The North American Fly Fishing Forum

First, welcome to this wonderful site! There's some great people here who will certainly give you some superb advise. I've done a lot of bass fishing over the years & have caught both SM & LM bass on many different fly patterns. I've fished quite a bit for bass in brackish, tidal creeks & rivers too, so there's always the possibility for hooking into Striped bass & possibly other salt species that may venture into brackish waters. That often means that multiple species may be caught on the same flies while targeting a specific species. I've caught Stripers numerous times while targeting LM's & vice versa.

It would be easier to give you some suggestions if you could provide some additional info about the type of waters you're intending to fish & if you're interested in Smallmouth Bass or Largemouths.

Since I'm old & have been doing this a long time, I use some of the older patterns/styles that have been around a long time, as well as some newer patterns. They all work, as bass are not particular most of the time.

Here's generally some of fly types that I like to use for bass & have had a lot of success with them

Lefty's Deceivers
Clouser Minnows
Clouser Half & Half's
Seaducers
Murdich Minnows
Goldies
Gurglers
Rabbit Strip Flies
Poppers & Sliders
Crease Flies

I didn't indicate colors, as I've used many, and at times they'll all catch fish. I usually stick to basic colors or combinations as I've not experienced the need to get too complicated with colors for bass. Some that I use a lot are chartreuse & white, all black, olive & white, gray & white, and all white. But, as I said, I've used many & have many colors in my fly boxes.

There are many other flies that I've tried also, too many to list. In the case of flies such as the Rabbit Strip flies I listed, of which there are many, I've never found that one is necessarily any better or worse than another. However, IMO size & lengths can sometimes make a big difference so it's a good idea to have some variety. In the tidal rivers, anything that might imitate worms, snakes or eels can all be deadly for bass, since all of these might be prey the bass will feed on and are imitated very well using rabbit strips.

Frankly, having a variety of sizes is a good idea for any fly type as long as you have the rod or rods to cast them all.

The majority of the flies in my bass boxes are tied on size 2 to 3/0 hooks and from about 2 1/2" to 10" in length. I probably use 1/0 or 2/0 sizes the most, which are flies in the 3 to 6" length range. I tie many of my bass flies on straight shank worm hooks commonly used for plastic worms.

Not sure if this answers your question, but hope it does. :D