Largemouth Bass

Fly Fishing for Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass, or the "Green Trout", are becoming a popular target for freshwater fly anglers. This is for very good reasons; bass are a great fish for the fly rod. Bass live handily in many areas and conditions. Secondly, bass are a prize fish and a worthy adversary for the fly angler. Pound for pound bass fight harder and longer than any trout except for the very largest ones.

Bass fishing has everything trout fishing has including impressive top water action, long and tough fights, and very respectable fish. The author feels that bass fishing may be a tougher mind game than trout fishing. Much as you would anticipate where a trout lies, you must similarly anticipate where a bass lies in ambush. The angler must be as careful, quiet, and patient (if not more so) as he would be with trout. Bass on flies is not as popular as trout largely because it has been hyped to the level of trout has been.

Bass flies are often very large [See: Art1, Art2]. Deer hair is very common due to this size. Poppers are also very common. Bass, especially large bass, love big morsels such as a mouse or frog crossing the water. Terrestrials are also a productive largemouth fly. They will also take small to medium flies as well. The author commonly catches bass on the same flies and nymphs that he would use for trout, pike, and other fish. Small flies are effective but they also attract small bluegills and the such. This can be frustrating when in search mode but fun in other situations. As an example, Woolly buggers are easy to cast, a mainstay in your trout box, and very effective for bass as it is for other species of fish. Weed guards may help you depending on where and how you bass fish [See: Art1].

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You don't really need anything different than your regular trout gear to fly fish for large mouth bass. Even your trout flies will work nicely although there are some you might add to the mix. A 6wt to 9wt fly rod is pretty typical for a bass rod. Please remember you may often be casting larger flies so don't go under powered. My eight weight steelhead rod is probably the one I use most often, but I use both smaller and larger rods. You will certainly benefit from casting practice with the bigger flies. Double-tapered lines are common but there are definite benefits to a specialty bass tapered line or similar weight-forward line. This choice is both personal and economic. Most bass, regardless of size, can be cast to from 20 to 50 feet, as long as you are being very quiet on the water. A six to nine foot leader that matches the fly is typical.

The best bass fishing occurs when water temperatures are between 67 and 80 degrees F [See: Art1, Art2]. Both hotter and colder water will slow feeding significantly.