Smallmouth Fly Selection

[jtram]

I have done a limited amount of fly fishing for smallmouth, but always end up throwing the spinning reel before long. So i guess im curious as to what are a few effective patterns I should put in my box if I want to get serious about brownies with my fly rod? Also, techniques, gear, ah hell how do you do it in general?

Thanks for anything!

[Lancer09]

I kind of break it down into different categories:

Minnow patterns: Clousers, deceivers, and things like that. I like some minnow patterns with something like a laser dub head.

Bottom fish patterns: I like, and generally have a lot of luck throwing sculpin patterns hopping on the bottom. articulated chubby muffins were one of my best flies last year for smallies.

Craws: pretty much anything buggy and heavy. If you want to throw something fancy I like Duane Hada's Creek crawlers, or you can go as simple as a pair of feather claws, some dubbing and a hackle body.

Top water: poppers, gurglers, crease flies, big foam hoppers.

I Generally take 3 rods if i'm fishing out of my canoe, or using it to get place to place. a 6, 7, and 8 wt. Typically the clousers and slightly weighted streamers and craws and top water get fished on the 6 wt. I generally keep a 250 gr. outbound short sink tip on the 7 for throwing unweighted streamers to get them down.

The 8 is kind of a catch all and sometimes throw a sinking line or floating. If i'm throwing a big heavy craw fly I like to do it on the 8 so I have a little more control of it.

TLDR: Wiggle minnows. All you need.

[Amery]

This is what I've been tying. I cannot describe how excited I am to get to wade my creeks all day with my flyrod. Those are the days I work for all year.

[jtram]

Thanks lancer, i have a 6 and 7 wt ill be chucking, what is your go to between the craw and the sculpin? I have fallen in love with the taney sculpin for trout everywhere i go, but use a lot of crawdad soft plastics for bronze. What are those craws in the bottom left amery, they look like a goldmine?

[Amery]

Claw dad........somewhat.

[rFisherk]

I would second the advice Lancer09 gave, but add Wolly Buggers to the list. Before I quit guiding float fishermen on the Current River, I took fly fishermen out who caught them on all kinds of flies and topwater offerings. I think, generally, you catch more smallmouth with baits or flies that you can get down to the bottom and keep them there. But a whole bunch of it is just being in the right place at the right time. This is a smallmouth one of my clients caught on a popper in a back eddy beside the first run we came to on a float trip.

[Flysmallie]

You can pretty much catch a smallmouth on anything that looks like a meal. Kind of like me, they aren't that particular about what they eat as long as it looks good. I've searched a long time to find the best smallmouth flies. And I've tried a lot of different things. Some were successful for me and some were not. I'm sure you will get a ton of answers but I think you have to find what works the best for you and your style of fishing.

After all of this time and all the different flies I have tried I have two that will go with me everywhere. One for the top and one for the bottom. I haven't settled on a streamer though. Mainly because if that's what it takes then I'll probably be throwing a spinnerbait or a fluke.

For me the best option for up top is a gurgler. The biggest smallies I have caught on a fly rod have come on a gurgler. I think the reason it is the best for me is that you can fish it so many different ways. Like a popper. Just dead drifting it. (not my favorite way either but these are where the biggest have come from). Or skating it across the surface. That is my favorite way because the takes are so explosive. Color combinations are endless.

Gurgler

Now if you don't find any love on the top you can always (usually) find some on the bottom. I've tried hellgrammite patterns, crawdad patterns, worm patterns, blah, blah, blah..... Some have worked at times, some have never worked and some are just a pain in the butt to tie. One thing I'm looking for is something that is quick and simple that's not going to cause a breakdown when I hang the thing 30 ft. up in a tree. So I came up with this. I don't really have a name for it, not sure what it really is. Is it a jig....or a fly......not sure but it does work. We'll just call it the flysmallie pig.

I like the olive but different color combos work as well.

Black/Blue Flysmallie Pig

There are a lot of good patterns out there but it's up to you to figure out what you like to fish with. You are going to catch more with something you have confidence in over something that somebody else told you about.

[budman]

I agree with all the above choices. My go to had always been a woolly bugger or craw pattern until a three day trip on the lower Buffalo. That is when I discovered a Pistol Pete. It is really a woolly bugger with a blade on the head. Read about them and thought I would give them a try. The first few I tied wouldn't work because the blade didn't spin because I committed the first mistake of tying, too much too close to the eye. Took a few tries to get it down right where they would spin while stripping it back. What worked best was a #8 long shank in dark olive, weighted with 8-9 wraps of lead wire and a brass blade. One day I will learn how to post pictures, so you can google Pistol Pete Fly and get a good look. I had also tied some with a cone shaped beadhead if the water was runny fast or if I needed them to go deeper. But since we floated in late Sept. the water was low and didn't get to try them.

[Flysmallie]

Great suggestion budman. I've been outfished by a friend using a pistol pete before.

[jtram]

Thanks for all the ideas everyone, just confirms my thoughts, I need to float tomorrow to break my fever followed by an all nighter at the vice or three.