What are some good flies for smallmouth?

[BBK]

What are some good flys for smallmouth? The smallies that I catch are always on shad or minnow imitation bass lures. I have caught very very very few on crawfish imitations, almost like they know what a real craw looks like. So I'm guessing the "wooly bugger" type lures wouldn't work, right? Can someone please post a link to a good smallmouth fly so I can see what is good.

[MickeyFinn]

I don't know but thats about all i ever get them on is buggers, sometimes I get a couple on streamers and during a Hex hatch they bite pretty good. Sometimes i have found fishing buggers is that you have to vary your retrieve.  I don't target them a whole lot maybe a half dozen times a year.

[jolie]

smallmouth bass will hit many different flies; from a muddler minnow, to a helgrimite (spelling?) nymph, to streamers like the clauser.  the bigger, heavier streamers are almost like light jigs and can be challenging to cast.

One of my favorite flies is a plain old topwater popper.  This is the 'dry fly' technique of smallmouth.  its often done once the fish has been sited (and its effective 'blind'), and offers big showy fun strikes.

I'm sure people can get more specific with you.  the internet is full of smallmouth flies.

[rgfixit]

Woolly buggers, brown nose dace, mickey finn (my personal favorite) and don't forget to try some poppers. They're a blast in a river or stream on topwater

RG

[seasnapper]

CLOUSER MINNOW sz 4. olive over white, chartreuse over white.....all you need

[Jimmy]

I like the big and bushy 'zonker strip' flies....  Fly fishing for Smallies is one of my all-time favorites!!!

Here's a look inside the super-secret "Smallmouth and Pike" box:

[coppersteve]

I have had the best luck with muddler minnows in white water, and gold ribbed hares ears as well.

[knurren]

I like the big and bushy 'zonker strip' flies....  Fly fishing for Smallies is one of my all-time favorites!!!

Here's a look inside the super-secret "Smallmouth and Pike" box:

That's a nice selection of clousers too.

Don't forget the top water poppers.  On a day when they're hitting, topwaters can be killers, not to mention they're one of the most fun kinds of lures to fish.  River smallies fight hard.

[rgfixit]

I'll have to dig out my "Tarantulas" and get a pic up. I was screwing around with topwater patterns and tied up some monster spiders. They have to be 2" across with a body as big as my thumb. I tossed them with my 9wt on some largemouth water and pounded some huge smallies instead.

My Bride is going to Vegas for the summer to visit the kids....time to mess up the fly bench...without complaints

RG

[Spin]

   If minnow imitations are the killer with spinning tackle then a Crease Fly  or Wobbler Fly will work for you.
You can make them or buy them - the crease is kind of a fly pala and the wobbler a sort of foam bodied flatfish.
A Mac's Worm is another subsurface pattern that can really produce. It's a rabbit strip fly with palmered hackle skirt on the shank just above the rabbit tail with a spun deer hair head with untrimmed hair skirt at the rear and the fly is tyed with the spun deerhair tyed around clouser style lead barbell eyes and with a small Mason Hard Mono loop tyed flat and extending under the strip tail to help prevent it from wrapping around the hook bend.
This fly is very effective on bass and pike and does quite well on walleyes and large trout but don't leave the tail too long about 1 1/2 to 2 times the hook length is about right. That's the deep runner and don't forget a few Dalberg Divers - a truly great hairbug.

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[Fat Boy]

Wooly buggers do work.  In my area, white millers during hatches on creeks and rivers work for smallies (in fact, any white fly seems to work and this is a good time for white buggers too).  All of the flies mentioned above are good to try.  Another hot one in my area is anything that resembles the bright blue damselflies.  During the summer the real things are preyed upon heavily by smallmouth.  My number one producer for me is a weighted brown wooley bugger with a long marabou tail (3" total length).  Black works well as does olive.  You can strip them, drift them, or skip them and you'll get hits.  Ironically, my biggest smallmouth on the fly came while I was searching my box for another fly to tie on and my brown bugger was dangling at the surface a few feet away from me while I was wading waist deep in the Potomac.  Now that technique takes talent!  LOL

Zonkers have worked well for me, and also flashy minnow type flies have done well for me on small streams.  I tie them in 1 to 2" sizes and they catch smallmouth and lots and lots of redbreast sunnies.  Wooly worms will catch fish almost any cast on the small streams, mixed bag with mostly panfish but sunnies too.  Jim C. got me into the fly fishing for smallies years ago and every now and then I abandon my spinning/casting tackle and break out my fly rod.  Admittedly, it's been awhile now since I've been so busy with my daughter's softball and other family stuff.  My last fly fishing trip was catching small stripers on the bay and a few bluefish (daggone snappers bit through my gummy minnows, but I switched to clousers and caught a bunch).  That was in June...fun enough to get my fly fishing interest back on track.  Now it's all I think about (almost).

I've tied variations of "worm" flies too and they also catch fish.  But I haven't noticed that they work any better than my favorites.

[fishermantim4]

the local fly shop near me ties these really big gobie looking tube flies. they work really well for smallies and good for steelhead in the winter too. but i also fish lake erie and gobies are now a huge diet for small mouth here

[Edm87]

I have had luck with large flashy flies.  When the water is low I have had some fun with poppers in low water conditions.  Everything mentioned above works great. 

[jmore321]

I will be making my first attempt at fly fishing this weekend in the saranac chain and am looking to target the smallies....this thread has been really helpful.  I was at LLBean here in albany last night and i am overwhelmed with info right now and can't wait to hit the water.  My plan is to primarily use poppers and go from there.

[rgfixit]

Keep it simple and try not to lose patience with the fly. It might take a bit to get the hang of it.

Have fun!
RG