Bass Dry Flies

[HBGMarine]

Does anyone fish dry flies for bass at all? I remember when I was young we would hammer them with live grasshoppers & crickets so I assume I could get the same results with a fly. I'm thinking grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and maybe mayflies would work. Any suggestions on patterns to tie and how to fish them?

 

[tomgamber]

see the how do you tie your poppers thread below...it kind of morphed into that near the end. Add sponge spiders to my list....

 

[gemiller]

I bought a Dragonfly fly at cabelas last year and hooked into a very nice largemouth last fall. Shame I had such a small trout tippet on it, got it to my john boat and snap

Lesson learned for this year, spend more time out for bass and be more prepared!

I plan on spending some more time bassin' this year, thats for sure!

 

[MattBoyer]

Greg, just to let you know, there are some nice bass on your new street! Did you move in yet? If so, maybe the boy and I will take a walk down this afternoon to say hi!

Boyer

 

[flyeyeeye]

My two best topwater bass flies are a white gurglur and a white floating minnow.

 

[JoeE]

blue poppers.



joe e

 

[wgmiller]

I would have to think that if you are fishing the Susky for bass during the white mayfly "blizzard" you'd do pretty good with a white dry...

 

[Maurice]

wgmiller wrote:
I would have to think that if you are fishing the Susky for bass during the white mayfly "blizzard" you'd do pretty good with a white dry...

You would think.....but not for bass. At least not around these parts. I have been targeting catties on top since the smallies are a no-show the past four or five years.

 

[wetnet]

Yes and Yes! I fish hoppers and beatles. Frog patterns and spun hair bugs. Bass are pretty aggresive so no I don't float a trout dry. When I fish for bass I have a different mind set. (Catch more fish than my Brother) I still love and use the wooly bugger. Wooly, Wooly!!!!

 

[greenghost]

Sorry for the late response. Yes, being from SW PA where trout fishing is mediocre most of the year, I fish for bass on top more than I fish for trout. I use cork and foam bugs. My favorite is the white skipping minnow and green and yellow Gaines popper. I love to wet wade on the edges of lilly pads and fish the edges and clear pockets. When the bass are on, it's a blast. Sometimes you get surprised with a hog or something even bigger...

Two years ago, I was fishing with very small poppers, targeting panfish. I had an old Fenwick 6 weight and was having a ball when something VERY big roll on my bug and took off away from the pads like a bat out of hell. I knew right way it was a big hybrid striper because in the past I caught many from the same lake... but never out of the pads. Anyway, this thing is ripping line off my Pflueger and unfortunately I had very little backing. I didn't stand a chance. Got to the end and "POP" he was gone. It was the one and only time I got lined while flyfishing.

Moral of the story: Fish well armed because you never know.

 

[live2fish]

Lost my last deer hair popper and put on a size 12 drake. Bass hit it when twitched a little after a few seconds of sitting still after the cast.

 

[tomgamber]

One year I used all the coffin flies I had tied for the Jam (but didn't use because Penn's was a raging chocolate milkshake) to catch a whole bunch of bass one evening on a local lake.

 

[Meangreenstick]

bass eat all kinds of bugs on small farm ponds. ive hooked them on everything from stimulators to bee patterns........but floating foam minnows and popers are my fav's

 

[flipnfly]

ive done well on a turks tarantula fished top water thats the only bass exp i have fly fishin

 

[Padraic]

Smallmouth will rise readily to a hex hatch. I tye a huge wulff style dry for them. The issue is getting the fly big enough to imitate the natural! I use a size 8 streamer hook. Takes a lot of hackle to keep that afloat... especially after the first fish takes it and slimes it up.