Catching Smallmouth Like Trout

July, August and September can mean sporatic hatches of the famed White Mayfly (Ephoron Leukons), depending where you reside in the northern half of the U.S. This hatch can sometimes make smallmouth and other fish surface feed like trout, gently sipping in the duns as they light on the river’s surface.

In Minnesota the hatches are quite variable as is the relative interest from smallmouth bass. Some nights the fish will set up in lanes like trout and rhythmically take the naturals during a heavy evening hatch. Other nights, during a good hatch, the smallmouth will ignore the flies offering no “match-the-hatch” fishing opps.

I prefer to use a Light Cahill or Royal Wulff (all white) in a size #14, ties on a 10 or 12 hook. You need the extra gap for larger specimens. The mayflies will often cluster around a downed dun offering a value meal for a lucky bass. Some people use poppers during the hatch, but I prefer the subtle take of a small fly during these special times.

Remember these hatches almost always occur within the last hour of daylight, so you must be on the stream at that time to see what will develop.

Many nights you will be disappointed by the lack of surface action, but when the planets line up and the fish get on these leukons, you’ll have some of the most memorable smallmouth fishing of the entire season. You can really rack up the numbers as you simply pick which rising fish to whom you want to throw. They are not real pick and amazingly will often take a slightly larger artificial over a natural, especially if given some subtle action.

Fly Fishing Smallmouth at its Best

If you like to fly fish for bass, especially smallmouth bass, this is it boys and girls. This is the best time of the year to fish top water particularly. There’s bugs all over, most of the rivers are clear and warm and the fish are looking up!

Recently we fished two days, back to back on the Mississippi. The conditions were not optimal as the water is not clear due to a summer of continued precipitation. However, it is clearing with 3 – 4 foot visibility. The first day the fishing was just OK, but not the continuous top water action we come to expect this time of year. We also had a young fellow with us who was throwing Chug Bugs and having trouble with solid hook-ups.

In the last several weeks we also did not connect with big fish. We couldn’t bread 16 inches.

The next day was different. Similar summer weather in the mid-70′s, but the fish were in a different mood altogether. You just never know from day to day.

The fish on the second day were going, pretty much all day. Solid top water action on poppers and foam hopper patterns. I didn’t keep track (we never do), but we caught a bunch of fish to nearly 20 inches.

I’ll be posting a video on the next posting showing some nice fish, caught on some groovy hopper patterns.

When it comes to fishing around weeds and other obstructions, weed guards are sometimes used to keep the fly from fouling on various objects. There are basically three styles of weed guards.

1. Heavy monofilament coming off the curve of the hook shank and tied off just behind the eye of the fly.
2. Light wire loop that “hooks” on to the bard of the nook, extending back from behind the eye of the hook.
3. Hard monofilament pegs or loops that extend from the body of the fly, just behind the eye.

Which style is best?

Traditional Back to Front Weedguard: Also known as: Fish Guards. The traditional weed guard is tied onto the  rear curve of the hook and brought forward and tied in just behind the eye of the hook. One must make sure to have ample room up front to allow for this tie-in.

Good: These are easy to add to a fly and, if the mono is not too stout, aid in keeping the fly weed-free. 
Bad: This is the worst method to use for a weedless fly. Most of the time the guard succeeds in preventing the fish from firmly grasping the fly meaning a lot of missed strikes. I cut these off on any fly that I get containing this style of weedguard.

Metal Wire Weedguard: The metal wire weedguard can extend from just behind the eye or from the rear of the body. In most cases it is tied as a loop of wire and contoured such that end of the loop contains a V-shape that will sit just inside the barb of the hook. In many cases the will extend below the point of the hook.

Good: In the example shown, the guard will most likely collapse when grasped by a fish.

Bad: With the point of the hook exposed, it will not provide the weedless function for which it was designed.

Ugly: I don’t care for wire weed guards as they tend to bend easy and deform. This makes it almost impossible for wire weedguards to be part of a durable fly pattern. It’s difficult to find a place for them in a fly box that won’t bend the guard into an unusable shape.

Mono Loop or Peg Weedguard:

Good: This is the best style of weedguard to employ. It can be a loop, as shown, or a single or double peg of hard mono extending straight down and below the plane of the hook point. The ends of the loop are epoxied into the body of the fly. In the case of a popper, holes are punched and a drop of glue is placed on or in the hole. The loop ends are then introduced into the holes pushing the glue in. You can also use a toothpick to push the glue into the holes before inserting the monofilament.

Bad: The only bad thing about this style of weedguard is the time and technique to get the end of the mono firmly secured into the bottom of the fly. This is part of a fly tying sequence that one may wish to do in stages. At one sitting, add these weedguards to a bunch of popper bodies (after you’ve already seated them to a hook). This way you can use a five minute epoxy and get five or so poppers done before it becomes un-workable. Quick dry glue is not durable enough for these weed guards. You should use a hard mono, like Mason, in the 25 – 50 pound test class, depending on your personal preferences.