Flies for Pike and Bass

[Tim Shovel 0]

I am relatively new to fly fishing and know very little in the terms of which flies to use and which flies not to use. I live near several lakes with bass (Smallmouth and Largemouth) and pike. My question is which flies will produce strikes and will catch me fish, if possible could somebody point me in the direction of a video to watch said fly being tied. I know frog and mouse flies work well but I don't know which individual patterns work well. Thank you for your assistance.

[ihang10 0]

Time of the season is probably going to dictate what fly you're going to use. Those fish you mentioned are eating machines most of the time, they aren't going to be too particular as related to a pattern as long as the fly resembles food.

 

Bait fish and leech imitations. Blues, olives yellow.

 

Craw dads.

 

I use a lot of silver, green and orange Murdich minnows, but those are probably in the bait fish category.

 

You already mentioned top water flies that will work. Bass will hit clousers and wolly buggers willingly. Bead or cone head Brown, olive, black and white #8 & 10.

 

The New Fly Fisher (out of Ontario) has a lot of videos on YouTube, and often they are going after the same species you are interested in. Should be a good video resource for you.

 

Sometimes presentation and casting accuracy is more important than the fly, and that goes back to knowing how the water temp and seasons are impacting the fish on the water you're on. If you don't get the fly to the fish, the fly won't matter at all.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Thank you I'll definitely look into the flies you mentioned thanks again

[Philly 0]

I do a lot of my bass fishing with poppers and sliders. Probably because when I fish for trout I use dry flies. Poppers can be fairly easy to tie. Pick up some of the pre-made popper bodies. I prefer the white soft foam ones. Pick up some material for a tail, some hackle, some silicone legs, stick on eyes, hooks and some permanent markers to add a splash of color. Use the same bodies for sliders, with the pointy end facing forward. Google "Sneaky Petes" for an easy one to tie

Poppers

 

 

 

Sliders

 

 

 

Subsurface

Pretty much what ihang10 mentioned through I lean more toward bait fish patterns and a couple of other patterns like the Calcasieu Pig Boat

 

and Clouser Minnows

 

Pike

Large streamers. Mostly glorified Wooly Buggers 4 to 8 inches long. Wooly Bugger body with a tail of buck tail, saddle hackle and flash. All white has worked well for me.

 

 

 

 

[Tim Shovel 0]

OK thanks I think I will be back to refer to your pics. Do the poppers have to be chartreuse, black, yellow and red or will any bright colour do?

[ditz2 0]

Yallar is the color....yellow for you yanks

[Philly 0]

Yallar is a good color though it sounds like something they'd fish in East Tennessee. Not in the river bottoms of West Tennessee where yellow works.

I also like fluorescent yellow as a go to color, if you can find popper bodies that color. White also works well. The top popper is trying to match sunfish/perch colors. A variation of that is "Fire Tiger" which is Fl Green, Fl Yellow and Fl orange with wiggly black stripes. The bottom popper is white, with a light blue back and a touch of pink on the belly. Trying to mimic shad colors. Start simple. If you can find white, yellow and chartreuse popper bodies you should be good to go with the plain colors.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Thank you, they seem easy to tie and I will look forward to having poppers and sliders in my box

[ditz2 0]

One other thought about flies for fresh water predators. Get a good book on salt water patterns. Many of them translate well in to the sweet water arena.

 

Also, many of the shrimp and crab patterns can be slightly modified to become good crawdad flies.

[Philly 0]

Agree with ditz2 on that. Most of my saltwater patterns are the same ones I use for bass and pike. A good book is "PopFleyes" by Ed Jaworwski and Bob Popovics. Detailed tying instructions, how to use materials, how to fish the flies.

[add147 0]

Philly,

You have some very nice looking flies indeed. The sliders are awesome!!! I'll have to check those out sometime and see how to make those. I assume they float like a popper?

[Philly 0]

add147

Yep, they float. They slide through the water leaving just a wake. Because of the shape they can also be fished of an intermediate or sinking line. Normally, I don't tie them that elaborately. Most are Sneaky Pete variations. Body is more bullet shaped, basically a popper head turned around. Add legs, tail and hackle and you're in business. Here's a picture of one that tied as a tube fly. I also tie them on standard hooks, and articulated shanks with a treble hook.

 

 

[Tim Shovel 0]

Good to know, thank you for your advice