. That initial craze died down, and business leveled off. But K&K endured and has become an institution to fly fishermen in the area.

”It’s not hard for me to sell something like fly fishing that is my passion,“ Kurz said. ”I’m lucky to have a job like I do.“

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)2016 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

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