Taylor's Top 10 Smallmouth Flies
Smallmouth will eat a wide variety of forage and their diet is normally dictated by what is available in each fishery. From crawfish, shad, smelt, kokanee, and a variety of perch and panfish fry, smallies will eat virtually anything. Luckily smallmouth are not nearly as picky and snooty as a trout, but there are a handful of great patterns that I will fish for smallies with. Here’s my breakdown:
#10 - The Jawbreaker
Once I have fish dialed in and I have found a good consistent group to fish, I go with this smaller curly tail streamer. The fly tail on the rear creates a great action on the fly, similar to a curly tailed grub that you would fish on conventional gear. Fished in white and olive, you can key in the shade to a darker forage or a light colored forage fish. Lastly, the jig platform allows you to fish it off the bottom effectively or mid-column with sharp drops and rises as you strip.
What are the best strategies for catching summertime bass? Read this.
#9 - Ehler’s Grim Reaper
Not much to say on this one, other than it catches fish. It’s virtually a pig and jig, but better. The rattle in the body creates some next level shots at catching a bass’s attention. Not only is this an effective pattern in deeper water, but it is also a great largemouth fly when dropping between weed beds and fished around pad-lines. The tail is a chamois strip which, in my opinion, is one of the most underutilized materials in fly tying. Between the tail and rubber leg skirt combined, they add an action to the fly that bass cannot resist.
#8 - Poppers & Sliders
I’m going to combine all the hard cork body poppers and sliders into one, but I’ll point out a few of my favorite styles and colors. Topwater bass fishing is a blast when it’s on. My all-time favorite has to be a yellow popper. In the dog days of summer when there are large hexagenia mayflies buzzing around the lake, yellow is a crusher color. Sliders or bullet poppers are a very close second. Fished with a hover or intermediate tip, you can get the sliders to dive to a few inches or more and then return to the surface. My favorite slider and color is the Shenandoah Sunfish Slider, which has a yellow belly, red/orange front, and dark back with a black tail. The diving action allows the fly to become more visible to a fish, especially if you are fishing in a river or anywhere there is current. Lastly, I never leave home without a moss or frog colored popper. Olive is an all-around good color wherever you go.
What are the do's and don'ts of bass fishing with poppers? Learn here.
#7 - Kraft’s Kreelex
Chuck Kraft was a great smallmouth fly designer because he kept it simple, and his flies work. The Kreelex is one of his many contributions to fly fishing. Straight flash with a good profile is all you need somedays. The greatest part of the Kreelex is the ability to contrast a light belly and dark back. Lastly, it’s a durable fly that will last quite a few fish.
#6 - Half & Half
Not the stuff you put in your morning coffee, but you should never leave the boat ramp without it. Half Clouser, half Deceiver, this combines two of the greatest minds’ best flies - Clouser’s minnow and Lefty Kreh’s deceiver. This fly is extremely durable and even fishes as it slowly falls apart. The saddle tail on the fly adds a great kicking and swimming action, while the bucktail wing and belly tie the pattern together. When it comes to platform flies, this one is just about the best. Tied right, you can imitate anything from a crawfish to a kokanee.
#5 - Barr’s Slumpbuster
The slumpbuster does exactly what it says it does. This bite-sized morsel is my go-to, and it will raise you up out of a slump. The size of the fly is crucial for skinny and clear water because it is not as intimidating to fish. Generally, you’ll hook smaller fish but when you present it to larger fish, they won’t say no. The small pine squirrel zonkers allow the fly to sink a bit quicker than a bulkier zonker pattern. The fly imitates anything from a small crawfish when fished off the bottom or a leech or baitfish when fished mid-column.
#4 - The Drunk & Disorderly
This crazy mess is a blast to fish. One of my favorite streamer patterns for both trout and bass, the D&D has a handful of applications. With a deer hair head and no weight added, the fly remains buoyant. The head is spun tightly and trimmed into a bill similar to that of a shallow diving crankbait. The rattle tied into the body creates plenty of noise on each strip. The first application is adding lead (or lead-free) wrap to the bend of the front hook. This not only dips the fly just below the surface, but it angles the fly downward, allowing the front bill to dig into the water, causing a dive-like action. Not to mention, the articulation of the fly adds to the action. To get it further down into the column, fish it on a sinking line or sink tip. The action of the fly will follow the direction of the sinking line. By far, one of the greatest flies when it comes to covering different depths of water and creating different actions. This fly is the jerkbait of the fly fishing world.
#3 - Kraft’s Clawdad (and variations of)
Another one of Chuck Kraft’s creation, the clawdad is traditionally tied with a cut chamois tail that imitates claws. Rabbit strip can be subbed in for the claws. The overall profile and top-view of the fly imitates a crawling craw to-the-T. The rubber skirt adds a great action to the fly as well as realistic mouth feel for the bass. I’m a big believer that bass will eat a fly that feels real versus spitting it out if it feels unnatural. The best technique for fishing this fly is dragging it slowly across the bottom or just off the bottom near rock structure or shelves. It will work fishing it through faster runs along rip rap and boulder gardens too.
#2 - The Swingin’ D
Swim flies are one of the best ways to target big fish and cover water. Similar to fishing the D&D, the best way to fish the D is adding lead wrap to the bend of the front hook. This causes the diver head to dig into the water and wobble sporadically down, and then return upward with its buoyancy. There’s a big debate on whether or not you can swing up smallmouth on two-handed rods. This fly will let you do it. I would imagine on larger bass rivers like the Columbia, Snake, Clearwater, and Flathead that these larger swim flies will be effective when targeting summertime smallies. With a heavy sinking tip, this fly moves water which is crucial during off-color water situations or to draw fish out of heavy cover. At the end of the day, the action on the Swingin’ D is what makes it great.
Swing the fly? Check out our selection of two-handed rods online here.
#1 - Murdich Minnow
My number one, all-purpose fly. I’ve caught trout, grayling, salmon, bass, char, lake trout, bull trout, catfish, (and a bunch more…) on this fly. One could say I’m biased, but the results don’t help me change this fly out often. My favorite thing about this fly is how easy it is to get it to suspend at a certain depth. The profile can be slender or can be tied to appear fatter. When tied in white, sharpies will turn this fly into any forage pattern you want. One of my favorites is a blue and purple back, which imitates a small kokanee and important forage in many lakes in the inland northwest. Coloring it with an olive and black back is also one of my favorite color combinations too.
Wonder what the conditions are before you head out? Read our latest fishing reports here.