Fly Fishing for Bass

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Fly Fishing for bass can be an exciting way to fish for bass utilizing a wide range of flies including clousers, woolly buggers, crawfish imitations, and large streamers. Lets face it bass hit hard, fight hard, and like to attack large baits why wouldn't‚ we want to target them with a fly rod. Fly fishing for bass is can be done several ways, but often is best in streams chasing smallmouth bass with streamers and crawfish imitations. A smallmouth bass‚ primary food source is minnows and crawfish in streams and rivers so your presentation should always try to mimic these baits. When fishing in a lake for largemouth bass you will want to use flies that are weighted such as clousers, large weighted streamers or target them on top using poppers or deceiver flies.

Bass are triggered to bite with flies with action so you will want to work your fly line and rod by twitching your rod and quickly stripping line in. Often when fly fishing for smallmouth in a river I will cast out and quickly strip and jerk my fly to make it look like an injured baitfish. Smallmouth bass will attack a fly so there‚ no mistaking a hit. There‚ no slurping or tapping with bass it‚ just a solid hit. You will want to use a heavier tippet such as 4 to 6 lb test fluorocarbon for smallmouth in rivers and 6 to 12 lb tippet when fishing for largemouth in lakes. The main reason why you will want a heavier tippet in lakes is due to weeds and wood that will need to pull the fish out of.

Bass Fishing Flies

Clouser - How to Tie

  1. Place the hook in the vise normally with the hook facing down. Tie on the thread in the middle of the hook then work your way forward to the eye and clip excess.
  2. Tie on the dumbbell eyes on the top of the hook shank behind the eye of the hook using a figure eight around the eyes.
  3. Wrap down the shank to the back of the hook then back to the front dumbbells then tie on a piece of combed and stacked deer hair then wrap back halfway down the hook shank then back to the dumbbells; which makes the body fatter.
  4. Turn the Hook over in the vise then tie on a bunch of Krystal Flash followed by a bunch of White Bucktail, then a bunch of Chartreuse bucktail above the dumbbells at the eye of the hook.
  5. Trim the excess and wrap the thread to make a head above the dumbbells and whip finish the fly twice.
  6. Seal with head cement - Done

Crystal Bead Head Bugger - How to Tie - Size 4 to 10 hook

  1. Put on a streamer hook with the bead already on the hook in the vise then tie in the thread at the bend of the hook and tie in a bunch of black marabou making the tail.
  2. Tie on a 6-inch piece of tinsel chenille in silver or gold depending on the bead head you are using. You want to match your tinsel with bead
  3. Tie on long streamer feather, which is a feather from a neck that has longer quills, which makes it a bigger profile.
  4. Wrap your thread to the bead then wrap your tinsel chenille to the bead then wrap your feather to the bead and then wrap your thread around the feather and chenille and whip finish below the bead - Done

Other flies that are very popular when fishing for bass that I don't tie but will buy instead are poppers, crawfish patterns. Also flies like surf candy, and saltwater deceivers are very good when fish are targeting shad on the top of the water.

Finding bass in a river or stream is pretty easy bass will be found in the deeper section, slower water, and around structure such as boulders and trees. Finding bass in a lake can often be a little tricky but a weedbed such as lily pads and mil foil is always a good place to start. Bass will also relate to structure like points and flats and other structure like trees and stumps.

Fishing for bass with a fly rod is very exciting and very rewarding and everybody should give it a try. Almost every state in the United States has largemouth and smallmouth bass and they are generally larger and fight harder then trout.