I been b
I think that would end up in my ear before the end of the day.
Bass on the fly advice...
- Thread starter Josh
- Start date
Beartown Mountain Farm
Steelhead
I didn’t see much discussion on your first questions about rod weights, so I’ll offer my experience. I prefer a 9ft 6wt or 9’6” 6wt for smallmouth. My current rod is an Orvis ZG Helios 906-4 with fighting butt (saltwater model). I’ve had higher and lower end rods but this is the one that stuck because it’s 2.75oz! Super light! I can chuck clawdads or poppers all day with little fatigue.
My reel is a Lamson Litespeed FirstLite with an Orvis Hydros HD WF6. Really works well to bomb the casts and get the cast started.
My advice is to find a lightweight 6/7 weight rod, especially if you’re planning to fish top-water. Your casting appendage will thank you!
Anyfish
Just one more cast...
99% of the time I usually just fish a 6wt. I bring two, one with a floating line and another with intermediate lin. I habe no idea what brand of floating line is on the reel. I usually fish poppers, buggers, or rabbit strip "worms". I bought a bunch of worm type flies from Ira last year that worked great. Buggers are usually on the small side (8 or 6 at biggest). I keep things pretty simple if possible and keep color selection to black, purple, or olive for the most part. Most of the buggers I tie for bass and the like do not have cones or beads. I think the slower sink helps, at least for me.
Bass are funny creatures. Big bass will hit little tiny flies and little fish will hit big flies. I say pick what you like and give it a try. I had just as much fun catching big bluegills as bass.
Finally, i must admit I do keep a spinning rod in the boat for use if it is to windy for me to cast.
Bass are funny creatures. Big bass will hit little tiny flies and little fish will hit big flies. I say pick what you like and give it a try. I had just as much fun catching big bluegills as bass.
Finally, i must admit I do keep a spinning rod in the boat for use if it is to windy for me to cast.
Slimy Deck
Watch your step
For me, I target bass with the fly only when they're actively feeding on baitfish. Where I hunt 'em, shad are the primary forage and sometimes they push bait to the surface and I'll fish a floater, wiggle minnow or popper cast to where I see them feeding, -6' stepped mono leader, or baitfish sized clouser on ~6'-7' fluoro leader. When deeper, I fish an intermediate sink line with a ~4'-5' on stepped fluoro.
I toss 5, 7, & 8wt rods in the boat. Usually the 5 rigged with a floating line, #4-#6 clouser; 7 rigged with intermed sinker; and 8 rigged full float for the surface bugs.
Love hunting feeding/schooling bass.....
Good luck!
I toss 5, 7, & 8wt rods in the boat. Usually the 5 rigged with a floating line, #4-#6 clouser; 7 rigged with intermed sinker; and 8 rigged full float for the surface bugs.
Love hunting feeding/schooling bass.....
Good luck!
Just getting into bass a little more seriously over the last couple of years.
Rods: pretty much all I fish is glass (for trout, bass, muskies)
7wt BAG Quickshot is my go-to for smallies, although last year I caught a couple that most definitely were not 7wt fish....my Steffen 8wt gets plenty of play as well.
If I were to get after largies, I'd most likely be throwing my Epic Bandit (10wt).
Smallies: for flies, I almost always go white craft fur baitfish patterns. In the rare instances that doesn't work, small crayfish patterns. I do get some on top, but I don't fish topwater nearly as much as I should...usually foam gurglers since they're so easy to tie.
Most largies that I run into are just by-catch while musky fishing and they're typically pretty decent. But I don't really target them specifically.
Rods: pretty much all I fish is glass (for trout, bass, muskies)
7wt BAG Quickshot is my go-to for smallies, although last year I caught a couple that most definitely were not 7wt fish....my Steffen 8wt gets plenty of play as well.
If I were to get after largies, I'd most likely be throwing my Epic Bandit (10wt).
Smallies: for flies, I almost always go white craft fur baitfish patterns. In the rare instances that doesn't work, small crayfish patterns. I do get some on top, but I don't fish topwater nearly as much as I should...usually foam gurglers since they're so easy to tie.
Most largies that I run into are just by-catch while musky fishing and they're typically pretty decent. But I don't really target them specifically.
not at all. my primary musky rod is a 7'9" 10wt glass, my secondary musky rod is a 8'6" 10wt glass. Both handle large flies VERY well and are very castable all day long. You may have to adjust your stroke a little bit if you're used to faster graphite but once you get that down, I find it far easier. If it gets really windy (like 15+), that's when I bust out my faster graphite rods (or when I really need to bomb casts out there, which is rarely necessary fishing out of a boat/float tube)
For bass, I'm fishing 8' (BAG) 7wts through 8'6" 8wts (Steffen) and all are super easy to cast most bassy sized offerings. If you're downsizing to what @Evan Burck mentions earlier in this thread, it'll be even easier.
As a novice in the warm water fishing who dabbles from time to time I seem to find more perch than bass. Pre covid we camped at Deception State Park annually for 3-4 days ranging any month from May to August depending on when we could go and in conjunction getting a good semi private (if you can even call it that) camp site ( Difficult!!!).
With Pass lake deteriorating over the past decade plus the ease of basically walking across the street from our campsite to Cranberry Lake carrying a float tube and a couple set ups I played around targeting bass and even perch. Cranberry Lake is a fun large lake fishery. Home to rainbows, brown trout, perch, and LM Bass. Fishing for them I use a 6 or 7 weight with the 7 being my favorite and using an intermediate or sometimes a sink tip III and ugly leeches like these. I’ll have to dedicate more time to the top water game next time.
With Pass lake deteriorating over the past decade plus the ease of basically walking across the street from our campsite to Cranberry Lake carrying a float tube and a couple set ups I played around targeting bass and even perch. Cranberry Lake is a fun large lake fishery. Home to rainbows, brown trout, perch, and LM Bass. Fishing for them I use a 6 or 7 weight with the 7 being my favorite and using an intermediate or sometimes a sink tip III and ugly leeches like these. I’ll have to dedicate more time to the top water game next time.
Not sure if I missed it but also flies like murdichs minnow or Bart-o minnow are real good jerkbait/fluke style flies.
I do more smallmouth fishing than largemouth lake fishing but when it’s real hot, fish a popper or some frog or little boogle or a taps bug, red white and black hair bug, let it land and pop it hard then let it sit. And sit. Forever. But a legit 20seconds or more. Often have some eats come after I’ve thought about popping the bug again.
I do more smallmouth fishing than largemouth lake fishing but when it’s real hot, fish a popper or some frog or little boogle or a taps bug, red white and black hair bug, let it land and pop it hard then let it sit. And sit. Forever. But a legit 20seconds or more. Often have some eats come after I’ve thought about popping the bug again.
I certainly have no problem catching perch with fly patterns when I trying to catch bass. The pesky devils won't leave me alone !
I fish for smallmouth at Foster Reservoir in Oregon and for a couple of years, the perch population was through the roof... last year, however, I didn't catch as many. Maybe the pandemic also hit them hard. The smallmouth still like subsurface baitfish patterns that represent perch so there must still be a few of them out there.
I fish for smallmouth at Foster Reservoir in Oregon and for a couple of years, the perch population was through the roof... last year, however, I didn't catch as many. Maybe the pandemic also hit them hard. The smallmouth still like subsurface baitfish patterns that represent perch so there must still be a few of them out there.
So, stupid question as I know nothing about bass fishing.
I see people talk about waiting till the water hits a certain temp before targeting them. Why is that? Do they just hang too deep in the colder months? Surely they have to eat even when the water is cold? Is it more about the fun factor and people not wanting to fish deep? Are they harder to locate if/when they are in deeper water thus making it less appealing to try? Always been curious about this.
I see people talk about waiting till the water hits a certain temp before targeting them. Why is that? Do they just hang too deep in the colder months? Surely they have to eat even when the water is cold? Is it more about the fun factor and people not wanting to fish deep? Are they harder to locate if/when they are in deeper water thus making it less appealing to try? Always been curious about this.
Pink Nighty
Life of the Party
It's just a low percentage game in cold water. Yes they eat, but their metabolism is down to a near hibernation state. They do not need to consume the same amount, so the bites get few and far between. And the presentations need to be very slow generally as they are not wanting to chase.
Still doable but not nearly as fun.
Interesting. Didn't realize the change of metabolism was a thing. Makes sense.
Thanks for the reply! Some day I'll do some honest to goodness bass fishing.
Pink Nighty
Life of the Party
I'd give it a shot in the spring or fall. Bass are where they "should" be, up in lillies and shallows getting ready to spawn in the spring or chasing bait in the fall.
Be careful, bass on poppers can be really problematic when it comes to doing anything else at all. June is an issue around here
Nick,
When I used to fish lakes a lot, It was pretty cool
to watch the bass transition. Early in the spring, you’d never see any and they were in deeper water for the most part. As the water warmed up, you’d start seeing some swimming on the breaks between deep and shallow water. Each week you’d see more as they set up to move into shallow water and spawn.
I’ll admit I’ve thrown a fly to bedded bass in the past while out trout fishing.
Watching their reactions is great theater. Like looking at them in an aquarium.
Some will just inhale your fly, some will swim up to it and just stare at it. Others will slap it with their tail or blow it off the bed. Interesting fish for sure.
SF
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Agree with all re the temps thing it sf hit on something that I find fascinating.
I mostly fish river smallmouth. Their movements through the season are not well understood. I’ve read articles that said some fish may move 200miles throughout the year and others may hardly move. But seeing these fish move through the season and go from cold to prespawn to spawn to post spawn to summer to fall and back to cold is really interesting. They group up at times and you’ll see some in say deeper water adjacent to shallower rock flats, then the push towards the transition then move up into shallower feeding water, and they start to spread out as the temps increase.
mooseknuckles
Distinguished Degenerate
Having never targeted bass and/or bream on the fly I recently made my first attempt on a nice small body of water with beautiful structure, lush lily pads and resident alligators. I never let the multiple poppers I attempted to settle on the waters surface. In addition my stillwater experience is essentially non existent so needless to say, I have learned so much of what I was doing wrong. Thank you all, I know where to start next time. Slow down! The hunt for that first bass on the fly continues.
I don't necessarily agree with the slow down part. I catch bass fishing fast and covering water. Sometimes longer pauses with my retrieves to mix it up but also sometimes I'm ripping it as fast as I can all the way back.
