Fishing

The Top 6 Flies for Smallmouth Bass That Will Catch More Fish

You don't need a large collection of flies to catch fish. One medium-sized fly box will do. Here is a list of what you should put in that box.
Ken Baldwin|
A smallmouth bass caught with a popper on the Greenbrier River in WV.
A smallmouth bass caught with a popper on the Greenbrier River in WV. | photo by Chase McCoy

If you've never fished for smallmouth bass with a fly rod, you are missing out on a great game fish. They are aggressive, they fight like nobody's business, and it's not a difficult species to target. Do not confuse the fight of a smallmouth with that of a largemouth. I love fishing for largemouth, but the smallmouth is a different animal. They are violent, tenacious, and full of energy, and their willingness to smash a topwater popper puts them high on my list of favorite fish to catch.

The 6 Top Smallmouth Bass Patterns to Cover the Water from Bottom to Top

A white/silver Clouser Minnow smallmouth bass fly
The classic Clouser Minnow | photo provided by Rio

1. Clouser Minnow

If you were only allowed one fly in your collection, make it the Clouser Minnow in chartreuse and white. It's a classic for a reason, and that reason is it flat out catches fish. Fish it in a rust or orange color and bounce it off the bottom, and it's a crawdad. In black, let it tumble down the current, or crawl it along the bottom, and you have a Hellgrammite or a leech. And the classic chartreuse and white—bounce it or strip it back with pauses, and you have a wounded baitfish. A Clouser is fish candy.

A classic black bead head Woolly Bugger fly for smallmouth bass
A black bead head Woolly Bugger. | photo provided by Rio


2. Woolly Bugger

Another classic, the Woolly Bugger is incredibly versatile. If fish aren't biting, I like to use a Woolly Bugger as a search pattern to cover water. This or the Clouser Minnow produce when other flies don't. I like to buy or tie my Woolly Buggers with fuller hackles and a longer marabou tail. I drift it like it's a hellgrammite or any creeply crawly caught in the current, and then, because of the fuller body, I swim it back like a streamer. In lakes I'll crawl it along the bottom, and then swim it back. Get it in a bead head and without.

A Jeff Rowley deer hair diver fly for smallmouth bass.
A Jeff Rowley deer hair diver. | photo by Ken Baldwin


3. Popper/Diver

This is a given. Whenever you can get a smallie to hit on top, you are in for a lot of fun. A Diver fly will dive down a few inches on the strip and then float back up. A popper with a concave face will pop and bubble up the water, and will cause a lot of commotion in a small amount of space. Get good with it and you can mimic a wounded baitfish, a bird that's fallen in the water, a frog, or any number of critters. One rule is universal, fish it slow.

A classic smallmouth bass fly, the Whitlock Near Nuff Crayfish
Whitlock's Near Nuff Crayfish | photo provided by AnglersAll


4. Dave Whitlock's Near Nuff Crayfish

Crayfish are a staple food for smallmouth. Growing up, we called them crawdads, and we would fish them live, or dead drift the tails. The Whitlock Near Nuff Crayfish pattern is the standard for crawdad imitations. When I fish a stream, I use a floating line, but if I'm fishing a lake, I'll use a sinking tip of about 6-9 feet to get down in the rocks where the smallies are.


5. Gurgler

Gurglers are a topwater pattern, but don't confuse them with poppers. A Gurgler pattern will create a commotion on the surface that's different from a popping bug. With moving current, you can get them to skate across the top, and in lakes retrieve it to look like a mouse. After you see a smallmouth chase a Gurgler as it skates across the water, you will be a convert. This will give you a reason to stock up on as many colors and styles as you see fit.

The Murdich Minnow, a smallmouth bass fly for fly fishing.
The Murdich Minnow | photo provided by Umpqua

6. Murdich Minnow

This is another good exploratory pattern. If the fish are suspended, you can swim this at desired depths. Also, this is a great baitfish pattern when smallies are chasing balls of minnows.

Find the Food, Find the Fish

Find out where the fish are feeding. Are they focused on the bottom, top, or suspended? Use these flies to explore the different water columns. When you find success, focus on that until the bite stops, and then start the search over again.

Smallmouth bass fishing is a blast. It's one of my favorite species to target. Their tenacious, aggressive energy combined with their strength and willingness to take a fly make them a perfect game fish for the fly rod. KB

“The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover

Published
Ken Baldwin
KEN BALDWIN

Ken Baldwin is a Writer/Editor for Fishing On SI, where he writes stories about fly fishing and the lifestyle that surrounds it. His writing and photography have appeared in Men's Journal, Catch Magazine, Fish Alaska, and the American Angler. He also created and hosted the TV show Season on the Edge, which aired on NBC Sports and in seven countries, showcasing travel, adventure, and culture through the lens of fishing. For twenty years, Ken worked as a fly fishing guide in Alaska, which gave him opportunities to hang out with and photograph the Alaskan brown bear. His experience photographing the brown bear helped him land a job with the Netflix documentary Our Planet 2, narrated by David Attenborough. If you dig deep enough in Ken's resume, you will see that he played the terrorist "Mulkey" in the film Die Hard 2 before fly fishing took over his life. Ken is a graduate of the University of Washington.

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