Fishing Reports & Blogs

This past week we have had some stellar weather and great fishing as well! The bass have been very willing to hit top water making for some really fun trips.

The majority of our trips are on rivers but I often have clients ask if they can fly fish on their local pond or lake for bass as well; the answer is most certainly! Most lakes have large mouth and small mouth bass in them, where these different species are usually located differ a bit on lakes on ponds. Large mouth bass are often found in shallow bays that are weeded or around shoreline structure. They love to hang out under docks, lily pads and around trees that have fallen in the water. To target these fish its a lot of fun to use larger top water flies that may imitate frogs, mice, or wounded panfish. It is very helpful to use a weedless style fly for this so you spend less time cleaning off your fly. The best times to target these fish are in the early mornings and evenings, its not impossible to catch a fish on top water mid day but your chances are slimmer. The other advantage for morning/evening fly fishing is less wind! Smallmouth bass tend to hang in and around deeper water during the summer. Look for rocky points, cliffs, or drop offs close to shore. the early morning and evenings will also have more active fish. If you are fishing for smallmouth in deeper water or near ledges it is preferable to use a sinking tip or full sink line with bait fish or crayfish patterns. You can also get smallmouth on topwater early morning and evenings on lakes, I would focus along cliffs and rocky points for this approach.

Just some pointers for fishing on lakes for bass, If you would like to get some hands on experience with any bass fly fishing tactics feel free to get a hold of us to book a trip!