Smallmouth Fly Selection

[Jim Elam]

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.

Those are great looking flies.

[Flysmallie]

Thank you Jim.

[Al Agnew]

I don't fly fish for smallmouth all that much, but when I do I approach it pretty much the same way I do in fishing with other stuff...if it's warm weather I'm ONLY fishing high in the water column, except for rare occasions when that doesn't work. I don't fish stuff on the bottom unless I have to, and I seldom have to. Smallies are always aggressive if active, and on our smaller Ozark streams they are almost never in water deep enough that they won't come up to something on or near the surface. So I basically use surface bugs and unweighted or lightly weighted streamers, floating lines, etc. I'm still in the process of designing a fly rod "wake bait" that wobbles seductively just under the surface on long, smooth strips, and I've got the action figured out, but so far have not come up with one that I can cast effectively; my prototypes are simply too light and wind-resistant, and even an 8 wt. rod won't cast them very far. If I can solve that, it will be very close to what my homemade crankbait does if I reel it with rod tip fairly high, and I KNOW that produces. Then my other project is to figure out a good walk the dog fly, and I'll pretty much be set for summer fly fishing.

[Lancer09]

Have you tried a wiggle minnow with not much angle on the lip Al?

[Amery]

I don't know......my creek has a lot of current and there are times when they won't even look at a fly unless it touches the bottom. I love swinging light streamers and topwaters but sometimes, even in the summer, it's gotta be on the bottom.

[Al Agnew]

Lancer, yes, I've used Wiggleminnows, but they don't have the profile I'm looking for. I want something fatter and meatier.

Amery, I'd bet the problem is not that the smallies won't eat surface stuff on your creeks, but it's just that a lot of flies are hard to operate in heavier currents. If you can find something that looks good on the surface in current, they'd come up and get it most of the time.

[Flysmallie]

I with Al on the fact that I always try to get them to come up. Sometimes so much that it's the only thing I try.

Did that a couple of years ago on a little creek that Chief took me to. I'd get a swipe here and there but nothing would connect. Tried many different poppers. Finally I put on a pig and it was game on. But I don't always fish it right in the bottom. Does just as well swinging in the current as a streamer.

[ness]

Those are some good looking flies, Flysmallie. Your glamour shot photos make them even hotter. What's going on under the rubber legs? Looks like a body built up to splay out the rubber, with some hen hackle tied in too.

[Flysmallie]

Dear Ness,

Thanks for your inquiry on full nude glamour shots of yourself for your wife's valentine's gift. I am sorry but I will have to decline no matter the money being offered.

Seriously I promised Amery that I would do a photo tutorial on it and I'm about halfway there with that. So as soon as I have that done it will make more sense. But to help until then the black/blue is a little different from the olive. The black/blue has a body of rabbit fur. That was a mistake. I thought it would help build up the profile but that's not necessary. And it makes it very heavy, which it doesn't need any help with. The tail of these is just some hackle tied in flat wing style. I do add a dubbing body but that's as much for building up the shank to tie the legs to as much as anything. This keeps them from flaring out too much. And then I add some hackle behind the eyes to help push the legs back.

[jtram]

Looking forward to the tutorial on it....looks sweet.