Fly Fishing Tactics for Smallmouth Bass: The Tackle and Flies

[@frankmonroe8320]

Nice video. It's good sometimes to talk about more than trout. I just love making and casting flies. I don't really stress over what I catch. Catching a nice bluegill or a beautiful brooke on a fly I tied is great. Keep them coming. Love it when you get out on the water.

[@jackinthewoodsii8653]

Susquehanna North Branch has big carp and big channel cats. A good drag is a must. A good 17+ inch smallie in current will take drag as well.

[@stevenmcdonald1339]

Very informative this is my kind of fly fishing especially at the Grand River

[@normanmanning4872]

Looking forward to this series. I used to wet wade in shorts until i had a hooked bass swim between my legs and got a treble hook in my calf. Always use waders after that, I do like the idea of the pants though. Much cooler in summer.

[@c11235]

Love the smallmouth bass content. Thanks for this. Question for future smallie videos: how much stream distance do you typically cover when going on a wet wade? What’s the most you’ve done? Thanks again.

[@hooked4lifeca]

Our local river is very wide and shallow with a relatively flat bottom. In normal flows I can wade most anywhere with ease. On my longest wades, I've probably covered close to a mile.

[@pineomt]

Understand this is not a “lake smallmouth” video, but wondering if, were you to fish for smallies on a big lake, would you consider using a 6wt 10’ for small topwater (small poppers and foam bugs)?

[@hooked4lifeca]

Off the shore, yes. Out of a boat, no.

[@lawrenceessard4086]

Great video hopefully my 7 wt.. Rod will be good enough All I could afford iam happy

[@hooked4lifeca]

We don't need anything fancy in the way of a fly rod for bass. Any decent 7 wt. will work.

[@juwright1949]

EXCELLENT!

[@danielibrahim1692]

Excellent instructions. Most how to videos just show some one fishing with some rid bits here and there. Thank you.

[@kevingeary1472]

Peter you have the best fishing channel I have seen on KZbin. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience! I have learned a great deal from you. Thank you. I hope I get the chance to buy you a beer someday.

[@MichaelPhillips-jw4bj]

the 8 is also good if you hook a river muskie/pike (leader willing) and ive seen you in videos get a fresh water drum/sheepshead right hehe. That was neat to see! great video

[@scottlysle]

Great content; it was nice to hear you say good things about the 6# and 7#; I've had people tell me that there is no reason to get a 7# but I have some great setups with a 9.5' 7# for still water mostly - I guess I think every rod has its day. Too and as you said, I have found that a 6# works great in fast, deep water with a heavier pattern - when you need to get it down to the bottom fast because the run is short. I've had 5# set ups that just would not adequately pick up a weighted pattern in those conditions. I had to have a laugh on the hat; I wear my old boonie hat but I like it most when their are mosquitos and gnats out and I want to put a net over the top of it to keep them out of my eyes.

[@tommelville8771]

Peter, great video. What’s your opinion on trout Spey rod, 3 wt, on small mouth. It’s said that you go up 3 weights with Spey rods. Keep up the good work.cheers.

[@hooked4lifeca]

I have a video up on me using the Loomis 31111 ShortSpey for bass. With the right line, it works really nice.

[@MrSurfangler]

What about micro skagit /single hand skagit?

[@hooked4lifeca]

I don't own any of those types of lines as I've never felt the need for them. I just use standard overhead bass lines.

[@MrSurfangler]

@@hooked4lifeca , thanks, I love fishing for smallmouth bass in the summer in fmz15/Algonquin region.Some spots have thick brush and no backcast room , I currently fish them with tenkara and spinning gear but I recon swinging flys would be fun aswell

[@hooked4lifeca]

Check out the Airflo Streamer Max Short. At 26' it is about the same length as a short Skagit plus tip. It will get down deeper than the usual Skagit setup, if depth is needed, and it handles tight situations quite well. The important thing being that when stripping flies back in current, they won't rise up, as would typically happen with a sinktip rig.

[@ColinD0131]

Great video and informative. I need all the help I can get. When it's catching small mouth bass on the fly. I have not had much luck catching small mouth on the fly. I hope these videos help me. Cuzz I've really struggled

[@nicolelewis1828]

Where are you fishing, Colin?

[@ColinD0131]

@@nicolelewis1828 I live in Bloomington Illinois

[@nicolelewis1828]

@@ColinD0131 Are you fishing rivers and/or lakes?

[@ColinD0131]

@@nicolelewis1828 creeks

[@nicolelewis1828]

@@ColinD0131 Ah!

[@mercertevyn]

Great videos as always.

[@FuryForceFive]

Really great video. I have a 5wt which is not pleasant to fish streamers or bigger flies. What is your thoughts on a 7wt? I hate to go up only one size. I would be using it for smallmouth some trout and rarely salmon

[@hooked4lifeca]

The 7 wt. would work of course, but I'm actually more interested in the line you're using. We might be able to get that 5 wt. working just by using a different line on it.

[@chrisbukowski9434]

Great info thanks

[@misterchristopher8857]

Thank you for the thorough presentation. Why not use a sinking tip line vs the stream line #3 mentioned in the line up?

[@hooked4lifeca]

When stripping streamers in current, a sinktip system with a floating belly will only get the fly down a couple of inches. I have seen this multiple times. Even 12' of T14 could not get a rabbit wing fly down more than an inch when it was being stripped back. When stripping flies, we need a full sinking line to ensure that the fly stays down when being stripped back.

[@bigron8346]

Could you use a poly sink tip on an intermediate line to get you down deeper and faster?

[@hooked4lifeca]

You could, but we need a fly that will get down fast as well. The tips of PolyLeaders (Versileaders) do not sink quickly so we could find a slow sinking fly staying shallow for the initial part of the swing. Personally, this is not an approach I use. I just use line management to get it as deep as I need.

[@MykolaShevchenko]

👍

[@neosovereign5954]

YAY!

[@nicolelewis1828]

I am loving my SA Triple density I/S3/S6 line for lakes and deep rivers. :-) I've been catching brookies, 'bows and smallies on it! Thanks for the video.

[@stevestringham1095]

how is that set up? the deeper density goes on the terminal, that is to say the hook end of the line?

[@nicolelewis1828]

@@stevestringham1095 Yes. The intermediate section is attached to the backing. Does this help?

[@hooked4lifeca]

Triple density shooting heads are very effective for deeper, faster waters. For years I used a Guideline DDC which was a triple density sinktip system, having dual density sinktips (e.g. S2/S3) that could be attached to one of three bellies: floater, intermediate or S2.

[@stevestringham1095]

@@nicolelewis1828 yes thank you Nicole!

[@academicmailbox7798]

Peter, it's something that I hear. The conventional lake bass anglers talk about too.

[@academicmailbox7798]

Especially, in relation to crank bait lures. Which I did not appreciate. Was intended to be a slow enough moving bait lure. Anglers are recommended. Not to burn those too quickly. In the water. Although that is easier said than done. They can alternate between reels of different gear ratios. In fishing conventional tackle. Which the guys who fish the crank baits for bass. Use as well. In order to preven themselves. From reeling in the bait too fast. And they say, that working a crank bait along the bottom. Then end up going through (replaceable of course), treble hooks on those crank baits. Quite quickly. The slow retrieve apparently, is less likely to get hung up on branches and such.

[@academicmailbox7798]

I was looking at Roland Martin in south Oklahoma a while back. And over night it just rained over three inches of rain. Down on top of that landscape. Oklahoma and Texas (where fly fishing anglers such as David Whitlock were from). I am told. It has a tendency to rain like this. So in freshwater bass fishing. What used to be 'a river' most of the time. And bass hanging out in quite low water. They are able to spread horizontally. Into something more like a lake. When that river expands in size. After rainfall such as that. And a lot of bass fishing waters. Are really neither lake nor river. They're something in between. Some sea-run brown trout fishing systems. Here in the west of Ireland. Have the same ambiguity about them. Sea-run brown trout, are a migratory species. But when they return back to freshwater. They like this lake, canal types of water. And can be extremely aggressive takers of flies too. Just like the bass.

[@academicmailbox7798]

People who understand the 'brown trout' as a species in north America. Don't have that understanding. Of what the brown trout really is. Because the brown trout was introduced. Into many of these rivers in the last couple of hundred years. And America being such a gigantic continent in size. That it was not feasible. For the brown trout. To run out to saltwater. And back again. Really though, in a lot of rivers here in western Europe and Scandinavia. The brown trout is as much a saltwater fish, as a freshwater one.

[@academicmailbox7798]

The point about crankbait lures though. Is that I noticed that. When I made up some larger fishing flies. And swim tested them myself. Not all that long ago. I realized that a lot of these flies. Did not work at all. As 'fast' fishing flies. They work exceptionally well though. When fished slower. And I'm glad to have heard. Someone make that point. I don't think that it is often made (as I said, the conventional gear anglers, will talk about that a lot). Whether it's a slow retrieve bait. A pause and retrieve type of thing. Or a fast bait retrieve (and all of them, have different depth options, in addition to that).

[@academicmailbox7798]

I did not learn. Until quite recently. Looking at someone cast a 'frog' across a lilly pond area. And catch small mouth bass on it. That they told the camera. Actually, they were not trying to imitate. Any kind of 'frog' at all. The frog lures. Just happened to do a very good job. Or imitating certain species of bait fish. To the freshwater bass. And what I notice the lake fishing bass anglers. Try to do a lot. Is to throw their frogs. Around man made structure and cover. Because it's there. The bait fish use it. And the bass will too. Whereas, in the rivers. It's all kinds of natural and soft cover. That one has to work with.