| Dry Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass |
|
The sage of the Shenandoah Valley tells us how to catch smallmouth bass during the summertime topwater bite. Let the Fishing Begin! These insects are very active on the surface, and my favorite tactic is to fish a size 12 Olive Elk-Hair Caddis across and slightly downstream with a slow twitching action. As soon as my fly lands on the water, I extend the rod tip 45 degrees above the surface and impart several two-inch-long strips with my line hand every 15 seconds. This tactic is very effective for covering the water and catching any bass you see rising to the naturals. I find that dressing both the fly and the whole leader with silicone fly floatant helps fish these flies effectively. I use this method from the riffle downstream into the main pool. Many smallmouth bass rivers get a good brown drake mayfly hatch in late May. The duns start hatching about 7 p.m., and the spinners return to the stream shortly thereafter to mate and deposit their eggs on the stream and then fall spent onto the surface of the water. This concentration of spent spinners is often very heavy in the flat water below the riffles, and you can find excellent fishing by going one on one with these rising fish right up until dark. If you happen to be on a large flat pool with a slow current when the spinner fall occurs, you will see many of the bass cruising around to pick off the insects because the flow is not bringing them the mayflies as fast as they want them. There are two tactics that are effective for catching these cruising fish. You can watch a rising bass and cast your fly two feet in front of his anticipated path, but he might zig when you thought he was going to zag, and he may not see your fly. The technique I prefer is to hit him on the head with the fly. The instant I spot a rising fish, I cast my fly to that precise spot. This is very effective, and I catch most of these bass. The Irresistible dry fly, tied on a size 10 hook, is very effective during the brown drake hatch, which can last three weeks. Damselflies Are a Midsummer Favorite I was fishing the South Fork of the Shenandoah River close to Luray, Virginia, and there were many bass jumping to feed on the damselflies. Fishing poppers, deer-hair surface bugs, and a broad variety of regular dry flies took only a few small bass. In frustration, I dug through my fly box and found an old Paul Young Red Head. I shot this fly out over the jumping bass, but as it drifted calmly on the surface, I did not get a strike. Remembering the skating tactics that are effective with the great Neversink Skaters for catching trout, I decided to experiment. I dressed the fly and leader with silicone fly floatant. Next, I cast the fly down-and-across stream at a 45-degree angle to the leaping bass. I raised the rod high above the stream, and skated the big dry fly across the surface of the river in two-foot bursts. This method worked exceptionally well that day, and it has been one of my favorite fishing tactics for more than 10 years. After a great deal of experimenting, I have found that a size 8 Mr. Rapidan Skater works very well with this method. Smallmouth bass feed heavily on natural grasshoppers in August and September, when these land-born insects become large. I get my best action along pastures and hay fields where there are large concentrations of the naturals. Last summer my son, Jeff, caught his largest bass of the year using a size 8 Murray’s Bass Hopper; this quickly dispelled the concern that only small bass will take grasshoppers. An effective tactic is to float or wade 50 feet from the riverbank, and cast your grasshopper pattern so that it lands about a foot from the bank. Natural grasshoppers are very active on the water, so use your line hand to impart a two-inch-long kicking action about every five seconds until your fly is about 10 feet from the edge of the stream. Make successive casts every 10 feet down the bank, and fish in this manner until you have worked your way down the river.
In my area, the white Miller mayfly hatch (Ephoron leukon) begins in mid-July and lasts for six weeks. This is the heaviest aquatic insect hatch that most smallmouth bass see. The duns start coming off about an hour before dark and continue into the night. The spinners come back to the stream about half an hour before dark and continue laying eggs until after dark. When these phases of the hatch overlap, the surface of the river is covered with insects and you may have a dozen bass rising within casting range. My favorite dry fly for this hatch is a size 12 Light Humpy because it is very durable and the bass take it readily. I like to go one on one with bass feeding during the white Miller hatch. Due to the number of naturals on the stream, a gently twitching action often brings more strikes than a dead drift. As darkness approaches, I position myself so that I am fishing into the glow of the western horizon to get enough light to catch another six or eight bass. Hexagenia Excite Smallmouth Bass I immediately put on a size 8 Mr. Rapidan Skater, and dressed both the fly and the leader with silicone floatant. By fishing this fly down-and-across stream with a slight twitching action to mimic a natural mayfly struggling on the surface, I caught dozens of large bass before darkness set in. Hexagenia hatch during the last hour of the day, and it lasts about a month. The nymphs prefer living in soft silt, so explore various parts of your rivers to find the best action. Be willing to experiment, because this fishing is too good to miss. If you like exciting surface fishing, I strongly encourage you to try dry fly fishing for smallmouth bass. Harry Murray is one of Virginia’s leading fly fishermen, and he has contributed many articles to our magazine over the years. To learn more about his books, fishing schools, and fly shop, go to www.murraysflyshop.com.
|
Olive Elk-Hair Caddis
Light Humpy
Murray’s 
Mr. Rapidan Skater
Irresistable
