Anyone use flyrod for bass?

[WRB]

Fly rods cast fly line match for the rod, the fly goes along for the ride. More air resistance the fly or bug is the heavier the line needs to be therefore a rod to match it. The fly or bug is tied to the leader that should be compatible size. Bass are not line shy but the line can affect how the fly or bug works.

Fly fishing is a skill that takes practice, lots of fun. 

Smallmouth that jump are my favorite bass on a fly.

Match the hatch comes from fly fisherman, it’s a big part of the sport. Minnows use streamers, insects use flies, surface bugs use poppers. 

My largest fly rod bass caught on a size 10 McGinty bee, 5 weight rod fishing for Bluegill, never know what eats your small offering.

Tom

 

[cdlittle]

37 minutes ago, WRB said:

Fly rods cast fly line match for the rod, the fly goes along for the ride. More air resistance the fly or bug is the heavier the line needs to be therefore a rod to match it. The fly or bug is tied to the leader that should be compatible size. Bass are not line shy but the line can affect how the fly or bug works.

Fly fishing is a skill that takes practice, lots of fun. 

Smallmouth that jump are my favorite bass on a fly.

Match the hatch comes from fly fisherman, it’s a big part of the sport. Minnows use streamers, insects use flies, surface bugs use poppers. 

My largest fly rod bass caught on a size 10 McGinty bee, 5 weight rod fishing for Bluegill, never know what eats your small offering.

Tom

 

 

A large part of the fun of bass on the fly is that a big bass is much more likely to eat a small fly than a small hardbait, in my experience. My biggest bass on the fly was on a size 10 popper thrown on a 2wt glass rod.

[mcnealstash]

As a primarily river smallmouth fishermen who started on fly gear and then also added conventional to my arsenal, 7 and 8 weights are the gold standard for bass fly fishing these days.   An 8 weight is necessary for throwing big streamers-while a 7 weight can handle some of those streamers but not all.  

 

I use a 7 weight with a floating line for all my topwater flies and an 8 weight with an intermediate line for fishing 3-5" streamers.  Stick with scientific anglers or rio for lines- you really can't go wrong with their offerings.  The titan series by scientific anglers is good for bigger flies like you'll want to have.  Sometimes it makes more sense to have a floating line for your streamer rod if flows are really shallow but that will depend on the body of water you're targeting.  Anywhere from a 0-2x fluoro tippet should be adequate.  I have never felt like I need to go smaller than 2x.  Reels don't matter as you won't be fighting fish on the reel unless you hook into a monster (basically you don't need a high quality drag system)- you should be focusing on strip fighting fish in more often than getting them on the reel like you would with a bigger salmonid.  I would, however, recommend a reel with a large arbor.

 

There is a really fantastic and up to date book linked here that I'd recommend if you want to learn more about fly fishing for river smallmouth- it covers everything you could pretty much think of:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Smallmouth-Fly-Fishing-Methods-Tactics-Techniques/dp/0811715590/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=smallmouth+bass+fly+fishing&qid=1621030914&sr=8-4

 

By far my favorite way to target smallies is with topwater flies in the hot summer months.  The diving frog with chartreuse belly made by umpqua is a personal favorite- nothing beats watching a fish come screaming out of cover at mach 3 to t-bone that thing.  Poppers are another great topwater option- my best producer through the years has been a large boogle bug in chartreuse.  

 

For streamers, you can't go wrong with game changers (and all their variations), the swingin' D, or clouser minnows.  There are different streamers for different parts of the water column that you may want to have in your arsenal.  Natural colors (tans, browns, olives, white, black, softer oranges, greens, and pinks) are usually best for clear water.  Think about the forage you are trying to imitate and tie accordingly.  Flies tied with louder colors (orange, red, yellow, chartreuse) and more flash in them are better in pre-spawn or when the water is dirty.  

[Scud_Muffin]

I think fly fishing has one huge advantage over traditional tackle. If I am targeting a position at a distance that I think holds bass, and need to repeatedly hit the area, it’s much faster to recast a fly rod than to reel a lure in to be able to recast with traditional. 
 

That applies to top water and streamers. 
 

Another big advantage, or at least difference, is the effect fly line has on your targeted depth and the action given to your lure/fly during the retrieve. A lure retrieved by a jerk or reeling of line from traditional tackle isn’t going to follow the same path as a fly on floating line (shoots up but at an angle).

 

All that being said, traditional tackle has so many workarounds for retrieve that it’s splitting hairs and repeatedly wacking the exact same spot isn’t exactly subtle and may still spook fish if you aren’t careful.

 

I prefer traditional tackle if I’m both on a lake and fishing for bass. By a mile. 
 

If on the river for bass, and I can wade enough to have good casts, there are some legitimate advantages to fly line when it comes to targeting areas that can be difficult to reach. It’s nice to be able to control depth and angle in current.

[islandbass]

On 5/13/2021 at 10:44 AM, TheBasslayer said:

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.

I’ve been told the same thing about an 8 weight being good for bass. 
 

after doing a little spring cleaning, I stumbled upon a rod tube in the garage and in it I found a 4w fly rod. I don’t know how it came into my garage. I’m guessing someone must have given it to me and I simply can’t recall when or why.

 

I’ve been afraid to try FF because I fear my conventional gear might start collecting dust, lol. 

 

I guess I’ll need to give it a try soon but still would need to find line and decide on on a floating or sinking line. One thing and this is my perception, but it seems to me that some of the FF gear is freakin’ expensive because it’s FF gear.  Not hating or liking that, just noticed it. Just earlier today I looked at some lines and they were starting at like $49 up to nearly $90. Ouch!!!?

 

Luckily I’m still in the learning and exploratory phase but guaranteed I will not be paying anything I think is overpriced, lol. 
 

I am also going to start making Woolley buggers and streamers for bass and some small flies for trout. This had better not be a rabbit ? hole. 

[Linewinder]

6 hours ago, islandbass said:

I guess I’ll need to give it a try soon but still would need to find line and decide on on a floating or sinking line. One thing and this is my perception, but it seems to me that some of the FF gear is freakin’ expensive because it’s FF gear.  Not hating or liking that, just noticed it. Just earlier today I looked at some lines and they were starting at like $49 up to nearly $90. Ouch!!!?

 

? You have a free-to-you fly rod, a case, presumably a reel too, and you're worried about spending $49?   To go have fun while fishing?

 

WF-4F will get you by.  Sinking for deeper or fast water.  I use monofilament to tie fairly useful knotted tapered leaders, and 4 lbs mono for tippet, to the fly or popper or streamer -- I suggest beadhead nymphs.  Also, you will probably need some backing on the reel before the line -- dacron.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Linewinder
added

[bulldog1935]

Cats Whisker in mixed colors is about all I need for bass.  '

High-stick, it's a great dragonfly nymph, and stripped as a streamer in a ball of cyprinid minnows, you can't tell the fly from the live ones.  

 

[islandbass]

2 hours ago, Linewinder said:

? You have a free-to-you fly rod, a case, presumably a reel too, and you're worried about spending $49?   To go have fun while fishing?

 

WF-4F will get you by.  Sinking for deeper or fast water.  I use monofilament to tie fairly useful knotted tapered leaders, and 4 lbs mono for tippet, to the fly or popper or streamer -- I suggest beadhead nymphs.  Also, you will probably need some backing on the reel before the line -- dacron.

 

 

That was for the line alone unless I misunderstood what was in the package. It’s really not a lot, but I would imagine to buy 1 floating and sinking line each and two reels (unfortunately no reel) for each, say $100 (just a guess as I reckon they could be more or less) each and the ding dang bait monkey done smacked me down for $300 and I didn’t even buy flies or fly making materials, lol. 
 

Thanks for the line and other recommendations. I really appreciate it. ?

[Linewinder]

For a 4 wt rod, an old Pflueger 1774 reel does well.  Made in USA.  Common on ebay.  It just needs quite a bit of line backing, IIRC, and can be a bit heavy.  Don't use monofilament for backing.  Older reels aren't always $100, are sturdy and you can get extra spools, one reel.  Martin "tuna cans".  Plueger Medalist.  And so on.  That link for Cats Whisker that Bulldog put up above (thanks @bulldog1935) will take you to where you can learn an eternity of fly fishing knowledge.  And it's not all expensive.  It's a different type of enjoyment.  I think 4 wt for stream bass is great fun.

[livemusic]

I took my fly rod that I bought to fish for trout, bluegill, with the occasional bass. (I don't have a dedicated bass rod yet.) I couldn't believe I could not get a hit on a popper. Nothing! Not even a bream? Crazy. I put on a black streamer kind of fly and promptly caught a nice bass and that dude broke my line when he ran under the boat. I figure he was 2.5 lbs. I dunno if he snagged something rough but I had to let him go anyway (slot fish). I tried various sinking flies/bugs that I thought bass and bream might hit. Nothing after that for hours.

 

I finally chose to change tactics. I went to another spot and just began throwing an ultralight spinning rod, casting a tiny gold spoon. After drifting closer to shore, I had a hit and the fight was on. I couldn't wait to see the fish because I wanted to see what it was. Coppernose! I finally caught one! These are huge bluegill. Biggest I have ever caught. I had a lot of fun until my anchor came untied and the wind made it not so fun but I managed about three more and then I had to go. I must learn how to die a dang anchor knot, that makes me mad! I am going to find that anchor, it's only about three feet deep. Maybe I can see it on sonar.

 

Speaking of sonar, after I caught these big bream and was leaving, I made a pass through with my sonar and, wow, what beds! Beautiful sonar image of a bream bed. Those big uns must be working alive in there, it was really cool to see that image. Reason it was so striking is because in other spots on other days, I had already seen what I thought HAD to be bream beds but I caught nothing. But this one today, there is ZERO doubt, it's a bream bed. But I found it casting.

 

It was cool, I caught about three on the small gold spoon. Then, on two back to back retrieves, I had a hit and a miss not too far from the boat, so, I thought, wow, that has to bream doing that. So I grabbed my fly rod that I had tied a trout magnet on. First cast caught a big un and then the fun began. Cast after cast. I didn't miss getting one there for awhile. I must've lucked up and found the heart of the beds.

 

The trout magnet wants to ride up on the tiny jig, I will see if super glue will hold it better. It has to be straight or they won't hit it. Also, you gotta get to the bottom or close to it or they won't hit. I mean, bedding bream.

 

Can't wait to take my older brother, he doesn't bass fish, just likes to fish with a pole, lol, for panfish. Although, I am sure I can talk him into using a fly rod, he has done some of that.

 

I meant to weigh some of these big ones; I wonder if you weigh them after they have been iced down for later cleaning, if they will weigh properly.

 

Pic attached.

[cdlittle]

On 5/15/2021 at 12:51 PM, islandbass said:

That was for the line alone unless I misunderstood what was in the package. It’s really not a lot, but I would imagine to buy 1 floating and sinking line each and two reels (unfortunately no reel) for each, say $100 (just a guess as I reckon they could be more or less) each and the ding dang bait monkey done smacked me down for $300 and I didn’t even buy flies or fly making materials, lol. 
 

Thanks for the line and other recommendations. I really appreciate it. ?

 

IDK if BR allows links, but go to madriveroutfitters(dot)com and buy:

 

Redington Zero 4/5 reel

Scientific Anglers Air Cel 4wt line

Pack of Rio Powerflex Trout Leader in 9' 3x

Spool of Rio Powerflex Tippet in 3x

 

At checkout, select "line this reel" or whatever it is that they call it. They will put backing on the reel for free and spool up your line . You do not need a reel or line any fancier to start out with. You might want to upgrade the line after a couple seasons, but the reel is good forever. Forget about sinking/intermediate lines on a 4wt for now. 

 

Then buy any foam beetle/spider and/or foam grasshopper fly in size 9-12, I recommend size 9-10 for the hopper pattern and 11-12 for foam beetles/spiders. I recommend foam flies for beginners since your casts are not going to be delicate at the beginning, and they float better than regular flies. I suggest BigYFlyCo for affordable flies. You can get several dozen flies shipped for a very reasonable price. 

 

In the course of retying/losing flies, once you've cut off about 2' of your leader, you'll tie on 2ft of tippet and begin again. 

 

Proceed to go out and catch all manner of panfish/bass. All of my suggestions are products that I use and that are currently in stock. 

[islandbass]

2 hours ago, cdlittle said:

 

IDK if BR allows links, but go to madriveroutfitters(dot)com and buy:

 

Redington Zero 4/5 reel

Scientific Anglers Air Cel 4wt line

Pack of Rio Powerflex Trout Leader in 9' 3x

Spool of Rio Powerflex Tippet in 3x

 

At checkout, select "line this reel" or whatever it is that they call it. They will put backing on the reel for free and spool up your line . You do not need a reel or line any fancier to start out with. You might want to upgrade the line after a couple seasons, but the reel is good forever. Forget about sinking/intermediate lines on a 4wt for now. 

 

Then buy any foam beetle/spider and/or foam grasshopper fly in size 9-12, I recommend size 9-10 for the hopper pattern and 11-12 for foam beetles/spiders. I recommend foam flies for beginners since your casts are not going to be delicate at the beginning, and they float better than regular flies. I suggest BigYFlyCo for affordable flies. You can get several dozen flies shipped for a very reasonable price. 

 

In the course of retying/losing flies, once you've cut off about 2' of your leader, you'll tie on 2ft of tippet and begin again. 

 

Proceed to go out and catch all manner of panfish/bass. All of my suggestions are products that I use and that are currently in stock. 

Thanks for all the advice!

[cdlittle]

54 minutes ago, islandbass said:

Thanks for all the advice!

 

My pleasure. Hit me up of you have any other questions!

[livemusic]

10 hours ago, cdlittle said:

 

IDK if BR allows links, but go to madriveroutfitters(dot)com and buy:

 

Redington Zero 4/5 reel

Scientific Anglers Air Cel 4wt line

Pack of Rio Powerflex Trout Leader in 9' 3x

Spool of Rio Powerflex Tippet in 3x

 

At checkout, select "line this reel" or whatever it is that they call it. They will put backing on the reel for free and spool up your line . You do not need a reel or line any fancier to start out with. You might want to upgrade the line after a couple seasons, but the reel is good forever. Forget about sinking/intermediate lines on a 4wt for now. 

 

Then buy any foam beetle/spider and/or foam grasshopper fly in size 9-12, I recommend size 9-10 for the hopper pattern and 11-12 for foam beetles/spiders. I recommend foam flies for beginners since your casts are not going to be delicate at the beginning, and they float better than regular flies. I suggest BigYFlyCo for affordable flies. You can get several dozen flies shipped for a very reasonable price. 

 

In the course of retying/losing flies, once you've cut off about 2' of your leader, you'll tie on 2ft of tippet and begin again. 

 

Proceed to go out and catch all manner of panfish/bass. All of my suggestions are products that I use and that are currently in stock. 

 

Thanks for posting. I don't see any mention of a rod or did I miss something?

[cdlittle]

14 hours ago, livemusic said:

 

Thanks for posting. I don't see any mention of a rod or did I miss something?

 

The guy I was responding to said he found a 4wt rod in his garage. 

 

If you're looking to get started into bass fly fishing, I'd go with a 7wt. Which, in that case, would change my recommendations to a Redington Behemoth 7/8 reel, 7wt line, 2x leader/tippet, and size 6-8 flies. 

 

As far as rod, I'm not much help as I build all my own fly rods.