As the redbuds bloom and the seaside alders leaf out, it is safe to say that the smallmouth action at Blue River is about to take off. The smallmouth, known for battle worthiness and tenaciousness, is one of the most sought after game fish. A hook-up with a smallie in a river current is always an added bonus and the character of Blue River gives advantage to the smallie in its battle against angler.
Fly fishers usually carry a large selection of flies at all times but when seeking the smallmouth at Blue a half dozen of patterns is all that is needed. Here are six patterns guaranteed to bring smallmouth action.
Bigger and Woollier Buggers
Although best known as the “when all else fails” fly for trout aficionados, the Woolly Bugger can be a dynamite pattern for taking the smallmouth. As a general rule however, buggers for smallmouth should be tied larger, with longer hackles, and with a diversity of color in the pattern. Tie your buggers not only as imitations of leeches and minnows, but also as attractors using brighter colors in the pattern. Olive with yellow is one of the best color combinations and basic black is also a killer choice especially fishing in dark water conditions or at night or pre-dawn. However, don’t limit yourself to standard colors such as olive, black, or brown. Tie up some purple buggers, maybe some chartreuse or hot pink and don’t forget white.
Presentation
Buggers are very versatile but one of the favored ways of presenting this fly is the down and across cast. With the down and across you can get a drift, fall, swing, and then the strip. Also with the down and across you can initiate the “dip and strip” which is simply casting your fly, dipping the rod tip in the water and twitching the rod tip during the strip. The pick-up-and-let-sink method can be used with a bugger also and often the smallies will attack on the rise or fall of the fly. Buggers can be fished in any water whether it is wide, flat, or slow moving water or the seams of fast runs and riffles and always keep in mind up-and-downing pockets.
Clouser Minnow
Invented in the early eighties by Bob Clouser, this pattern has become world-renowned and is a “must have” in the arsenal for battling smallmouth. The Clouser Minnow comes in a variety of sizes and colors. Lighter shades of buck tail are always used to imitate the belly of a baitfish with flash in the middle and darker colored buck tail for the back. Some of the best color combinations are white belly – olive back, white belly – chartreuse back, white belly – gray back, and black belly – black back. The slim and sparse silhouette of this pattern makes it look like an escaping baitfish.
Presentation
Like any streamer the Clouser Minnow should be fished accordingly. The great thing about this pattern is its non-stop movement during the retrieve. Dumb bell eyes tied on top of the hook shank helps this fly to fish with the hook point upside down preventing snags and the dumb bell eyes makes this pattern go up and down in the water column during the strip. Casting downstream and across toward structure or the bank and then employing a panic strip is one of the most effective ways to attract smallmouth. The Clouser Minnow – don’t leave home without it.
The Lone Ranger
Back in 2003 I opened up a small fly shop in an old west recreation of an 1880’s town and called my novelty fly shop “The Old West Fly Shop”. As a part of that effort I wanted patterns to take on names of some of the characters from the old west and era of the silver screened cowboys. I asked Ann Barger to come up with a pattern that would credit one of the most famous screen cowboys the Lone Ranger. Ann tied a streamer with the colors of white, black and silver. The white symbolized the Ranger’s hat, the silver was the bullet he used, and the black was for his mask. It was a simple tie really…black conehead, white marabou for the tail, silver flash in the tail, and ice or pearl cactus chenille for the body. What started out as a joking novelty type of thing proved to be a producing fly for smallmouth. My best guess to date is that it is simply the color of the fly looking like a darter or small baitfish going through the water.
Presentation
Present the Lone Ranger as you would any Woolly Bugger. Cast downstream and across, drift it, swing it, panic strip it. Personally, panic stripping has worked best for me but this is not to say that I haven’t captured smallmouth with a methodically slow strip also. It’s an effective fly in almost any type of water. The only downside to this fly is that the color starts to dirty quite easily.
Crawdad
At the top of the smallmouth menu list is the crawdad. Without a doubt the crawdad is the crème de la crème of offerings for the smallmouth’s palate. In Blue River, there is a large presence of crawdads and it is quite common to land a smallmouth and while taking the hook from the fish’s mouth notice the fish already has a crawdad in the canal of its gullet. Quite simply presenting a crawdad pattern, hoping to capture a smallie, is a no-brainer.
Presentation
My favorite crawdad pattern is another simple tie. My favorite size is a size 6 streamer hook and I use “heavy metal” dumbbell eyes – 1/32 ounce. The dumbbell eyes are tied on top of the hook shank to cause the hook point to ride upside down preventing hang-ups. Flip the hook over and tie the rest of your fly by using two clumps of pheasant tail fibers for the claws. Capture gold ribbing to be used for segmentation, another clump of pheasant tail for the shellback, dub marabou for the body and you can tie in a small section of Swiss straw to make a fan-tail at the eye of the hook. Simply tie in reverse the placement of the materials you tied in. I always use a bodkin to pick out some marabou fibers to simulate the legs of the dad. This fly is to be fished on or near the bottom because that is where the crawdad lives and the smallies are looking.
Miss Prissy
If there is a Woolly Bugger in the popper-fly world then the Miss Prissy has to reign supreme! This simple, but effective, popper has produced more bass action than any other popper-fly ever. It’s that simple. Much speculation can be given to why this popper is so effective – is it the shape of the body, the color scheme, or perhaps the long rubber legs. Ask twenty different fly fishers and get twenty different answers. What I know from personal experience is that the Miss Prissy is a must have, go-to, fly-fishing bit of attraction for battling the smallmouth bass.
Presentation
Basically, there are two schools of thoughts presenting the Miss Prissy. Some say cast the fly and immediately give it action. The other offering of thought says cast the fly and let it sit awhile, then give action. Over the years the latter idea has worked best for me. I actually discovered this by accident. One morning I had been fishing the Miss Prissy and made a good number of casts giving action as soon as the fly landed. Then I made a cast and decided I wanted a smoke. While I was fumbling for my smokes and Miss Prissy was leisurely floating down the river a smallmouth attacked with vengeance. Since that day I have always let the popper sit awhile and let the fish have a look at it.
Chernobyl Hopper
It’s hard to say exactly what critter the Chernobyl Hopper is supposed to look like and evidently that isn’t important because this pattern produces top water explosive action. The Chernobyl can be tied in a number of color combinations and personally I tie mine most often with the black foam on bottom. In using the Chernobyl I have become convinced it is the silhouette that makes this pattern so effective.
Presentation
Again there are different methods presenting the Chernobyl and much like the popper we have a choice of non-stop action, intermittent action, or casting the fly and letting it sit awhile like a stunned or disoriented insect.
If you are planning a trip to Blue in search of smallmouth, be sure and take these six flies. As a matter of fact it is probably a good idea to take a several of each pattern because Blue River smallies are known to attack with attitude.
