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Noticed that "Hairstacker" posted a beautiful bass (Gerbubble variation) bug on this site under photography. I'm a devotee of a fly with a green body (sponge or chenille) and white rubber legs (....no name spider??) in smaller sizes (#8 or #10) for Bluegill/sunfish and larger sizes (#4 or #6) for Bass. This fly is at its best in still waters. Have others but this is my go to fly..... 8)
Anyone else have some interesting flies for smallmouth??
Hi Darian,
Appreciate your comments! I'm curious about your chenille/white rubber leg fly -- I tied the Bully's Bluegill Spider below to try on bluegills. It has a chenille body and white rubber legs tied in at the head on a #10 Mustad 94840 wrapped with .020 lead wire. It was invented and named by Terry and Roxanne Wilson and featured in their book, "Bluegill.....Fly Fishing & Flies." They say it's their no. 1 big bluegill getter and they've tried a bunch. Is this like the fly you tie?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...gillSpider.jpg
It all boils down to season ......
Early season on our local creeks (April-June) will have Smallie the way we want him -STUPID AND HUNGRY ! That's the time to chuck #6 Clousers and high-stick #4-#8 black rubberleg Stonefly nymphs (no Stones in your creek ? That's o.k. , Bass eat 'em anyways ...)
Summer (mid-June thru mid Sept.) is fun and sometimes frustrating . Water is warm and clear , #6 beadhead Leechs are killers , as are most topwater flies . As Smallie gets worked over , try a #6 or #8 Dragonfly nymph -they will eat it when they won't touch anything else .
The end of the season (mid-Sept till close) is tough . I've found fishing a dark Clouser on the drop will get fish sometimes , as well as a #10 olive Birdnest . Now , go tye some flies ! David
Hairstacker,..... The fly in your picture is similar to mine but the body color is a darker green. I tried chartreuse without much success. The legs are tied in at the thorax and the body is then divided. (.....not sure that makes a lot of difference) Also, I tie in a short, divided tail of white rubber band. The sponge bodied version has no tail. I don't weight this fly at all. I fish the chenille bodied version on a sink tip line. Thread is the same color as the body. Very simple fly......
Oddly enough, this fly works in most places I've fished but, occasionally, there's a place where it won't draw a look from anything. :?:
Sorry I don't have a photo of it.....
Here's a collection I like to toss...
1. Crawdads, crawdads, crawdads
2. Burk's Aggrivator Nymph
3. Dragonflies (nymphs and adults)
4. Clouser Minnow (tan/white or olive/brown)
I chase smallies in rivers and stillwaters. Great gamefish. Love 'em.
Cheers, Ken H.
Many use larger trout flies for them.
My friend Bob Long was working back east for a few years before he retired. He was fishing those eastern Smallmouth Rivers/Streams a lot. He tried lots of flies and his favortie ended up being the Steelhead natural Bomber dry fly which has a spun and clipped natural deer hair body.
Natually we would use something like a Clouser Minnow or weighted Crayfish fly in larger, deeper rivers. I know they eat crayfish and small fish.
Large rubber leg stonefly nyumphs are popular too.
Small/medium size light colored poppers in white, yellow or chartreuse are popular in the AM/PM or shade.
I think the the Marabou Muddler, Wooly Buggers and Leeches are very good too. Black, brown and shades of green/olive should work well.
I think finding a stetch of river with lots of Smallmouth might be more important than the actual flies to use.
Hi Bill!
Curious about that "Steelhead natural Bomber dry fly" you mentioned -- is it like this one?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../Bomberfly.jpg