Arguably the best fighting fish in the warm water category, these fish are athletes, gangsters of the water that eat flies viciously without hesitation. When these fish take you feel the line straighten immediately, while the drag begins to rip. They can spit a fly out just as easily with their high flying acrobatics right after setting the hook. The camouflage that these fish have in their native waters is a perfect blend of stealth, perfectly mottled to match the structure, water clarity and creek bottom of the waters they swim in.
In the world of Fly fishing around the Midwest, there isn't a whole lot of things more satisfying then a big bronze back smallmouth bass. The fight that even the smaller sized fish put up is amazing. The acrobatics out of the water that these fish showcase are second to none and highly addictive. These fish are voracious eaters, take many styles of flies and are easily accesable anywhere in the Midwest and abroad the United States.
I've picked the brains of fellow anglers and asked opinions on flies, after much research (fishing) haha.. that's great research and narrowed it down to 5 essential smallmouth bass flies for the Midwest:
Clouser Minnow This fly need no intro, it slays bass and is very versatile. This fly is easy to tie and can be used in shallow and deep presentations. Created by Bob Clouser for bass and other warm water species, has caught more fish in both salt and fresh water than most flies. Learn to tie it from Tightline Productions
Sparkle Minnow- This is one I seen on instagram check out the midwest drift(my long time fly tying inspiration) I had great success for multiple species with this fly after tying up a few and jamming over to the local retention pond. This fly slays Smallies, Largemouth, Crappie, White bass, and just about any other hungry fish. Simple and effective with only a few basic tying material and a sharp hook and Bam, you're rippin lips.
The near 'nuff sculpin- I found this fly pattern on www.flyfishohio.com Called near 'nuff because it looks near enough like a sculpin. This fly is another one that can be very productive, With fish tight to the bottom or feeding in deeper water, You can tie this on and have good success. The sculpin look similar to small baitfish that hug the river bottom and bass absolutely love. Barred Olive like the one pictured is my favorite color other than crayfish orange.
The wooly bugger- I couldnt make this list without the ever present wooly bugger. This was the first fly I ever tyed. Simple and impressionistic, this fly can immitate many things, a minnow, crayfish or leech. A bugger can be tyed in almost any color and hook size, weighted or not weighted, bead head, cone head or any other combination you can imagine. I would recommend this fly first almost all the time to a new fly angler.
The top water popper-Last but defenitely not least ( I also start from the top down in fly fishing when choosing flies to fish ) I have a selection of top water flies from Poppers, terrestrials, and gurglers all with attention grabbing, noise making action to attract the ever hungry small mouth bass.
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