Fly fishing for largemouth bass is incredibly exciting. The sheer amount of topwater explosions you can get on an afternoon trip out to your local pond or watering hole can be immense. If you are looking for more ways to catch largemouth bass during your next outing, you will want to take a look at these 11 largemouth bass fly fishing tips. The tips have been passed down from anglers over the generations, and you can use them to help increase your chances at success the next time you head to the water!

Tip #1: Bigger Is Sometimes Better – Unless you have never seen a largemouth bass before, it is pretty easy to see that their mouths open up very wide. This large mouth means that they can gulp in flies that are much larger than you would imagine. If you are having problems catching larger fish you may want to increase the size of your flies quite a bit. It’s not unheard of to use flies the size of small birds or baby ducks!

Tip #2: Try Trolling Your Flies For Largemouth – If you have access to a boat and want to add some offshore action to your fishing experience, try heading out over submerged structure and weedbeds while trolling some sinking flies. This is a great way to get largemouth to come up from the depths, and usually brings in some of the bigger fish that you will catch.

Tip #3: Vary Your Retrieval Speed – Bass may not be completely picky but some days they prefer their food moving slow, while other days they want it moving fast so they can hit it like a freight train. To figure out what the fish are looking for each time you head out to the water you will want to try varying your retrieval speed. When you start getting strikes, maintain that speed and you’ll likely find exactly what they are looking for that day.

Tip #4: Lifelike Flies Aren’t Always Best – Trout fisherman love to tie on incredibly realistic looking flies to make sure that they can fool the fish into thinking it is real. This is, however, not needed for largemouth bass. Some anglers have called them the garbage disposals of the freshwater which, quite simply, means that they will take flies whether or not they appear realistic.

Tip #5: Carry Plenty Of Topwater Flies – Largemouth bass are known for their topwater explosions which is why you should carry plenty of topwater and surface flies. Even though 90% of largemouth catches come from sinking flies, when they are turned onto the topwater it is hard to pass up the fun that can be had. The topwater strikes are so vicious that you may end up going through flies fairly quickly, which is why it is wise to carry replacements!

Tip #6: Perfect The Sidearm Cast – The overhead cast is perfect when you are not surrounded by brush and trees, or on a clear bank. However with most bass fishing you are going to be dealing with overhanging snags and other brush in your way. When this happens you will want to make sure that you know how to make a perfect sidearm cast to get the flies out onto the water without losing them to the trees!

Tip #7: Use A Strong Leader – If the pond or lake you are fishing contains only smaller 1lb to 2lb fish you may not need to worry about this so much. However for larger fish you are going to want to beef up your leader. It is not unheard of to use a 10lb or 12lb leader to make sure that you can apply adequate pressure to a running slab of a largemouth. The heavier leader also allows you to use a stiffer hookset, ensuring that the hook won’t fall out when the fish is jumping.

Tip #8: Fish Near The Thick Stuff – Largemouth bass love sitting down inside of heavy cover. This doesn’t mean that you can’t still catch them with a fly rod. If you want to increase the number of fish that you catch each day you will want to spend time throwing flies near the thick stuff in the pond or lake.

Tip #9: Carry The Right Sized Rod – You want to avoid heading out to the pond with a small 3-weight, or overly large 8-weight or 9-weight rod. The 3-weight isn’t going to apply enough pressure to bring the fish in without exhausting them while the 8-weight and 9-weight isn’t going to let the fish put up much of a fight. For ponds where the average fish weighs in between 2lbs to 5lbs you can get away with using a 6-weight very easily.

Tip #10: Ask Your Fishing Buddies – Getting in touch with other anglers in your area, even non fly anglers, is a great way to learn where the honey holes are. These honey holes are perfect for helping you get onto more fish than you have ever imagined, but you are going to have to return the favor and give them some tips of your own.

Tip #11: Carry Proven Largemouth Catching Flies – There are a few types of flies that have long been known to catch largemouth bass. Flies such as the Dahlberg Divers, frog-like Topwater Poppers, Wooly Buggers, Deer Hair Bass Bugs, and Rabbit Hair Streamers are excellent for pulling in the big fish at your honey holes.

As always, if you have largemouth bass fly fishing tips that you want to share with the community, feel free to send me an email to josh@bassflyfishing.net or leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Image Copyright: El Frito

Here at BassFlyFishing.net, we love catching bass — of all species. When I saw this video it made me want to load up and take a trip down to Miami. You probably wouldn’t think that the canals running through the city would hold this many fish, but the video is proof that it happens.

The warm water makes it possible for these tropical fish to survive, and thrive. Throwing, what looks to be, a Clouser Minnow at them gives some tight lined experiences that you’d only be able to get if you went even further south, out of the country, to the Amazon.

Take a look at the video and let me know what you think. If you happen to live around Miami, or any area in Florida where it’s possible to catch Peacocks, I’d love to hear any tips you have to offer. Leave a comment below the video.

When it comes to catching bass, and a lot of them, the fall season is one of the best times. It’s during this time period that the fish are on the move, fattening up after the hot summer months, and just before the water cools down for the year, making them incredibly aggressive. If you’re looking to catch more fish during this fall season, you’ll want to take a look at some of our proven tips.

Tip #1: “Match The Hatch” – Ok, ok. You’ve got me. I’m not talking about the hatches of bugs, and aquatic creatures, but it goes along the same lines. Rather than throwing topwaters like you’d get away with during the summer, figure out what the bass are going to be feeding on. During the fall they usually start filling up on shad, and crayfish again. If you want the best chances of catching them, try to match your flies, and their presentation, as closely as you can to what the fish want.

Tip #2: Move Your Flies Quicker – During the fall everything is picking up in speed. As the summer heated up the air temperature, as well as the water temperature, everything tends to slow down and conserve its energy. As the water begins cooling again, though, everything starts picking up speed again, which means your flies need to do the same. Try moving them in quick motions, matching the presentation to how the forage you are trying to mimic would act under the water.

Tip #3: Work The Area Hard – You don’t have to only target structure during this time of year. As the water starts cooling down the fish are going to become a lot more active, and start moving away from the structure to target their food. As long as you can track down what they are feeding on, whether baitfish, insects, or bottom feeders, you can catch them. Getting away from the structure will also increase your chances because of the sheer amount of anglers that target these areas during the spring and summer months.

These are my 3 quick tips for fly fishing for bass during the fall. If you have any tips that you’d like to share, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Until next time, tight lines from BassFlyFishing.net!

A lot of people wonder whether or not the marketing behind Sage’s BASS series of fly rods are everything that the makers want them to look, and sound like. I’m here to tell you, in a short answer, that you can get a lot more rod, for a lot less money. This isn’t saying, however, that these rods do not have their place in your arsenal. I’m just saying that the rods are marketed wrong, and I’ll cover a few of the reasons why I think these combos belong in a different sector of the fly fishing market. Before you head out and spend your hard earned money, you may want to stop and take a look at what I’m talking about.

The Rod Isn’t A True 7/8 Rod

One of the reasons that the rods are marketed in a grain weight, rather than the standard weight system that is used for other combos is because of the true line diameter that is on the rods. Specifically, the largemouth rod is actually lined with an 11-weight line. The overlined rod does help provide a better casting stroke on large hair bugs, but that would happen on any 8-weight rod that you line with 11-weight fly lines. When you drop the line down to an 8-weight to match the rod, the performance you get is on par with performance of other 8-weight combos on the market, that are also available for a lot less money.

The Combo Is Overkill For Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass

As I’ve previously stated, having an 11-weight line on an 8-weight combo is simply overkill for both largemouth, and smallmouth bass. Even for the occasional big fish, all you are going to need to carry with you is a 7-weight rod. The rod that Sage designed and marketed as a largemouth and smallmouth rod is actually big enough to handle saltwater fish such as smaller Tarpon, Snook, and Redfish. If Sage decided to change the way they marketed the rod, they could probably sell quite a few more, but as it stands they are going to be hard pressed to sell them to too many bass anglers.

The Price Is A Bit High, Even Though The Quality Is There

When you take a look at the price tag, $395 is quite a bit for a rod that is supposed to be designed specifically for bass. For that price you can get a high quality combo, spooled with a floating line, a couple fly boxes, a vest, and a full lanyard of tools. Even though Sage is known for their quality products, it is hard for me, personally, to fork over the $395 needed for this “specialty” combo.

Fly Rods Aren’t Allowed In Most Bass Tournaments

Sage knew that they could hit a market that hadn’t been tackled before by saying that the 7’11″ rod falls under the length required in the rules of the BASS/Bassmaster tournaments, but the fact is that they are simply not allowed in the tourneys. This is straight from the BASS rule books:

“Only one casting, spin casting or spinning rod (8 foot maximum length from butt of handle to rod tip) and reel may be used at any one time.”

I’ve gotta admit that there is a strong marketing initiative behind the BASS fly rods from Sage. They knew what they were doing when they started designing, but for what it is worth, they approached it in all the wrong ways. Rather than marketing these heavy-hitting rods as largemouth/smallmouth combos, they should have lowered down the line and rod ratings, to what true bass anglers are able to use, and not use false marketing campaigns that state something that is completely false.

Remember, this is just my opinion based on a few facts, and using the rod for a few hours when I borrowed it from a fishing buddy. Feel free to make your own decisions on whether or not Sage hit the mark with the rod, or if they should head back to the drawing board and give us bass anglers what we really want. Let me know your opinions by leaving a comment below, I’d love to hear from you!

Anyone who tells you that you need to carry everything you own with you when you’re fly fishing for bass needs to check out this video. The guy loads up his 2-seater BMW, a fly rod, and a tight loaded chest pack, then heads out to the water. Using Chartreuse/White and Orange/White Clouser Minnows, along with some hand tied Crayfish, Foam Spiders, and Pencil Poppers, he tears them up in the canals located around Los Angeles.

From the video it is easy to see that you don’t need a lot of gear, especially high end gear, to be able to get out on the water and slay your favorite species during quick trips. Definitely let me know what you think by leaving a comment after you’ve watched it!