Good smallmouth flies for a beginner

[carolinafisherman 0]

Howdy folks, I am relatively new to fly tying, so I am looking for some relatively easy smallmouth patterns.

 

I have taken a couple of lessons, and I think that I am pretty good at tying woolly boogers, but where can I go from here?

 

As of right now, I have tied mostly just wet flies/streamers (woolly boogers, and my own variants of woollies) and I feel like I can now graduate to the next step in smallie tying. Do y'all have any recommendations for good, basic, smallmouth flies that I would be able to tie? (Without spending a fortune on materials)

 

I appreciate it!

 

Tight lines

-CF

 

 

[JSzymczyk 0]

lead eye ("clouser") minnows. Get a few colors of bucktail such as chartreuse, white, brown, and gray (and whatever other colors you like), some krystal flash in pearl or rainbow, and some inexpensive Mustad 3366 hooks in size 4 and 2.

 

With woolly buggers and these bucktails, you can catch 99.9% of smallmouths from the surface to the abyss. Give yourself enough different colors, sizes, weights, and techniques, and you will catch them.

 

It's important to learn to correctly tie with bucktail. There are several good tutorials here and on other websites.

[redietz 0]

It may be too close to what you're already tying, but from my experience, you can't go wrong with a Sparkle Grub.

 

Hook: Mustad 3366, Size 4

Thread: 3/0, Color to match body

Weight/eyes: Dumbell eyes, painted or with stick-on eyes

Tail: Chartreuse, black or white Marabou

Body: Estaz or Cactus Chenille to match tail

 

 

It achieves much the same effect as the Clouser mentioned (which you should also tie) but has a bit more action.

 

 

You might also want to try some poppers. Get some foam popper bodies and some sili legs. Again, the Mustad 3366 is a good hook for foam poppers because it's straight eyed and easy to push through the foam body. To put the body on the hook, first cover the hook with thread (and tie & cut off) and coat the thread with super glue. Push the body over the hook eye onto the thread while the glue is still wet. You add the sili legs by doubling over a piece of music wire and pushing the doubled through the foam. Put the sili leg through the loop of wire, and pull through -- it's essentially the same operation as using a bobbin threader. Add some glue to the legs when they're almost in place (i.e. in the spot where they'll be in the body). Cut the loop in the sili legs; you end up with two strands on each side. For the back, you can use either marabou or a couple of pieces of splayed hackle, and you can wrap a hackle at the point where the hook exits the body. Tart it up it with glittery stuff as you like.

 

Or you try some soft hackles; a partridge and orange on a #8 hook is surprisingly effective for smallies. A tag of silver or gold tinsel behind the body might make it even more effective (and it looks nice.)

 

 

 

[smallieFanatic 0]

Clousers are good! Also don't forget Crayfish, Bucktails like the Warden's Worry and Black nosed Dace, and Bunny-Strip Muddler minnows.

[MIKE*A 0]

Great advice from everybody already.....can't stress enough the Clouser minnows......dressed in colors to match the crayfish of your region and they make a suitable crayfish fly......also dress them to match the color of madtoms in your area......in shallow water I fish a lot of traditional bucktails (unweighted) charttreuse/white, black/white, olive/chart. are my top colors.......bunny strip leeches are also big producers......check the fly database on this website for phot and video tutorials for all of these flies......

 

Mike

[smalliestalker 0]

clousers are of course the number one go to for smallies......crawfish patterns are another must have, there are hundreds of them to choose from, most of them look along the lines of a woolly bugger...the important thing to remember about a crawfish pattern is, you want the bottom to be lighter in color then the top.....Deceivers are also good, originally for salt, they are great for bass.....bunny leeches are easy to tie and can prove themselves invaluable on some days....Good luck, smallies are my species of choice, they are addicting....

[tidewaterfly 0]

Great flies mentioned already. Add the Seaducer streamer, bass of all types like it. Very simple but also versatile. They can be tied with bead, cone, or lead eyes, or simply with lead wire along the shank, or no weight at all. All you need to tie them are strung saddle hackles, but you can get a different look by using strung neck hackle for the tail.

 

The body is palmered hackle, with a tail of saddle or neck hackle, and some strands of flash material. You can add other body materials too, like estaz or cactus chenille for more flash, then palmer the hackle. I usually add a rib of mono or copper wire to mine, counter wrapped over the body just to make them a little more durable. Any size or color you like. One of my favorite bass flies.

 

Since you've got woollies down, this should be an easy fly for you!

[day5 0]

75% of the diet of smallies over 15 inches in most water sheds is crayfish. The other 25% is a mix of bugs and bait fish. for Bugs and bait you really need to match the hatch. In other words if shad are prevalent fish shad colored streamers. Helgramites are also a excellent bug to copy. You can easily upgrade a bugger in to a hellgie looking fly. Serch the web.......

[redietz 0]

You can easily upgrade a bugger in to a hellgie looking fly. Serch the web.......

 

Buggers were originally intended to be hellgrammite imitations.

 

Just think black, black, and black.

[Hairstacker 0]

You can easily upgrade a bugger in to a hellgie looking fly. Serch the web.......

 

Buggers were originally intended to be hellgrammite imitations.

 

Just think black, black, and black.

 

. . . and olive.

 

In addition to the above, I also always carry coneheaded mohair leeches in various colors (black, olive, and rust) and Murray's strymphs (in black).

 

-- Mike

[carolinafisherman 0]

Wow! Great responses, guys. I am learning already! I saw this:

I usually add a rib of mono or copper wire to mine, counter wrapped over the body just to make them a little more durable.

and am wondering how one goes about 'counter-wrapping'? I suppose this means wrapping it over my body material, turning it in the opposite direction? Or tying it on at the opposite end (tying it on towards the eye of the hook) and then wrapping backwards?

 

Thank again, folks! I will definitely be looking into all of these.

 

Tight lines

-CF

[tidewaterfly 0]

Counter wrapping means in the opposite direction. If you wrap in the same direction, the rib often wants to bury itself between the hackle wraps. Tie the wire or mono at the bend & wrap forward, just like you do with the hackle. It's a little tricky to tie the rib off sometimes. When you get to the eye, take a couple of wraps back towards the bend, over the rib material as if you were creating a snell knot, apply pressure to keep it secure & wrap over the rib material with your thread. Trim the butt end of the rib off & finish the head.

 

If you use wire, get a pair of cutters. Wire will ruin scissors.

 

I use fairly thin wire or mono. 8 to 12 lb test cheap stuff works just fine for mono, and is easy to wrap.

[redietz 0]

If you use wire, get a pair of cutters. Wire will ruin scissors.

 

 

Or better yet, "worry" it off (break it by bending it back and forth rapidly.) This leaves a little hook at the end of the wire and it's much less likely to slip loose.

[flytire 0]

here is a couple of relatively easy smallmouth patterns

 

http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/smallmouth_jump/

[FishyboY 0]

i like clouser minnows. zonkers are great also!