Fly frustration

[ChiaPet]

I fish a lot of smallmouth bass steams and hook the occasional other bass species and lots of pan fish, but this weekend really kicked my proverbial butt. 

After spending the winter tying new and interesting flies, I have fished 5 patterns with very little luck while my friend, fishing the same place has cleaned up on orange woolie buggers. I am about to say the hell with it and tie nothing but bead head buggers! 

I tried top water foam beetles, gurgles, craft fur minnow, bronze goddess, and a dumbell eyed woolie (the only one I caught on). 

Any suggestions for not flushing all these flies?

[fshndoug]

please send them to me,I will take good care of them.

[Flysmallie]

Well I don't know about the rest of them but there is no reason to ditch the gurglers. Maybe you just need a gurgler training session. 

[jtram]

Wait for may, that's when the magic happens with smallie on the fly.

[Gavin]

All you need is a chartreuse Sneaky Pete (size 2) and some Sparleminnow's in pearl olive & brown size 4 & 2. Shenk's or a tampon fly for fluke type fishing 2 or 1/0. And some big blockheads dressed Sneaky Pete style with for dead drifting & twitching. Resist the urge to pop a sneaky Pete or blockhead popper on slack water. Gurglers work well when stripped fast over riffles. Same with crease flies and pencil poppers.