If you’ve never fished for smallmouth bass with a fly rod, you’re missing out on some excellent game. They are aggressive, they fight like it’s nothing, and they are not a difficult species to target. Don’t confuse the struggle of a smallmouth with that of a largemouth. I love fishing for largemouth, but smallmouth are a different animal. They are violent, tenacious and full of energy, and their willingness to smash a surface popper puts them at the top of my list of favorite fish to catch.

1. Clouser’s minnow

If you only had one fly in your collection, make it the Clouser Minnow in chartreuse and white. It’s a classic for a reason, and that reason is that it catches fish. Fish it in a rust or orange color and bounce it on the bottom, and it’s a chough. In black, let it slide down the current or crawl to the bottom, and you get a Hellgrammite or a leech. And the classic chartreuse and white: bounce it or pull it out with pauses, and you have a wounded baitfish. A Clouser is a fish candy.

2. Woolly bugger

Another classic, the Woolly Bugger is incredibly versatile. If the fish aren’t biting, I like to use a Woolly Bugger as a search pattern to cover the water. This or the Clouser Minnow produces when other flies do not. I like to buy or tie my Woolly Buggers with fuller hackles and a longer marabou tail. I drift it as if it were a hellgrammite or any creepy crawly caught in the current, then, because of its bulkier body, I reel it in like a streamer. In lakes, I crawl it to the bottom, then swim it back up. Get it in a pearl head and without.

3. Popper/Diver

It’s a given. Anytime you can get a little one to hit on it, you’ll have a lot of fun. A Diver fly will dive a few inches onto the strip and then float up. A popper with a concave side will pop and bubble in the water, and cause a lot of noise in a small space. Get good with this and you can imitate an injured baitfish, a bird that has fallen into the water, a frog, or any number of creatures. One rule is universal: fish slowly.

4. The Near Nuff Crayfish by Dave Whitlock

Crawfish are a staple food for small mouths. Growing up, we called them crawfish, and we caught them alive, or dead, their tails drifted. THE Whitlock The Near Nuff Crayfish pattern is the standard for crawdad imitations. When fishing a stream, I use a floating line, but if I’m fishing a lake, I use a sinking tippet of about 6 to 9 feet to get down into the rocks where the smaller ones are.

5. Gurgling

Gurglers are a topwater pattern, but don’t confuse them with poppers. A Gurgler pattern will create a commotion on the surface that is different from a popping bug. With the current moving you can make them skate over the top and in the lakes collect it so it looks like a mouse. After seeing a smallmouth chasing a Gurgler as it skates across the water, you’ll be a convert. This will give you a reason to stock up on as many colors and styles as you like.

6. Murdich’s Minnow

This is another good exploratory model. If the fish are suspended, you can swim to the desired depth. Additionally, this is a great baitfish pattern when the smallies are chasing minnow balls.

Find out where the fish are feeding. Are they focused on the bottom, top or hanging? Use these flies to explore different water columns. When you succeed, focus on that until the biting stops, then start searching again.

Fishing for smallmouth bass is fun. This is one of my favorite species to target. Their tenacious, aggressive energy combined with their strength and willingness to take a fly make them a perfect game fish for the fly rod. KB

“The gods do not deduct from the time allotted to man the hours spent fishing.” -Herbert Hoover