Just started fly fishing and wanted to fly fish for bass.  What flies would you guys recommend and what techniques?

Thanks!

I had great luck with poppers and sliders into the pads. just pop and strip.  I also use minnows and give it an erratic retrieve.

A lot of people recommend woolybuggers also.  I personally havent caught anything on those and stopped using them.  

There are also a lot of frog patterns also that catch them nice. As you can tell, I mostly go topwater for bass lol

But thats what I do here for largemouth.

Vic

Clouser Minnow.   You can tie them fast and catch almost any type of fish on them.  Use different sizes/weights and colors.  If you are fishing a floating line use a loop to loop sink tip to bring the line down a little.  but a sink tip line would work best in deeper water.  I personally use a SA floating line with the loop to loop sink tip with no trouble.  

I also suggest a muddler minnow in natural colors and any of the big eye flies in bright colors.  Again, mix and match to see what works on your water.  

Most of these are cast and strip presentations.  You can let them sink by counting down to locate fish then keep imitating the presentation.

Add this to a top water arsenal like vicdotcom suggested and you will be palming a spinning spool in no time.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll be sure to give them a shot.

Another quick question, what weight rod do you guys use? I got a 6wt, is this too light?

A 6wt is a little light for largemouth but perfect for smallies.  If you are going to be learning it will do well for 1-3 lb fish but if you want to go after lunkers you will want to beef up to a 8 or 10wt.  Also consider the length and speed of the rod.  A fast action 9 is a great bass rod in a 9' length.  But I get away with a 8wt fast rod and have never had any troubles.  Just makes it easier to load large flies and handle/fight bigger fish.

Any fish on a light rod is fun to catch so I say stick to the 6 for now, have some fun and make sure you have a lot of backing on ;D.     Then when you want to improve your fishing go to a heavier rod.  

I like to use a pattern called the Chernyobel Ant, but any large black bug works well. The flies I use are all foam bodied, rubber-legged designs for durability. Larger flies are better at keeping the Bluegill from attacking it, sometimes.  A 6wt will work good for smallies and largemouth. As long as the rod has a bend in it, barbless hooks work well and are easy to remove.

Thanks guys I'll give that a shot! Now just to learn how to cast and tie that darn nail knot...

Thanks guys I'll give that a shot! Now just to learn how to cast and tie that darn nail knot...

Forget the nail knot and go to a loop to loop flyline end.  They are chinese finger trap style and have heat shrink on them.  cheep, easy to use and make for quick leader changes.  If you need help finding them give me a PM and I will point you in the right direction.  

I use a 6wt myself.  I go after smaller largemouth bass, crappie, bluegills and trout when I go up north.  Thats why I decided on 6wt for me.  8wt was to large I think for crappie and gills.  Its a little more work getting the large 3-5 pound bass for sure but hey its about having fun.

I do have a 8wt also to throw out the larger bass bugs like frogs and large woolys.  It gets tricky tossing those heavy flies with the 6wt at times.

But I learned a lot more on the 6wt rod I think and I am glad I went with that to begin with.

As for the nail knot, I 100% agree with 71Rig and double his vote for the loop to loop system.  It will save you so much time with leaders and it is very easy to do.  If you are worried about looping your fly line, you can probably take it to a fly store and have them do it for about 10$.  Well worth the time and money and saves a lot of time and frustration (especially in the begining).

Taking up flyfishing for bass and panfish has really been one of the best decisions ive made.

Vic

I picked up a 8wt 9' St. Croix earlier.

Our Bass Season opens on the 28th of June....I hope all of my dry land practicing has paid off.

We cannot target OOS fish here in Ontario so....I couldn't even practice.

I will certainly post my experiences on here....

Good Luck

I've recently been fishing the local james river for small mouth...I'm having so much trouble with my casting....

Fished 8 hours straight for 2 days and have crazy blisters =/  (hence the glove on the second day).  My line seems to hit the water first all the time then the fly flicks over and hits the water, my friend says I'm holding the rod too hard, flicking it too hard and not waiting long enough....trying to work on it but it's hard!

I did hook up into a few smallies though a bunch of dinks but one of them was about 1lb or so I was fighting him for about 5 mins but with the river current, the fish struggling and the high rock I was on I think the hook ripped out.  

Any tips or hints you guys could share =D?

I've recently been fishing the local james river for small mouth...I'm having so much trouble with my casting....

Fished 8 hours straight for 2 days and have crazy blisters =/ (hence the glove on the second day). My line seems to hit the water first all the time then the fly flicks over and hits the water, my friend says I'm holding the rod too hard, flicking it too hard and not waiting long enough....trying to work on it but it's hard!

I did hook up into a few smallies though a bunch of dinks but one of them was about 1lb or so I was fighting him for about 5 mins but with the river current, the fish struggling and the high rock I was on I think the hook ripped out.

Any tips or hints you guys could share =D?

I think you may get many different variations on what people think might be wrong with your cast lol. But I do think your friend has one thing right and that you may be holding the rod to tight but that ususally doesnt cause the line to hit the water first but it may cause blisters.

Without seeing your cast it is very hard to tell what is going on. But the line hitting the water is a pretty common problem. one cause may be having the tip of your rod to far down at the end of your forward cast. The line goes where the tip of the rod goes at the end of your forwardcast. So if you hold it too low, the loop will hit the water before the line fully extends. Try stopping your forward cast a little sooner then gently lower the tip as the line unravels. Thats the easy answer and problem to fix.

Dont know if there is a fly shop in your area that offers some coaching. Here they usually charge 50$ for a class. Well worth the money. friends can give you conflicting, even wrong, information. And the internet can not diagnose your casting. It was the best money I ever spent when I started. They even recorded my cast and played it back on the computer to help diagnose and show the weaknesses.

The best "tip" I can give you about casting though is to "accelerate to a stop" on both the backcast and forward cast. Remember you are not "flicking" the rod and certainly shouldnt be flicking it hard (that could be causing the blisters also). What it should be is accelerated to a stop. like a smooth quick motion that gets faster then STOP (at about 12:00) then smoothly and accellerating forward then STOP. Your not horseing the rod to make the line go but smooth and quick.

Hope that makes a little sense.

I catch a lot of dinks also, but I enjoy them on a light wt rod but once you catch a hog, hold on lol

Vic

The harder answer is that your giving your rod to much power at the wrong times or moving your rod hand forward at the end of your forward cast.  Again without seeing your cast it is hard to tell.  

Moving your hand forward at the end of your cast is not something you may notice yourself doing.  Pretend your going to hammer a nail in one spot repeatedly. That is the consistency of your forward cast.  Now pretend that you are hammering a nail that has moved from that stop to a spot 6-8 inches away.  You are moving your arm forward to "reach" that nail.  That can be another cause.  

Yet another one may be powering your forward cast to late. look behind you (or have your friend watch) when you start your forward cast.  It should not be straight when you start accellerating your rod forward.  There should be a loop there.  If the line is to straiht, it can cause that problem also.

So I hope I didnt overload you with information there lol.  Please dont let all of this ruin the fun of flyrod fishing.  It takes a lot of practice.  But going online and checking out some articles as well as reading some more books on it may help.  Forums are also helpful but you will get a lot of different answers.

Best bet, spend a little and get a coach or take a fast lesson. Its a great investment and will make things a lot more enjoyable!

Vic

Thanks for the input Vic, I think I might throw down for an Orvis class we a big one here in Richmond.  

I try looking back at my backcast sometime but then I end up being like the teen drives who's parents tell them to look before the change lanes and the entire car swerves...turning seems to make the rod swing to the direction i'm looking =/

When I have been able to look back my line seems to be wavy...I think it's from the tip vibrating when I stop, I'm not sure...But I'll definitely look into getting a coach!

Thanks for the input Vic, I think I might throw down for an Orvis class we a big one here in Richmond.

I try looking back at my backcast sometime but then I end up being like the teen drives who's parents tell them to look before the change lanes and the entire car swerves...turning seems to make the rod swing to the direction i'm looking =/

When I have been able to look back my line seems to be wavy...I think it's from the tip vibrating when I stop, I'm not sure...But I'll definitely look into getting a coach!

It will be money well spent and it will increase the pleasure you get from flyfishing for sure.

From the sounds of it, there is something off in the cast. The line should not appear wavy and your tip should not be vibrating when you stop. The rod loads on your lift and brings the line behind you on your backcast. Then the rod loads again on your forwardcast . If your rod tip is vibrating badly on your stop, then the energy of the loaded rod is lost and the cast will not be effective.

I dont know how much reading you have done on fly rod casting but there are some great books for free at the library that may help you also.

Best of luck Keep us posted!

Vic

wooly buggers are a fine streamer.

Simon,

I would try a couple more things before you drop the dough on an overpriced Orvis know it all.

1.  It sounds like you may be trying to cast a little too much line.  Practice casting shorter distances and see if things improve.

2.  You may be casting too heavy of a fly for the 6 weight rod.  Try practicing with a smaller fly (like a hornberg or mickey finn).  Once you get your technique down, you will be able to cast heavier flys, but it is harder to do if you don't have the technique first.

3.  Be patient when you are casting.  Pull your line back, and watch and wait for it to uncurl behind you.  When the line is almost completely uncurled, throw it forward.  You don't need to put a lot of effort into this, particularly if you are casting shorter distances (like about 40').

Like vic said, just have fun with it.  You are obviously committed to getting it right, and you will pretty soon.