Mice for smallmouths

[tyrite 0]

I us 3D Eyes 1/8 Gold!!!

 

tyrite

[smallieFanatic 0]

Ima have to tie some tiny ones o try for our liddle largemouths

 

at our lake we have a ton of smallies but only tiny largemouths

[Old Hat 0]

SmalllieFanatic - Don't worry too much about size. A 14" small mouth like smokinprice said can handle some of the biggest flies you can toss at them. Tie them big - the fish will take them. Bass like a real meal.

 

A little story - while doing research on a local river we were using nets to capture juvenile fish. In one of the nets we captured a juvenile smallmouth that was about 3" long. He/She had this huge extended gut that made the fish look like it was deformed. Of course we had to cut it open to see what was inside. Inside its gut was a whole undigested salmon fry just under 2.5" long. This fish had eaten another fish that was almost the same size as itself. It really was amazing and showed just how voracious smallmouth are.

[smallieFanatic 0]

what a greedy little fish :hyst:

[tidewaterfly 0]

I've used deerhair mice for largemouths, but never tried them for smallmouths. I know they'll eat them, they eat anything!

 

I agree with Old Hat about using big flies too. I like big flies for both bass, and some of the flies I use for them, I also use for striped bass. The only exception is on real small streams, as sometimes the big flies just spook the fish, so then I use a 3 or 4 wt rod & smaller flies. It's a good idea to have a good selection of flies in various sizes.

 

supaflygsr, I saw that same fly somewhere else recently, but it had a different name. It was on a site about Alaska fishing I think. My memory sucks sometimes. Still the same fly though. I liked the looks of it & am going to tie up some to add to my bass fly boxes. I also like 1/0 hooks for a lot of my bass flies. Just for info purposes, I've been using some Daiichi D50Z straight shank worm hooks for tying various bass flies. Great hook, strong, light & super sharp! :headbang:

 

 

[fishinbub 0]

Last fall I hook a 4lb large mouth that had a 3-4 inch large mouth in his mouth. In the 3-4 bass' mouth was a small shad maybe .5 inches smaller. It is unreal how big a lure or fly those little suckers will eat. I've caught little large mouth bass under 12 inches on a BIG crankbait.

[flymaster 0]

I throw them in the river here at home at night in the pitch black and do well on them. I also tie a big black slider for this. I just throw up or up and across and keep up with the slack so you can feel the strikes and feel you will. Most of the time they about hook theirself. It sounds like a train wreck when they hit. I love it I jsut started doing the night hing last year and can't wait to do it this summer. Heres one from last summer.

STU

[BEETLE BOB 0]

Why throw something big when you can get just as good results throwing something smaller? Iknow for a fact mice in size #10 and #8's are extremely effective for smallies.Just use caribou hair to tye them with. The finer diameter caribou hair is much easier to tye a compact mouse body in smaller sizes than the larger diameter deer hair. Don,t worry the fish are just as big!

[Bruce Derington 0]

BeetleBob, can U post one?

[BEETLE BOB 0]

This is the best i can do ;Tye a thin straight extended body type tail of moose body hair,then spin and pack a body made of caribou hair down to the front third of a wide gapped hook and trim bottom,put in some foam shaped ears if you want and spin and clip a little caribou in front of the ears and tie off. Hope that helps,good fishing!

[Futzer 0]

I use a similar pattern for Brown trout, since there are not many smallies ops here, as BeetleBob. Also with caribou in smaller sizes. What I do different is I have never put ears on a mouse, I do put pink or grey rubberl legs in.

 

Cheers, Futzer.

[FlyTyingPhotographer 0]

One thing I found that works extremely well for Smallmouths on the Schuylkill River is a Yellow and White Bomber. You know the Bomber Salmon flies ? Yellow Hackle with a White body drives 'em nuts. I toss 'em in the riffles and catch smallies one after another all day. Other patterns I've had good luck with on the Schuylkill are the Black Ghost streamer, White Marabou streamer and the Muddler Minnow. They do seem to show a preference for something with White. That may be a local thing. They may be keying on a certain food item that has white in it or maybe it's just easier for them to see. I never tried mice for smallies.