smallmouth
- Thread starter lefty2
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Rip Tide
Well-known member
Hey Lefty,
It's pretty obvious to me that you should try a Lefty's Bug
... yellow or white
Bob Clouser sells 'em, but they're pretty easy to make
It's pretty obvious to me that you should try a Lefty's Bug
... yellow or whiteBob Clouser sells 'em, but they're pretty easy to make
bigjim5589
Well-known member
I've done well with a variety of topwaters for Smallmouths, but 3 have been very consistent over many years. Sneaky Pete's, Dahlberg Divers or Rabbit Strip Divers, and Gurgler's tied with hackle tails. I use bigger flies than most, usually size 1/0, but size 1 or 2 should be fine for a 7 wt. Really depends on the water I'm fishing, as I will go down in size on smaller waters, but rarely go smaller than a size 4.
I can't argue with Rip Tides advise of the Lefty's Bug either, as I've caught plenty of Smallmouths on them as well!
My color preferences are simple, all white, all black, and chartreuse with a black collar for the Sneaky Pete's. I usually tie Sneaky Pete's with splayed hackle tails also.
All white, all black, or all chartreuse for the Gurglers & Dahlbergs, except I like grizzly hackle in the tails on the Divers (marabou tail with grizzly on each side, and some flash) and for the rabbit strip versions, same colors but I tie them with the bar dyed rabbit strips, and usually with black barring.
Gurglers are often seen displayed in catalogs with hair tails, but again I like splayed hackle tails on them as well, at least for bass fishing.
If you'll be tying your own, consider straight shank worm hooks, like Mustad Ultra Points, Gamakatsu Rubber Worm Hooks, or Owner straight shank Worm Hooks for these flies. These are all fairly light wire hooks, but are superior to most fly hooks in strength & sharpness. I tie a lot of bass flies on these types of hooks. I also use them for poppers & sliders, but Mustad kink shank popper hooks, CK52S are an excellent hook too!
Hope this helps!
I can't argue with Rip Tides advise of the Lefty's Bug either, as I've caught plenty of Smallmouths on them as well!
My color preferences are simple, all white, all black, and chartreuse with a black collar for the Sneaky Pete's. I usually tie Sneaky Pete's with splayed hackle tails also.
All white, all black, or all chartreuse for the Gurglers & Dahlbergs, except I like grizzly hackle in the tails on the Divers (marabou tail with grizzly on each side, and some flash) and for the rabbit strip versions, same colors but I tie them with the bar dyed rabbit strips, and usually with black barring.
Gurglers are often seen displayed in catalogs with hair tails, but again I like splayed hackle tails on them as well, at least for bass fishing.
If you'll be tying your own, consider straight shank worm hooks, like Mustad Ultra Points, Gamakatsu Rubber Worm Hooks, or Owner straight shank Worm Hooks for these flies. These are all fairly light wire hooks, but are superior to most fly hooks in strength & sharpness. I tie a lot of bass flies on these types of hooks. I also use them for poppers & sliders, but Mustad kink shank popper hooks, CK52S are an excellent hook too!
Hope this helps!
FrankB2
Well-known member
I use two surface flies for smallmouth. A Madame X tied on a #6 hook, and a foam bug with two sets of legs. The Madame X is tied with bright yellow thread, and natural deer body hair. It's a very simple fly to pump out, and deadly for smallmouth. I bought some bright green foam sheets that are supposed to be hung from door knobs (don't know what for) at A.C. Moore, and I cut a 1/4"x1" strip from the sheet. I cut a triangle shape for the tail, and tie the back of the strip to the end of the hook shank. Some peacock ice dubbing gets wrapped around the hook shank up to a couple eye lengths from the end, and then the front of the foam strip is secured to the hook. The foam is secured tightly, creating a segemented effect, and then rubber legs are tied and whip finished into each of the two segments. It's a really effective fly, although I prefer to use the fur Madame X, rather than the fully synthetic foam bug. You can find a picture of the Madame X anywhere, and here's a pic of the foam bug (ignore the #16 pack of hooks. The bug is tied in a #6 standard hook):
guys, i appreciate the help. i am on my way to a local gander mt. to see what they have and then tomorrow to a fly shop to pick a few more up.
as for tying, i am inept. shoot, with my busted up and arthritic fingers, i can barely tie my shoes these days. besides, to tie, i am thoroughly convinced that one has to have some artistic talents and i have none. but i am so impressed by your handiworks.
as for tying, i am inept. shoot, with my busted up and arthritic fingers, i can barely tie my shoes these days
. besides, to tie, i am thoroughly convinced that one has to have some artistic talents and i have none. but i am so impressed by your handiworks.
mudbug
Well-known member
Muddler Minnows.
Goop them up and fish them on top like a popper or fish them like a streamer.
Goop them up and fish them on top like a popper or fish them like a streamer.
I use what's mentioned above; I also recommend Todd's Wiggle Minnow, the "brown trout" color seems to work best!
Sneaky Pete's, Gurgler's, Deer Hair Poppers and regular poppers work very well. This time of year I like to use grasshopper patterns too!
Sneaky Pete's, Gurgler's, Deer Hair Poppers and regular poppers work very well. This time of year I like to use grasshopper patterns too!
gatortransplant
Well-known member
Thanks for the thread Lefty, I will be stealing these ideas as soon as I get back to Buffalo and get to go fly fishing
caseywise
Well-known member
lefty,
sliders db divers and poppers in black, yellow and charteuse have worked well for me
also muddler minnows fished dry.
casey
sliders db divers and poppers in black, yellow and charteuse have worked well for me
also muddler minnows fished dry.
casey
Pocono
Moderator
Almost any color popper with legs; yellow and chartreuse being the best in my experience.
Cast out to about 5' from the edge of a bank/shore/tree overhang/weed bed/rock outcropping, etc., give it an immediate twitch, let it sit for 5-10 seconds, twitch it again, wait again, then strip it in. Smallmouths like instant activity followed by inactivity/drift; sort of what you'd get if a dragonfly landed on the surface.
Largemouths, keep the fly moving all the time.
Pocono
Cast out to about 5' from the edge of a bank/shore/tree overhang/weed bed/rock outcropping, etc., give it an immediate twitch, let it sit for 5-10 seconds, twitch it again, wait again, then strip it in. Smallmouths like instant activity followed by inactivity/drift; sort of what you'd get if a dragonfly landed on the surface.
Largemouths, keep the fly moving all the time.
Pocono
Lots of stuff will work for surface flies and bugs for smallmouth. I'd like to mention a bit about the colors I use and why I use them...
Forget about matching the hatch, so to speak...which means you don't need totally realistic colors that try to match some kind of smallie food. Keep it simple. The others have mentioned the main go-to colors, which are basically black, white, yellow, and chartreuse. As long as your bugs and flies are mainly these colors, they should work. But which color to use when?
In surface flies, you first consider how the bass is seeing them. Which is looking up at them against a background of whatever is above the water surface. In murky water, you want the fish to be able to see the fly well enough to take it with precision, so in that case I use black or other very dark colors. Because the dark color will stand out against a light sky and water surface viewed from below.
In clear water the fish can become a bit discriminating, so you actually want a fly that is NOT really easy to see well. In other words, one that blends into the background. So, clear water and cloudy weather...I use white, because it will blend into the light gray of the sky. Clear water and sunny weather...yellow or chartreuse, because it will be against a very bright sky and perhaps foliage with sunlight filtering through.
A lot of the bass guys think chartreuse is a color for muddy water, because THEY can see it when they look down at it against the background of dark water. But chartreuse is actually practically invisible at the surface when viewed from below in murky water, because it's a bright color (even though the shadowed bottom of it is being viewed) against a bright background. Chartreuse is actually the best color for fishing in very clear water in surface lures and flies.
Now...this is all just a starting point in color selection. It's not like a certain color will always be the optimum color to use under certain conditions. But it is a starting point, and the fish will soon tell you if they want a different color.
Forget about matching the hatch, so to speak...which means you don't need totally realistic colors that try to match some kind of smallie food. Keep it simple. The others have mentioned the main go-to colors, which are basically black, white, yellow, and chartreuse. As long as your bugs and flies are mainly these colors, they should work. But which color to use when?
In surface flies, you first consider how the bass is seeing them. Which is looking up at them against a background of whatever is above the water surface. In murky water, you want the fish to be able to see the fly well enough to take it with precision, so in that case I use black or other very dark colors. Because the dark color will stand out against a light sky and water surface viewed from below.
In clear water the fish can become a bit discriminating, so you actually want a fly that is NOT really easy to see well. In other words, one that blends into the background. So, clear water and cloudy weather...I use white, because it will blend into the light gray of the sky. Clear water and sunny weather...yellow or chartreuse, because it will be against a very bright sky and perhaps foliage with sunlight filtering through.
A lot of the bass guys think chartreuse is a color for muddy water, because THEY can see it when they look down at it against the background of dark water. But chartreuse is actually practically invisible at the surface when viewed from below in murky water, because it's a bright color (even though the shadowed bottom of it is being viewed) against a bright background. Chartreuse is actually the best color for fishing in very clear water in surface lures and flies.
Now...this is all just a starting point in color selection. It's not like a certain color will always be the optimum color to use under certain conditions. But it is a starting point, and the fish will soon tell you if they want a different color.
Here in VA any popper will work. Color does come into play.
The favorites seem to be yellow, Blk&yellow, green and at this time of year lite blue. Walt's Pooper and some of the Betts poppers work real well.
My son makes mine from cork and foam.
Lately I have been using foam beetles.
The favorites seem to be yellow, Blk&yellow, green and at this time of year lite blue. Walt's Pooper and some of the Betts poppers work real well.
My son makes mine from cork and foam.
Lately I have been using foam beetles.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
It my opinion that there's a lot of miss-information in this thread and while any given bug will catch a fish now and then some days there are some, more thoughtful designs that are better than others
First of all, large mouth bugs are not the same as those that are best for small mouth.
Bugs for large mouth need to create their own action and by that I mean that they have to have lots of wiggly parts like splayed tails, rubber legs, and plenty of wound hackle. Large mouth bugs need to be able to sit perfectly still and yet have action.
Small mouth bugs on the other hand are movers. It's the constant forward movement that attract the attention of smallies. Their most important characteristic is that they cast well at a distance and cause a disturbance on the retrieve.
As for color. it's most important to match fly to the water clarity rather than "match the hatch".
Off colored water calls for muted colored flies while clear water needs "bright " flies.
Of course anyone can find specific instances where these facts didn't work out. But that's why they call it fishing.
First of all, large mouth bugs are not the same as those that are best for small mouth.
Bugs for large mouth need to create their own action and by that I mean that they have to have lots of wiggly parts like splayed tails, rubber legs, and plenty of wound hackle. Large mouth bugs need to be able to sit perfectly still and yet have action.
Small mouth bugs on the other hand are movers. It's the constant forward movement that attract the attention of smallies. Their most important characteristic is that they cast well at a distance and cause a disturbance on the retrieve.
As for color. it's most important to match fly to the water clarity rather than "match the hatch".
Off colored water calls for muted colored flies while clear water needs "bright " flies.
Of course anyone can find specific instances where these facts didn't work out. But that's why they call it fishing.
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