Need help building a bass box

[Kevin8888 0]

Hey I'm new here and relatively new to fly fishing and was wondering if any one had any suggestions on some good fly patterns for stillwater (small lakes) bass fishing. For use around lake Ontario, at any time of the season, both small and largemouth bass. I tryed looking though the database of patterns here but there was just so many that I'm having a hard time picking (that and I have no idea whats good). Any help would be welcome.

[smallieFanatic 0]

I suggest clouser minnows, wooly buggers, and leeches just for starters.

 

 

Jan

[utyer 0]

The three patterns already mentioned would be a very good start. If there are perch in the lakes you fish, have plenty of green wooly buggers, and green and yellow clousers. Leaches in olive will also work. As for other colors, brown, black and white would be plenty. Not much else is really necessary. Since most of the places I bass fish have perch, my bass boxes are filled with perch colored flies.

[Ben Kann 0]

for top water fishing: Little deer hair frogs (sizes #4 & #6) in both simple floating (with pearl bead eyes) and Dahlberg style. Also Dave Whitlock's "Wake minnow" in whatever sizes and colors match the local forage. And any or all with weedguards if you're fishing near shoreline cover.

[Bugsy 0]

In short time, the core of your bass selection will likely consist of several patterns in which you have developed confidence based on your personal success. For largemouths, my confidence flies have been: (1) Chart/White Clouser, (2) Dahlberg Diving Bug/Minnow, (3) my variation of a Yuk Bug, and (4) White Woolly Bugger, though this is not truly a confidence fly as you will see. The Clouser gets used mostly during the brief pre-spawn period. I have also had good fishing with a Red & White Tap's Bug when schooling bass are chasing shad, particularly when winds create a lot of surface chop. I like to fish a Dahlberg (whatever color) adjacent to exposed, submerged structure (trees, pilings, etc) at low light when a good bass might be in the mood to play on top. The Yuk Bug has been good during bright, early summer days when the bass seem more interested in something a bit smaller that doesn't make a commotion.

 

Though there are other patterns, these are what I typically use. The white woolly bugger I use occasionally has turned the trick for fish that have refused a mix of other patterns. It has also accounted for some huge "bull" 'gills that have been more memorable than most of the bass. This is the only bugger that I fish. Buggers in other colors haven't been reliable for me, and I don't fish them for trout. I don't like buggers, but this one works well enough that I will use it. There are any number of other surface flies in addition to the Tap's Bug that would work for the schooling bass described, but the Tap's Bug creates just the right amount of disturbance when worked quickly through the surface chop. The bonus is that it's a simple tie that you don't mind watching getting chewed apart during an afternoon of fast fishing.

 

I think the most important factor is for you to choose a fly for each fishing situation and understand how it should be fished to its advantage in each situation.

[Hairstacker 0]

Well, out here on the California Delta, I would never consider venturing out on the water during the topwater season without green and yellow Dahlberg Divers and red/white Tap's Bugs, both tied on size 2 Tiemco TMC 8089 hooks. There have been many occasions when one worked when the other didn't and vice versa.

 

Of the two, the red and white Tap's Bug is probably the more versatile. Bass will hit it while it's sitting still and, at times, will actually chase it down when it is very rapidly retrieved and skipping across the surface. In fact, on several occasions, I've had bass hit the Tap's Bug 2 or 3 times before finally hooking up as I stripped it in like crazy. My favorite take, though, was when a bass left the water at least a foot away from the bug, went straight up and did a dolphin arch at the top of its leap, and then came head-first, straight down on top of the bug like an Olympic diver. Gotta love those topwater bass!

 

-- Mike

[Kevin8888 0]

Thanks guys! These patterns should definatly give me something to start with, now I just have to learn how to use them properly (as my fly fishing experince is minimal).