Casting
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When I started fly fishing more than 30 years ago the sport of fly fishing seemed to be all about catching salmon and trout.

Today the list of fish to fly fish for has become almost endless, whether it’s casting those artificial flies for fresh water fly fishing or saltwater.

Now fly fishing for smallmouth and largemuth bass has become extremely popular all over the world. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the quality of the fight a bass gives you.

I have fought bass on the fly that fought harder than salmon double their size. Bass just think they are bigger than they are. It’s a great sport and releasing them back into their home makes for better fishing in the future, so our kids will thank us.

I think because the bass body is more flat on the sides than round they have a lot of drag in the water and really hold their own.

Smallmouth Bass Fly Fishing Technique

Smallmouth bass are found in rivers and streams. With fishing rivers and streams, quite often there are trees and bush lining the river or stream, and therefore not enough room behind you to make a full overhead cast. Therefore learning to roll cast is recommended. Take a look at the following fly fishing casting techniques introduction for more information on roll casting. Another option is wading deep into the stream or river which would provide you with sufficient room for overhead casting.

When fly fishing rivers and streams its also important to know how to mend the line. The different speeds of the various currents within a river or stream may push the fly line ahead of the fly, or may push the fly ahead of the line. A bass may detect this unnatural drift of the line, and may be scared away. The process of lifting and moving a part of the line to re-align it with the drift of the fly is called mending. Smallmouth bass mostly sit and wait for prey in the small pools in the river which are formed by submerged rocks, trees, or other objects. Target these pools when casting for smallmouth bass. With smallmouth bass fly fishing, using streamers that look like crayfish or small baitfish often produce good results.

Largemouth Bass Fly Fishing Technique

Largemouth bass are found mostly in ponds and lakes. Flies used for largemouth bass fly fishing tend to be quite large. Poppers are commonly used, and deer hair flies are extremely popular. Terrestrial flies (flies which resemble land based insects that land on the water by accident) are also quite effective. When casting dry flies for largemouth bass, its a good idea to land your fly near to weeds, rocks, lilies or other underwater objects where largemouth bass love to hide when stalking prey. Let the dry fly float on top of the water for a few minutes after casting. Make the fly twitch on the water, then slowly retrieve the line. Often the bass will strike the fly as it hits the water.

Bass Fly Fishing Equipment

You can use the same equipment for bass fly fishing that you would use for trout fly fishing. With bass fly fishing a 6 to 9 weight fly fishing rod is normally used, along with a fly line with a matching weight. It’s not necessary to have an expensive rod and reel for bass fly fishing, and a good fly rod for someone starting out in the sport of bass fly fishing is the fairly priced St Croix Triumph Fly Fishing Rod. You can use the same double-tapered line used for trout fly fishing, but its recommended that you use a weight-forward line for bass fly fishing. Although you can catch bass with normal trout flies, you will have more success with bass specific flies.

Additional flt fishing information, tips, techniques, and fly fishing equipment reviews can be found at the Feedage.com Fly Fishing Elite news feed.

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