Sometimes everything comes together. Such was the case in one of my recent smallmouth
outings on the Mohawk River. My brother Bill is way into tournament bass
fishing, while my game has always been fly fishing. We were on the river in Bills
bass boat under the perfect conditions; an overcast evening, and very clear
water. We were working the surface over a channel about 12 feet deep, my brother
using a Zara Spook, and I flinging a big hairbug. My yellow diver bug had just
hit the water when a heavy smallmouth rocketed from underneath to take the fly.
This bass and several other good-sized smallmouths, made for a very memorable
evening of fishing as I kept up with the bass pro using fly tackle.

The Right Conditions

One of my favorite fly fishing pursuits is going after the local smallmouth
bass population with surface bugs. I have several great bass areas right near my
home, and pursuing smallies with bugs is great fun, while the nearby largemouth
population at times also gets my attention.

In
my bass bugging over the years, Ive discovered first that knowing when to
fish with surface flies saves a lot of fruitless hours of flailing away with a
heavy fly rod and a big, wind-resistant bug. Bass, like many species, are
sensitive to light, smallmouths even more than largemouths, and will go very
deep during the summer. For this reason, the bug fishing in the early portion of
the season and again in the fall is the most consistent because the sun isnt
as intense on the water.

During the summer months when the sun burns brightest, the very best bug
fishing comes during the early morning and late evening hours. The rest of the
time, trying to draw a bass to the surface is just about impossible. They will
just ignore most surface presentations, the only exception being cloudy summer
days, and days when there is a light rain, both of which can be very good for
bug fishing.

Finding the Right Bug

In
addition to knowing when to fish a surface bug, knowing the best type of bug
will result in more landed fish. I have had smallmouths and largemouths hit darn
near every type of surface bug in my fly box, including saltwater skipping bugs
that I bought to go striped bass fishing. I prefer to use hairbugs most of the
time. Smallmouths and largemouths can crush a hairbug in their jaws easily, and
will tend to hold onto it for much longer than they will hold a hard-bodied
popper. Hairbugs have their disadvantages, being harder to cast, but they
definitely result in more hooked fish.

When I do fish with a hard-bodied popper, I downsize it a little bit. My
favorite hard popper is the Sneaky Pete, and I usually will fish a size #6 or #8
for smallmouths. By going to a smaller size, it is much easier to get a good
hookup on a bass. With largemouths, getting a good set on the hook isnt so
much of a problem. Even a scrappy sized largemouth can easily inhale most bugs.

I generally get by with three fly patterns for most of my surface fishing. As
I mentioned above, a Sneaky Pete is usually with me on all of my bass trips. For
hairbugs, I use a frog pattern of my own design with a tail made out of grizzly
saddle hackles and a frog colored body made of spun deer hair that is white
along the belly and green, yellow, and black on the back. I also use Dahlburg
Divers, usually in a yellow/black color combination.

The Right Retrieve

Varying
the retrieve makes a big difference in getting fish to strike a surface bug. The
best way to determine what retrieve will work is to match the retrieve to the
weather and the mood of the fish. If you get to your favorite bass river or
lake, and the fish are "popping" for bait all over the place, then an
aggressive retrieve is the best. Should the weather be really warm, and the fish
a little on the sluggish side, then going with a much slower retrieve, covering
the same water in a lot more time is the best.

Many times, bass will attack a fly as soon as it hits the water, or shortly
thereafter. When the fish are a little on the sluggish side, let the fly sit for
a while. Wait until the rings that the bug made when it hit the water are gone,
and then give it a slight twitch. Often that will bring a strike during hot
weather, especially with largemouth.

When to Set The Hook

One thing that I learned from fishing with my brother, is to wait slightly
when a fish hits before setting the hook. When a bass hits a bug on the surface,
setting the hook the instant the fish blows up on the bug will usually result in
yanking the bug right out of the fishs mouth. A lot of times the basss
first hit is to kill its prey, then it quickly repositions it and swallows it.
My brothers trick is that he counts to one before he sets the hook.

Bass hit a surface bug in a variety of ways. They can blast it from below,
they can slam it from the side, or grab it from the rear. The toughest fish to
hook are the ones who blast it from below and launch up in the air with the fly
in their mouth. It takes a lot of control to let that fish hit the water before
setting the hook.

Being
alert is very important when bugging for bass. When bass are really on the bite,
they attack the fly the instant that it hits the water. It has also been my
observation that bass hit during the first half of the retrieve. Consequently, I
only work the fly half way back to the boat, and try to keep my concentration
up, and then let off while I cast. That way I am not focusing when nothing is
going to happen, and I am also covering more water in a productive manner. There
is nothing worse than being asleep at the wheel when a big bass hits.

Bugging for bass is one of the most exciting things you can do with a flyrod.
The explosive surface strike of a smallmouth or largemouth is an incredible
thing. Many people who are very adept at fly fishing for trout and other species
give bugging a try and are not successful. Knowing when to fish, the right
patterns, how to present them and when to set the hook give an angler a big
advantage when it comes to successful bugging.