Fly Fishing For Bass?

[bigbill]

Any tips on fly fishing for bass?

[Big C]

Read "Bass Bug Fishing" by William Tapply .  It will teach you everything, from tying flies to proper casting and presentations.  It's a great book written by a pretty cool guy. 

[Big C]

Fly fishing is one of the best (most fun) ways to catch bass.

[MIbassangler30]

Check out Geobass on YouTube. I'm not a fly fisherman, but it's amazing to watch, and you'd probably learn a few things by watching those guys.

[Paul Roberts]

Check out T-Motion "Alpine Bass" on youtube:

 

 

No tips but pretty spectacular videography; best I've seen in fact.

 

Tips:

 

-Three must have flies: topwater (cork or packed deer hair), keel-hooked bucktail streamer, feather or yarn "worm".

 

-Acquire a rod powerful enough to handle the bulky flies, cover, and fish power: 8 to 10wt. For more open water a 6wt will work. These are akin to a MH and M in conventional rigs.

 

-FF can do a lot of what shallow water conventional fishing can do: just much slower paced. This does not mean you cannot use fast retrieves, just that you'll get far fewer casts in per day of fishing. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

 

A FF story: I was an instructor at a (mostly trout focused) FF camp when, before instruction started for the day, a group of us spotted a large bass from a bridge spanning a narrow channel of the casting pond. The property owner said it was the biggest he'd seen in the pond. "I can catch that bass." I said, and borrowed a 9wt rod and a 7inch black "Eelworm" feather streamer from a fellow instructor doing a guest presentation on saltwater FF. I rolled the fly out beyond where the bass had been, let it free-fall to the bottom, and then let it lay for a few seconds, drawing up just enough tension to be able to watch the floating line on the surface. I then twitched the fly and received the responding twitch back I was sure would come. Thunk! The bass gave a good show, jumping even, and taped 19". Not a bad impromptu demonstration and introduction to FF for those students.

 

[A-Jay]

Check out T-Motion "Alpine Bass" on youtube:

 

 

No tips but pretty spectacular videography.

 

Always been one of my all time favorites ~ 

 

Makes me want to head out right now . . . .

 

A-Jay

[wnspain]

Check out T-Motion "Alpine Bass" on youtube:

 

 

No tips but pretty spectacular videography; best I've seen in fact.

 

Tips:

 

-Three must have flies: topwater (cork or packed deer hair), keel-hooked bucktail streamer, feather or yarn "worm".

 

-Acquire a rod powerful enough to handle the bulky flies, cover, and fish power: 8 to 10wt. For more open water a 6wt will work. These are akin to a MH and M in conventional rigs.

 

-FF can do a lot of what shallow water conventional fishing can do: just much slower paced. This does not mean you cannot use fast retrieves, just that you'll get far fewer casts in per day of fishing. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

As a long time fly fisherman, just a slight correction in your thought process. I agree with everything you said except for "powerful enough to handle the bulky flies, cover, and fish power:"  When fly fishing, you're casting the line, not the fly. You have to use heavy enough line (and tippet) to get the fly to turn over, so the end result is similar, just slightly different on the reason. Heavier weight line requires heavier weight rod etc.  Try a 4 wt. rod with a little popper on the end (like you'd fish for sunfish) and those dink bass all of a sudden can become a handful.  

[Paul Roberts]

See below

[Paul Roberts]

As a long time fly fisherman, just a slight correction in your thought process. I agree with everything you said except for "powerful enough to handle the bulky flies, cover, and fish power:"  When fly fishing, you're casting the line, not the fly. You have to use heavy enough line (and tippet) to get the fly to turn over, so the end result is similar, just slightly different on the reason. Heavier weight line requires heavier weight rod etc.  Try a 4 wt. rod with a little popper on the end (like you'd fish for sunfish) and those dink bass all of a sudden can become a handful.  

Mmmmmm... I'll hold to my original sentence, "a rod powerful enough to handle the bulky flies, cover, and fish power". One needs power in the rod to deal with largemouths in cover, like in conventional fishing. That 4wt rod may be fine for dink bass, but you'll be frustrated trying to throw the mouthfuls you'll want when targeting mature bass, and in trying to get fish up and out of cover. Imagine the guy in the video using a 4wt with those bass in those rushes, or in dense milfoil.

 

By "bulky" I don't just mean weight, but wind resistance. Yes, the rod must handle the line weight which handles the fly. The flies I'm suggesting -one of which is shown in the video- cannot be thrown on much less than a heavy line. It's possible, if you only own a light rod, to make flies with reduced bulk that still offer some profile. But, that's pretty limiting -esp for LMs. They do appreciate a mouthful.

[dead end canal]

I'll second the keel-hooked bucktail streamer, and it doesn't even have to be bucktail. I used to make one with artificial hair (black with a thin topping of red, and mylar piping on the shank) that was always good.

 

I'd swim it, drag it on the bottom...didn't seem to matter.

[Neil McCauley]

It is a blast in the spring, but I don't even bother bringing the fly rod after June. You need different type of line and leader for sinking lures that have to reach bass 20 ft deep vs surface poppers and flies, and line is $30-50 per spool and leader is $5-7 each. Helps to have an extra fly reel to just swap out between trips instead of re-spooling and retying lines together, etc. The $ adds up quick and now we're looking at hundreds just for line and reel. Because of this I only bother fishing surface rigs. I can target bass, panfish, even streams with trout. But this limits the time of year mainly to spring. Fly fishing loses a lot of its appeal to me in the summer when you could be fishing more effectively with a deep diving crankbait or a drop shot rig.

My #1 suggestion though is do not be afraid of larger fly rods or the more expensive ones. Get a 9' and don't spend under 100, it's one of those things that is worth spending on. You will be able to cast further and it will make your life a lot easier. Also, GET the warranty the store may offer, these rods have a tendency to get broken.

[A-Jay]

During the Big Mayfly hatch in June - a fly rod is often the only way to go.

 

I use a  7wt St Croix Bank Robber - works for me.

 

A-Jay

 

[Preytorien]

Check out T-Motion "Alpine Bass" on youtube:

 

 

No tips but pretty spectacular videography; best I've seen in fact.

 

Tips:

 

-Three must have flies: topwater (cork or packed deer hair), keel-hooked bucktail streamer, feather or yarn "worm".

 

-Acquire a rod powerful enough to handle the bulky flies, cover, and fish power: 8 to 10wt. For more open water a 6wt will work. These are akin to a MH and M in conventional rigs.

 

-FF can do a lot of what shallow water conventional fishing can do: just much slower paced. This does not mean you cannot use fast retrieves, just that you'll get far fewer casts in per day of fishing. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

 

A FF story: I was an instructor at a (mostly trout focused) FF camp when, before instruction started for the day, a group of us spotted a large bass from a bridge spanning a narrow channel of the casting pond. The property owner said it was the biggest he'd seen in the pond. "I can catch that bass." I said, and borrowed a 9wt rod and a 7inch black "Eelworm" feather streamer from a fellow instructor doing a guest presentation on saltwater FF. I rolled the fly out beyond where the bass had been, let it free-fall to the bottom, and then let it lay for a few seconds, drawing up just enough tension to be able to watch the floating line on the surface. I then twitched the fly and received the responding twitch back I was sure would come. Thunk! The bass gave a good show, jumping even, and taped 19". Not a bad impromptu demonstration and introduction to FF for those students.

 

 

I love that video. Not long after I got my first pair of waders I saw this video, and needless to say it really kicked up my wading game, although mine's mostly for smallmouth

[Paul Roberts]

It is a blast in the spring, but I don't even bother bringing the fly rod after June. You need different type of line and leader for sinking lures that have to reach bass 20 ft deep vs surface poppers and flies, and line is $30-50 per spool and leader is $5-7 each. Helps to have an extra fly reel to just swap out between trips instead of re-spooling and retying lines together, etc. The $ adds up quick and now we're looking at hundreds just for line and reel. Because of this I only bother fishing surface rigs. I can target bass, panfish, even streams with trout. But this limits the time of year mainly to spring. Fly fishing loses a lot of its appeal to me in the summer when you could be fishing more effectively with a deep diving crankbait or a drop shot rig.

My #1 suggestion though is do not be afraid of larger fly rods or the more expensive ones. Get a 9' and don't spend under 100, it's one of those things that is worth spending on. You will be able to cast further and it will make your life a lot easier. Also, GET the warranty the store may offer, these rods have a tendency to get broken.

Yeah, fishing deep with fly tackle, IME, is more hassle than it’s worth. I’ve fished for stripers with full sink lines with leadcore heads and weighted flies. There’s little casting with so much weight needed to get that thick line deep. There are much more efficient ways of fishing deep. FF is a shallow water game.

 

I'll second the keel-hooked bucktail streamer, and it doesn't even have to be bucktail. I used to make one with artificial hair (black with a thin topping of red, and mylar piping on the shank) that was always good.

 

I'd swim it, drag it on the bottom...didn't seem to matter.

Nice. Triggering is the fun part: pops, splashes, boils, darts, falls, dead sticking, twitches, … A few flies will do it all. It’s not the fly as much as what you can do with it.

 

Keel type streamers (using “keel” bend hooks to make the fly very weedless) are true must-haves esp for LMs in vegetation. I like bucktail bc it pulls a good meaty wake. I fish them primarily in short darting pulls that really excite bass –quick enough bursts to excite the predatory instinct, but not covering so much horizontal ground as to discourage chasers. Sometimes an all out rapid stripping will trigger really well though and this can be accomplished by tucking the rod under your arm and stripping with both hands, hand over hand. Set the hook by the line coming taught in your hand, then lift the rod. Feels weird at first but works very well.

[bigbill]

I purchased five new fly rods from 4/5 to a 9/10. Planning on fly fishing for bass. I will look into more info thanks guys great video. I have fly fished for bluegills already.

[Neil McCauley]

I purchased five new fly rods from 4/5 to a 9/10. Planning on fly fishing for bass. I will look into more info thanks guys great video. I have fly fished for bluegills already.

You purchased wut?

[dead end canal]

 

Sometimes an all out rapid stripping will trigger really well though and this can be accomplished by tucking the rod under your arm and stripping with both hands, hand over hand. Set the hook by the line coming taught in your hand, then lift the rod. Feels weird at first but works very well.

 

That was just about the only way I could get a jack crevalle or a barracuda to chase a fly. Worked fine most of the time. But sometimes it just wasn't humanly possible to strip fast enough to satisfy them, and then it just got comical.

 

Good point about the hookset, too. Pointing the rod at the fish and pulling the line tight until you feel the fish pull is the only dependable way I ever found to set the hook on those larger bass and saltwater flies.

 

Almost forgot to mention: a Seaducer is a hell of a good fly for bass, too.

[Paul Roberts]

That was just about the only way I could get a jack crevalle or a barracuda to chase a fly. Worked fine most of the time. But sometimes it just wasn't humanly possible to strip fast enough to satisfy them, and then it just got comical.

 

Good point about the hookset, too. Pointing the rod at the fish and pulling the line tight until you feel the fish pull is the only dependable way I ever found to set the hook on those larger bass and saltwater flies.

 

Almost forgot to mention: a Seaducer is a hell of a good fly for bass, too.

LOL. I can picture it. I've heard cuda's are beyond fast!

 

Yeah, it's about impossible to pull the fly away from a fish that way. Might be a good technique for those topwater blow-ups -the one's that give you the heebie-jeebies afterwards.

 

Never tried a Seaducer. But it looks similar to the Eelworm fly I caught the bass above on.

[bigbill]

You purchased wut?

I purchased new fly rod setups from a 4/5wt to a 9/10wt with every wt inbetween. When I get into something new in 150% into it. I'm 64yo I'm thinking when I slow down and want to relax it's fly fishing. The rods n reels were on clearance and sales. Now I need to checkout my bass flys. I know I have tiny mice flies. But not sure what else I need.

I bought every normal fly for my area what to use matching the hatch for panfishing and trout. I bought some ebay bee flies that are hand tied in vt the best quality I ever seen. I can't go too small with flies I can't see them to tie them. The bigger bass stuff should be easier.

[Kentuckysteve]

I love fly fishing for bass.I use a cheap 5 wt rod and an old pflueger reel with WF floating line.I tie my own flies so its not very expensive to me.Sure there are times i could use a heavier rod and line but i make do just fine.My flies are usually the wooly bugger or a bass bug made of flipflop and spinner bait skirt.Mabey a deer hair frog.Half the fun is learning new ways to make the fly move and trying the new flies you just tied the night before.I can't fish 20ft deep with this setup but i can always resort to my baitcasters or spinning gear for this.Also a thrill to wade the local creeks and catch the smallmouth.I love it.

[Ratherbfishing]

This isn't a "how to..." but I can tell you about the time one "school" of bass attacked my large bass poppers like there was no tomorrow.  They ignored everything else I threw at them (including the smaller bluegill sized poppers) but when I dropped a big popper, they charged up without any hesitation.  THAT was fun!

[dead end canal]

bigbill, you can't go wrong with anything done by Lefty Kreh. He supported his family during the Great Depression by catching smallmouths and selling them. He claimed that the fly rod was the most efficient tool for him.

 

He and Bob Clouser(of Clouser Minnow fame) have a dvd on fly fishing for bass that's excellent, and he's also got a ton of books and articles on the web. Kreh's popper, called Lefty's Bug, is very easy to cast and has a high hookup rate. Has a non-cupped face, flat bottom, sparse tail and lots of hook clearance. In my experience, it's even better tied bendback-style. Here's one tied by lefty himself.

 

 

 

 

He was also a big proponent of a deer hair Gerbubble Bug tied with marabou (and not hackle). It's also easy to cast but has a much larger presence in the water. Those marabou tendrils undulate with the microcurrents around the fly even when it's just sitting there, so it's an excellent choice when the bass aren't aggressively feeding on the surface.

 

 

 

[Random Tackle]

I purchased a 6wt TFO Pro II rod (reasonably priced durable rod) and a cheap TFO reel a few summers ago.  Very practical rod for getting knocked around in a canoe and taking a beating while wading.

 

This modest combo has brought many a farm pond lmb and river smb to hand.  

 

How is your casting?  If you are completely new to fly casting, I would recommend to pay an instructor for an hour of his/her time. In my area this is about 20 to 40$, you don't need to pay more.  It will save a lot of frustration.

 

Don't go crazy on flies.  Have some poppers and streamers.  Google "stealth bomber fly fishing" for an amazing popper/slider then just pick up some wooly buggers or clouser minnows for streamers.

[bigbill]

I'm ok casting the lighter wt rod with the smaller flies.

Btw.

I collected a old bamboo fly rod and a steel telescopic fly rod. I collect older fishing stuff it's interesting. This stuff doesn't leave the house. I have old steel broadcasting rods with reels. I have the original thread line on there spools.

[Jaw1]

I've caught more pond.bass with a fly rod than anything else I've used. I use two different hopper Flies I tye myself. One is a deerhair hopper and one is a foam bodied hopper. I use a 6wght st Croix or tfo rod most of the time. I can switch to smaller panfish flies if the bass are not cooperating and still cast them pretty well. I'm not a fly fisherman by any means but I do enjoy it from time to time and anything you hook usually puts up a decent fight on a flyrod