Fly fishing is an outdoor sport enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. It is enjoyed by men and women, old or young. It gets children out into nature with family and friends and away from modern distractions such as TV and video games. It teaches patience, respect, and a love of the outdoors.
When you think of fly fishing, is trout the first thing that comes to mind? For many people it would be. Many anglers are now learning that fly fishing for bass can be even more rewarding and pleasurable than trout-only fly fishing. Bass tend to give a much stronger and lengthier fight which makes each catch an exciting one. This article will give you a few tips to help you make the most out of your fly fishing experience. In order to catch your prey, you should know what its survival requirements are, such as food, oxygen, and cover.
Types of food vary with each species of bass and depend on where they are located. Typically, both largemouth and smallmouth bass feed on nymphs, small baitfish, surface flies, and crayfish. The flies and lures you choose will depend a lot on what the fish are feeding on. Bass require oxygen to survive and they tend to rest in these well-oxygenated areas. They can get oxygen from the water itself or from plants that naturally give off oxygen. In general, the colder the water the more oxygen will be present, the warmer the water the less oxygen. These resting areas will determine how you present your fly to the fish.
Bass will take cover in and around stumps, trees, weed beds, rocks, or boat docks. They hide in this cover and rush out to grab food as it swims by. Smallmouth bass prefer deeper and cooler waters until evening when they come up to the shallows to feed. They also prefer moving water such as rivers or streams. Largemouth bass prefer shallower and warmer waters. They seldom go deeper than about twenty feet. They prefer still waters like lakes or ponds. In winter they dwell on the lake bottom, but are still very much active.
In order to catch your prey, you must also know more about the species itself. How does it see, hear, or feel things in its environment? A bass has a very acute sense of sight and can see in just about any water condition. They can also see very well at night. Bass stay in the shadows to prevent the harmful rays of the sun from rendering them completely blind.
Bass can hear and, at the same time, feel vibrations from sounds and movements in the water. This is how they know that food is near even if the creature is a great distance away. When bass hear a clicking noise, for example, they know that a crayfish is near. Some lures are made with beads or BBs to replicate this sound. Bass also have a great sense of smell and taste. If a bass doesn’t like the smell or taste of your lure or fly it will immediately spit it out, not giving you time to set the hook. It is a good idea to wash your hands with odor free soap or use a scent neutralizer before handling flies.
Learn to read the environment. In other words, try to determine where your bass might be at that time, where to cast your fly, and where to position yourself to have the greatest advantage. Try not to approach too closely or too noisily. To fly fish for small or largemouth bass the presentation of your fly must appear as natural as possible. Try to convince the fish that this is really great food. Learn as many types of casts as you can so that you will have the advantage.
It is also a good idea to learn which types and colors of flies to use in the area in which you are fishing. In general, smallmouths prefer Wooly Buggers, Red Squirrel Nymph, Tangerine Dream, Hares Ear Nymph, Clouser Minnow, and the Makota. Likewise, largemouth bass prefer Poppers, Deer Hair divers, Popper Flies, and a variety of other flies. Using these tips will guarantee that you have an exciting and successful time fly fishing for the most popular sport fish in all of North America. Good luck and remember to practice catch and release and always treat the fish, the sport, and the environment with the utmost respect.
