Tag: smallmouth bass

In the low, clear flows of summer rivers, smallmouth bass can turn difficult. This is especially true if the water is clear and smooth, as in a pool. Under these conditions I try a series of tactics. Sometimes one or more of them work, sometimes none of them work. One that can work is going small. A fly tied on a size 12, 1X long hook is small for...

"Maine has a long legacy of excellent fly fishing for species such as Smallmouth Bass, Brook Trout and Landlocked Salmon. In this special video Tom Rosenbauer and Mark Melnyk visit one of the oldest and most famous sporting lodges in the country, Weatherby’s. They are guided on some famous and historic Maine rivers for both Smallmouth Bass and Landlocked...

As seasons change and colder weather moves in, “smallmouth bass are beginning to feel the chill and go on the feed to fatten themselves up for the long winter,” writes Dan Zazworsky. “This can be one of the best times to catch a truly large smallmouth as they begin to chase baitfish around with reckless abandon.” Read more on how to optimize...

The other evening, I turned off the television, picked up a fly rod and got into an elevator. Thirty seconds and 14 floors later, I stepped onto the streets of downtown Portland, Oregon. I started walking. Five minutes later, I was standing on the bank of the Willamette River near Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Two minutes after that, an angry, red-eyed...

The 6-weight labors a bit, but with two false casts the heavy-headed line shoots forward, plopping the big blue popper about seven feet beyond a twig poking through the water’s surface. I wait for the ripples to settle then try to impart the spirit of a cicada with a series of short, soft strips. The popper gently gurgles in a straight line until it...

Size 12 at least leans towards large for a trout fly, but compared with a palm-filling hair bug for largemouth or smallmouth bass, it’s a runt. Just as a whopping pound-and-a-half bluegill’s a runt alongside an average steelhead of, say, eight pounds. Fly size, like fish size, is always relative. On average, highly relative. Nonetheless, on...

Question: What is the best way to work a popper in rivers? Most of my experience fishing for smallmouth bass is in lakes. How is it different? —Byron H Good one, Byron! The answer to your question will put a lot more smallies onto MIDCURRENT readers’ poppers and hair bugs. Regarding how to work a bass popper, there’s a load of confusion out there; I...

Some people predict the end of winter via a confused rodent's shadow. I prefer the subtle vermiculations of the bronze bass--a smallmouth in hand is as sure a sign of spring as anything in the catalog. It’s true that the odd smallmouth bass is caught by walleye anglers very early and very late in the season when water temperature are in the upper 30s to...

It's been such a long winter I feel weird even saying this, but warm water fly fishing is back.  Across the country the season's first bass and muskie are coming to hand—and not a moment too soon.  But successful early spring fishing for warm water species, smallmouth bass in particular, requires deliberate planning and execution.  This week I sat down...

MARINE FISHERIES scientists across Florida have begun to agree begrudgingly with the results of a five-year university study, announced today, that proves conclusively that the Atlantic tarpon is actually a kind of smallmouth bass, having descended directly from an ancient, anadromous bronzeback. Ichthyologists at Southern Florida Animist College (SFAC...