Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 What would they be? 1. Top Water..? 2. Swimming/Subsurface..? 3. Bottom Bouncing..? Talking Warm Water LM but you SM guys chime in too. Post pics if you have them please. For me top water would be a variant of Dave Whitlock's "Swimming Frog" with an Orange belly. Tied Standard and Bendback if the weeds are bad. The next would be something more realistic. Next step is to tie the swimming frog with Cohens' Frog legs on the back,that would probably be the ultimate for me. For Subsurface it would be this.. I tie these with a little lead under the deer hair and some unweighted...2"-8" It catches everything that swims. If I could only have one fly to fish the world with it would be this. I also really like variations of Whitlock's Eel Worm Streamer. Weighted and unweighted, Wool body and Deer Hair body. Unweighted I fish it with a sinktip over submerged weed beds with a 3'-6' leader. Strip and it dives and then pops back up..they are really productive for me. Don't have pics of all the variations but here are a couple. Wool Deer Hair. Bottom bouncing I really don't think it matters much and I've never used a Sculpin head yet but I'm about to tie variations of these with Sculpin heads instead of dumbbell eyes. These all work very well for me. Wool & Marabou Rabbit. Misc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rocco 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 4-5" Murdich Minnow with rattle on 2/0 hook in crystal finish with lots of Copic color pens Lefty's Deceiver with lead eyes in white and chartruese, red and white, and black and purple. 4-5" bucktails tied with sparse, mobile tip hair, and a little flash. A few of each with mono weed guards for fishing around the thick stuff. Rocco Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 4-5" Murdich Minnow with rattle on 2/0 hook in crystal finish with lots of Copic color pens Lefty's Deceiver with lead eyes in white and chartruese, red and white, and black and purple. 4-5" bucktails tied with sparse, mobile tip hair, and a little flash. A few of each with mono weed guards for fishing around the thick stuff. Rocco Had to look that up...never heard of it. I like it except tons of examples on Goolge but basically the same thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
essequamvideri 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 Double XL Bomber Cockroach Lithuanian Bat Actually the three I use the most. In this order. Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave G. 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 Purple Zonker, maybe 4" long. Similar to yours, Mike. Tie in various optional attractions . I like to make some tie down rings of monochord along the body in orange or tomato soup red. Salmon will take these too in the right conditions, I assume as a leach. Betts style popper, be it theirs or a hand made one. The chartreuse and yellow with white legs in the larger size is my favorite for small mouth right out of the package. But hand tying a larger one is fine for large mouth. In colder waters ( like in spring time around here) I really like a black and grizzly with peackock herl body woollie bugger. The bigger and bushier the better. Sometimes I tie them with both cone head and lead weight though and cast them on my 6 or my 8 wt.. Not just bass but any big fish loves these things . Yep, big honking woolie bugger with peackock herl body, check that one off for sure ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 Purple Zonker, maybe 4" long. Similar to yours, Mike. Tie in various optional attractions . I like to make some tie down rings of monochord along the body in orange or tomato soup red. Salmon will take these too in the right conditions, I assume as a leach. Betts style popper, be it theirs or a hand made one. The chartreuse and yellow with white legs in the larger size is my favorite for small mouth right out of the package. But hand tying a larger one is fine for large mouth. In colder waters ( like in spring time around here) I really like a black and grizzly with peackock herl body woollie bugger. The bigger and bushier the better. Sometimes I tie them with both cone head and lead weight though and cast them on my 6 or my 8 wt.. Not just bass but any big fish loves these things . Yep, big honking woolie bugger with peackock herl body, check that one off for sure ! Yep every fly fisherman needs some kind of Woolly Worm or Woolly Bugger. I tie what I was taught nearly 50 years ago. A Woolly Worm with a Peacock herl body a natural grizzly hackle and with either a Grizzly,Red or Orange tail. Sometimes I get fancy with them and add dumbbell eyes so they ride hook point up and use Marabou for the tail but just a wisp of it...nothing like you see most folks use. A confidence fly for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 Double XL Bomber Cockroach.......Can't find this one...have a pic? or link to it? Lithuanian Bat...Found this one.Basically like mine but tied on a jig hook Actually the three I use the most. In this order. Michael ????? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 Fortunately, we don't have to make that decision. However, I only use 2 types of flies for bass, anyway. Top water foam popper. Some type of streamer for submerged. I haven't figured out which type is the best. If I need to go to the bottom, I don't use a fly rod. I go with a soft plastic worm. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bimini15 0 Report post Posted October 9, 2016 This is the cockroach fly I know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thinkingredneck 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2016 Foam popper with weed guard in yellow with rubber legs. Clouser minnow. Purple or Purple/Chartreuse Wooly Bugger in Cinnamon with bead head Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GG34 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 What would they be? 1. Top Water..? 2. Swimming/Subsurface..? 3. Bottom Bouncing..? Talking Warm Water LM but you SM guys chime in too. Post pics if you have them please. For me top water would be a variant of Dave Whitlock's "Swimming Frog" with an Orange belly. Tied Standard and Bendback if the weeds are bad. The next would be something more realistic. Next step is to tie the swimming frog with Cohens' Frog legs on the back,that would probably be the ultimate for me. For Subsurface it would be this.. I tie these with a little lead under the deer hair and some unweighted...2"-8" It catches everything that swims. If I could only have one fly to fish the world with it would be this. I also really like variations of Whitlock's Eel Worm Streamer. Weighted and unweighted, Wool body and Deer Hair body. Unweighted I fish it with a sinktip over submerged weed beds with a 3'-6' leader. Strip and it dives and then pops back up..they are really productive for me. Don't have pics of all the variations but here are a couple. Wool Deer Hair. Bottom bouncing I really don't think it matters much and I've never used a Sculpin head yet but I'm about to tie variations of these with Sculpin heads instead of dumbbell eyes. These all work very well for me. Wool & Marabou Rabbit. Misc. Mike, what is that subsurface go to pattern called? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Poopdeck 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 1. Gurgler 2. Clouser 3. Cork poppers Strictly smallmouth river fishing. Occasionally I accidently catch a LM but I rarely target them specifically. I like fishin on top so I don't have a top three for all the ranges. I'll fish the clouser at every depth except on top. If I was given a number four it would be a bugger. I like quick and simple to tie patterns. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave G. 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 Fortunately, we don't have to make that decision. However, I only use 2 types of flies for bass, anyway. Top water foam popper. Some type of streamer for submerged. I haven't figured out which type is the best. If I need to go to the bottom, I don't use a fly rod. I go with a soft plastic worm. We keep plastic and hardware on the boat too. It's especially useful for when the grand sons are on board but we are no strangers to that stuff either.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 Mike, what is that subsurface go to pattern called Just something I've been tying for 20+ years. Basically a fancy Marabou Muddler Minnow.. I use to use Gold or Silver Tinsel Chineel for the body now I use Ice dub and some Marabou or fluff from some saddle hackles for the red at the gills. The rest is some Grizzly Saddle hackles,Marabou wound on like hackle and spun deer hair head. I usually put some light lead wire under the head to help get it down under the surface a few inches. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
essequamvideri 0 Report post Posted October 12, 2016 Double XL Bomber Use Schlappen feathers for hackle Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
