Anyone use flyrod for bass?

[livemusic]

Any bass fly fishermen here? I have a few fly rods and none are heavy duty. I use them for bream and if the occasional bass hits, you just hope you can get him in. Always fun to get a bass but I've not caught a real big one. The flies I use are targeting bream and they're small. Now when I was a kid, I used to sometimes put big poppers on for bass, so, I must have had somewhat of a general purpose rod back then. That was decades ago.

 

What about flyfishing actually targeting bass? You'd need bigger flies and a stouter rig. What? Anyone know about this, what type/size/rating of rod would be good? And mention of flies, poppers, streamers which work would be helpful.

 

I don't see anyone using a flyrod around here targeting bass, so, the flies would be something different that the bass would see!

 

I bought this for trout and I would have told the guy I also fish for bream and the occasional bass...

Hobbs Creek rod hc9064 9' #6 LINE K14 4-piece

White River reel HBC56

 

I also have a budget rod; these are $40 currently...

Eagle Claw featherlight fly rod fl300-8 8' fly parabolic line wt #5/6 2-piece

I have seen this rod called a 'medium' and also a 'light.'

 

I also have an old bamboo rod, Montague Sunbeam 3-piece. I bought it and the Eagle Claw at an estate sale.

 

If one were targeting bass, I am thinking none of these are stout enough but I am no expert!

[TheBasslayer]

I don't fly fish, but on the fly-fishing magazines that I read every once in a while, they say that a good all-around bass weight would be an 8-wt. I just got my first fly-fishing pole, which is 5-wt, so I can't wait to trout and bluegill fish with it! But yeah, I would try an 8-wt.

[fishingtx]

fly fishing is awesome 

it is even better with bass try it use clouser minnows or bass poppers possibly small insects for small bass 

try streamers like a wully bugger or a clouser minnow

I have 8 wt for saltwater and bass it works for trout to

also try the clouser for saltwater fish, trout, bass, bluegill, crappie

and the wully bugger for trout, bass, bluegill, crappie

[Captain Phil]

In my youth I caught a lot of bass on a fly rod. Mostly on popping bugs.  My best streamer was one I tied myself.  Nothing fancy.   I used a long shank hook, covered it in tin foil with some white bucktail on top.   It looked like a white Mickey Finn pattern. My biggest largemouth on fly was 6 pounds. As I remember, I used a 8 1/2 foot rod with "C" level line, whatever that is today.  Bass flies are generally bigger, so you need a rod with some backbone.  Don't get carried away.  Rod weight is important as you will be doing a lot of casting.  For the best fly fishing, you want clear water.  The bass you catch will generally be smaller.  Even a small bass is fun on a fly rod. 

[cyclops2]

Fly rods Are NEAT !! I sin cast alot.

 Buutt

 

   I use big Muddler minnow patterns with the BARB of the hook CRUSHED down flat.  I have hooked a ear & scalp a couple of times. I simply slide the hook out. No pain or ripped apart flesh.  Same thing when I hook a fish. If I can not keep the line tight enough ?  

I should take up something else to do.

[the reel ess]

I have an old 7 weight 8' Daiwa Apollo composite fly rod with an automatic Martin reel. It's loaded with floating line. I bought myself an assortment of bream and bass bugs. I even bought a frog bug. But I never use it. It feels like putting myself at an unnecessary disadvantage. Like I'm fishing with one hand tied behind my back.

[soflabasser]

Fly fishing is fun but I much rather fish with spinning gear.

[Smells like fish]

I’ve got several cheap setups all with automatic reels on them and have had fun catching red eyes, gills and bass on them many years ago. My biggest was a 16” smallmouth that fought like it was a shark! I might have to renew the interest and take it out this week. 

[Deleted account]

Any fly rod is going to be capable of landing bass. A heavier weight one is required to cast larger more wind resistant flies/lures. I have a 5/6 wt that I use sometimes. An 8 wt is going to be a bit much, a 7 wt would be my choice. You can buy or make a shooting head to throw larger flies with a lighter rod if you don't need really long distances. Bass will eat surprisingly small flies on a regular basis. I catch a bunch while fishing for shellcrackers on fly, which is in itself a lot of fun. This time of year a large one full of steroids has a lot of attitude.

[Smells like fish]

Why don’t you guys dig out your bass flies and post us a pic... I’ll dig mine out and post tonight as well. Show us which fly or popper has worked best for you. 

[cdlittle]

I love fly fishing for bass. I'm a little odd in that I only use glass fly rods that I build myself. I just christened a 5wt that I built last night. I only throw foam spiders/terrestrials. If I go subsurface, I prefer to grab my conventional tackle. 

 

Nothing catches me as many bass as a foam hopper in the summer mornings. 

[MJMB]

I like to use my fly rod in the small creeks around here. Full of Spotted Bass, mostly in the 12-16” range, with a few up to 5lb. I use a 6wt Orvis Clearwater and primarily fish #6 Boogle Bugs. Largest to date 16.5” and I’d guess around 2-1/4 lb. 6wt throws most everything I need it to, and I have another reel overlined with an 8wt line for larger stuff. It works fine for shorter casts which are all I need. May get a 7wt rod in the future

[desmobob]

I use a 7wt for largemouths and sometimes bring an 8wt or 9wt for fishing in heavy vegetation.

 

Deer hair divers, Deceivers, Clousers, muddlers and bunny strip flies get the job done!

[livemusic]

3 hours ago, cdlittle said:

I love fly fishing for bass. I'm a little odd in that I only use glass fly rods that I build myself. I just christened a 5wt that I built last night. I only throw foam spiders/terrestrials. If I go subsurface, I prefer to grab my conventional tackle. 

 

Nothing catches me as many bass as a foam hopper in the summer mornings. 

 

"Foam hopper," does that mean grasshopper style fly?

1 hour ago, MJMB said:

I like to use my fly rod in the small creeks around here. Full of Spotted Bass, mostly in the 12-16” range, with a few up to 5lb. I use a 6wt Orvis Clearwater and primarily fish #6 Boogle Bugs. Largest to date 16.5” and I’d guess around 2-1/4 lb. 6wt throws most everything I need it to, and I have another reel overlined with an 8wt line for larger stuff. It works fine for shorter casts which are all I need. May get a 7wt rod in the future

 

I googled boogle bug and that type of fly is what I used to use as a kid fishing for bass. For bream, I used smaller poppers. Bass ate those small ones quite often, too.

[livemusic]

This thread brings back memories from very long ago, over 50 years! What's funny is the local drugstore in my small town, that is where I got fishing supplies. I suppose because the assistant to the pharmacist was a fisherman. But he also sold me my guitar strings, and he didn't play guitar, lol. Black Diamond brand strings.

 

As for fly fishing stuff, in addition to poppers, he even got me that little fly line eyelet that you could stick into the end of the fly line and tie your mono leader to that. I guess he ordered out of a catalog or maybe a traveling salesman came around, I dunno. I thought that eyelet was the only option, but when I bought my fancier fly rod rig at Bass Pro Shops a few years ago, they had a fly fisherman guru that managed the fly fishing section and he bout had a cow when I asked for the little eyelet gizmo. "Oh, no, we can't have you do that, you will make your line sink where they join; I will have to teach you how to tie the knot to tie the leader to your new line." And, of course, I promptly forgot the knot because I can't even remember the name of it! As far as that goes, I think I still have his well-tied knot on that rig.

 

EDIT:  I just remembered something else -- mayflies. They would hatch, I think it would be in early summer, and the bream would feast on those things. I saw a mayfly fly today; I bet that fly would get 'em, it looks just like a mayfly! There was a steep, clay bank on a local lake (big pond) and that is where there would a bunch of them right near dark. I guess they would die because they would flutter down to the water and that's all she wrote. I need to brush up on my mayfly biology.

[Smells like fish]

I still use the eyelets pushed into the line lol

[cdlittle]

1 hour ago, livemusic said:

 

"Foam hopper," does that mean grasshopper style fly?

 

I googled boogle bug and that type of fly is what I used to use as a kid fishing for bass. For bream, I used smaller poppers. Bass ate those small ones quite often, too.

 

Yep, foam grasshopper pattern.

[thunderblack]

I fly fish for bass often. 7-8 wt for larger flies but I actually use a 5wt for bass the most. Small poppers and streamers on a 5wt is the best in my personal opinion. 

[TnRiver46]

I try not to be disrespectful to bass by slinging my silly fluorescent floating lines at them with buggy whips 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Right, just replace the 9' 5wt with an 7'6H Frog rod and its the best thing since sliced bread.

[MJMB]

15 hours ago, livemusic said:

 

"Foam hopper," does that mean grasshopper style fly?

 

I googled boogle bug and that type of fly is what I used to use as a kid fishing for bass. For bream, I used smaller poppers. Bass ate those small ones quite often, too.

Yeah, they’ve definitely the best popping bugs I’ve ever used. Solar Flare(Chartreuse), Yellow and Blue are all killers on the Spots around here. The #6’s tend to keep the runt bream off of them and are plenty big enough to attract the Spots

[MJMB]

15 hours ago, livemusic said:

This thread brings back memories from very long ago, over 50 years! What's funny is the local drugstore in my small town, that is where I got fishing supplies. I suppose because the assistant to the pharmacist was a fisherman. But he also sold me my guitar strings, and he didn't play guitar, lol. Black Diamond brand strings.

 

As for fly fishing stuff, in addition to poppers, he even got me that little fly line eyelet that you could stick into the end of the fly line and tie your mono leader to that. I guess he ordered out of a catalog or maybe a traveling salesman came around, I dunno. I thought that eyelet was the only option, but when I bought my fancier fly rod rig at Bass Pro Shops a few years ago, they had a fly fisherman guru that managed the fly fishing section and he bout had a cow when I asked for the little eyelet gizmo. "Oh, no, we can't have you do that, you will make your line sink where they join; I will have to teach you how to tie the knot to tie the leader to your new line." And, of course, I promptly forgot the knot because I can't even remember the name of it! As far as that goes, I think I still have his well-tied knot on that rig.

 

EDIT:  I just remembered something else -- mayflies. They would hatch, I think it would be in early summer, and the bream would feast on those things. I saw a mayfly fly today; I bet that fly would get 'em, it looks just like a mayfly! There was a steep, clay bank on a local lake (big pond) and that is where there would a bunch of them right near dark. I guess they would die because they would flutter down to the water and that's all she wrote. I need to brush up on my mayfly biology.

Yep, if you’re lucky enough to hit a mayfly hatch, you’d better get the grease ready cause you’re going to be eating some bream?

[bulldog1935]

22 hours ago, livemusic said:

...EDIT:  I just remembered something else -- mayflies. They would hatch, I think it would be in early summer, and the bream would feast on those things. I saw a mayfly fly today; I bet that fly would get 'em, it looks just like a mayfly! There was a steep, clay bank on a local lake (big pond) and that is where there would a bunch of them right near dark. I guess they would die because they would flutter down to the water and that's all she wrote. I need to brush up on my mayfly biology.

 

Our endemic river bass hang in the tailouts for damselfly hatches, and you can clobber them on a good trico hatch.  If I didn't already mention it on this thread, we've seen schooling white bass in a cove, backs out of the water, sipping trico hatches, and you couldn't buy a strike with anything but a dry fly.  

 

Here's the last time the topic came up on a different forum page

How many fans of Bass on a fly rod? - Page 1 - Fishing Rods, Reels, Line, and Knots - Bass Fishing Forums (bassresource.com)

[new2BC4bass]

I hope an 8 wt isn't too much because it is all I have other than a 3 wt I got for panfish.  Probably in the 20-25 year old range.   An old GL3.  Been so long since I've used it I'll probably have to learn how to cast all over again. 

 

But, yeah, I really enjoyed casting with it in the yard.  Never been used on the water.  A boat would be a tremendous aid. 

 

You guys are making me want to get out with it again. 

[cdlittle]

13 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I hope an 8 wt isn't too much because it is all I have other than a 3 wt I got for panfish.  Probably in the 20-25 year old range.   An old GL3.  Been so long since I've used it I'll probably have to learn how to cast all over again. 

 

But, yeah, I really enjoyed casting with it in the yard.  Never been used on the water.  A boat would be a tremendous aid. 

 

You guys are making me want to get out with it again. 

 

If you live up north where the bass are smaller, a 3wt actually wouldn't be that awful. It would make for some awesome fights. The 8wt will still be fun and can handle anything without worry.