Tips for Bass fly fishing

[BerksFlyfisher88]

Hello all,

I am curious about Bass fly fishing! What I want to know is do I just use the same leader and tippet for Trout fishing for Bass??? Is fly fishing for Bass the very same as fly fishing for Trout, just fishing for a Bass instead of a Trout!?!? Helpful tips are needed! Thanks everyone!

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

It is IMO not the same except for a few things.

As far as Leader and tippet:
I used 12lb mono down to a taper of 6lb mono around 12-14 ft long.

Fishing for smallmouth can be similar to trout as they take the same kind of lies for the most part. Thats about it.

Largemouth is very much different.

Just tie on a good stout leader and tippet with a large fly and give it a bunch of action.

 

[afishinado]

salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
It is IMO not the same except for a few things.

As far as Leader and tippet:
I used 12lb mono down to a taper of 6lb mono around 12-14 ft long.

Fishing for smallmouth can be similar to trout as they take the same kind of lies for the most part. Thats about it.

Largemouth is very much different.

Just tie on a good stout leader and tippet with a large fly and give it a bunch of action.

Sal gives good advice. A 5wt rod is on the light side, while a 6 or 7wt would be ideal. You can use a tapered leader similar to a trout leader except tapered down to 3x or 2x (8-12 pounds). Grab a few poppers for on top, some good sized wooly buggers, clousers or streamers all in size 4 +/- and in a few colors both light and dark. That's it for tackle and flies.

Drift, swing and strip (fast or slow) to find out what type of action (or no action) is best for the day. One final thing; you will have NO DOUBT when you get a hit. The gawl darn fish will rip the rod from you hand! (most times). Have fun...HTH.

 

[glenrockonthefly]

I have flyfished for both smallmouth and largemouth, they are both a lot of fun to catch but somewhat different to fish for.

Small mouth: as some have said already, similar to trout fishing, fish rivers, often fount in fast sections, will take streamers, nymphs, poppers, some drys. Nice thing is you don't have to have that delicate presentation for smb, yes they will spook but if your streamer hits the water hard they are more likely to come grab it. This fishing is lots of fun. I use an 6-7 foot leader of 8# test, 2 or 3 stage starting with 14 #


Large Mouth: They will hit buggers, but I find the most fun for LMB are poppers and frog pattersn on the surface. You may need an 8 weight to heave these around and best approach in from a boat hard to find good wading for lmb and they like cover so a boat helps you save flies

just my thoughts

 

[jjsjigs]

glenrockonthefly is ON THE MONEY!

 

[wgmiller]

All good points so far.

As with any kind of fly fishing, a lot depends on where the fish are holding. If you're doing any kind of lake fishing (shallower PA lakes, etc.), you need to get the fly down to the fish. The best way to do that is with a sinking line of some sort. If you're fishing the deeper holes on a river, typically a decent length leader or sink tip line (although not necessary) is a good bet. For many of the waterways in PA, a floating line with 9 foot leader will do the trick. Make sure to get the fly down in their strike zone using weighted flies (BH buggers and Clouser minnows work well) and you should do fine.

The largemouth love to hang out along the banks in search of 'edibles'. Splashing a popper or frog pattern on the water will surely draw their interest.

Look at where you're going to be doing your fishing and figure things out from there. Look for holding structure and attack those points. Don't fish in the heat of the day as the fish will more than likely be laying low. Go for the mornings and evenings to have some of your best fishing.

If you're into reading, spending $15 on the Kreh/Clouser book would be a wise investment. I think they've caught a bass or two in their day... :-D

http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Fishing-Smallmouth-Streams-Bob-Clouser/dp/0811701735

 

[MattBoyer]

When fishing surface flies for large mouth, wait until all the rings from the fly hitting the water have gone away, then give it a twitch. When it hits, curiosity will draw them in, but if you move it too soon, you'll spook a good number of fish, especially older ones. If you let it sit for a second they will sit there eying it up, then absolutely destroy it when it moves. I owe one of Ray Bergman's books for that piece of info, and it's been invaluable to me.

Boyer

 

[The_Sasquatch]

What's really fun is to find a farmer's pond where you can fish for lmb. You get a big old popper/frog and chuck it across the pond, its mega fun. Some of those ponds hold some serious lunkers.

 

[csoult]

MattBoyer wrote:
When fishing surface flies for large mouth, wait until all the rings from the fly hitting the water have gone away, then give it a twitch. When it hits, curiosity will draw them in, but if you move it too soon, you'll spook a good number of fish, especially older ones. If you let it sit for a second they will sit there eying it up, then absolutely destroy it when it moves. I owe one of Ray Bergman's books for that piece of info, and it's been invaluable to me.

Boyer

Good advice Boyer!