Fly Fishing for Bass Part 4... Fishing Locations and Fly Selection.

Fishing Locations and Fly Selection

Every time I prepare to go fishing, and every minute I'm on the water I am constantly going through a mental checklist of various information and ideas.  I've pretty much narrowed most of it down to a few simple guidelines that I follow to catch more bass!  Most of this mental checklist could work well for other species too.  You just may have to tweak it a little.

One of the first items on the ticket is FISH LOCATION!  Hard to find fish if you don't know what your looking for.  Fish location is dependent on the following and I ask myself these things every time...  What is the Weather history? Moon phase? Water temperature?  Water clarity, clear or muddy? Seasonal pattern, spawn, post-spawn etc.?  Time of day? What species of fish (bass) I'm pursuing... Smallmouth or Largemouth?
Then I want to know... Where are the main lake flats?  Remember, bass spawn here in spring and feed here the rest of the time?  What are the bottom types, muck, sand, gravel, etc.?  Where are the drop-offs, depth changes, weedlines, and other edges?  Locating bass can be like locating deer... they like to hang along edges!  Edges of depth changes, vegetation changes, and any other structure man-made or natural that creates an edge from one type of cover or structure to the next.
I also want to know what are the main forage species in the body of water that bass may be feeding on? Baitfish species like, shad and other smaller minnow type species.  Does the lake have a healthy population of Sunfish? Is there crawfish available? Insects? and etc.  These are a few of the things I look at before and during the time on the water.  I can eliminate a lot of potentially unproductive water right away!  Most of us have limited fishing time... so being efficient in locating fish is key!

Once you've located a portion of water that is holding fish... you must then determine your choice in FLY SELECTION.  What size, color, shape, action, etc.  I again use a simple set of guidelines I have found to  work for me.  I mostly go by the water clarity, temperature, and what I believe the predominant prey species might be.  The clearer the water the more important your fly selection should be.  Clear water gives bass a much better ability to determine if the fly is real or fake.  Bass love to hunt by sight and clear water gives them the advantage.  Clear water fly selections should be very realistic looking patterns.  Choose flies that match the hatch as close as possible.  I like very natural colors, shapes, and movement.  Most of the time I select a fly that will do the best job of naturally mimicking the prey species.  In clear water I find that you want to keep your fly moving!  Do not let the bass have to long of a chance to scrutinize your fly!  More erratic and faster retrieves are two techniques to help disguise your lure.  In stained and muddy water the bass begin to rely more on sound and movement to locate prey.  As their vision diminishes the ear and lateral line come more into play.  I Choose flies with larger and bulkier profiles with darker and/or brighter colors.  The larger size and darker colors make it easier for bass to detect.  Many flies for bass fishing now have little rattles in them.  Flies with rattles are great choices for darker and muddy water.  These options are just a couple simple items that help me to narrow down my fly selection process and make quicker on the water decisions.  Keep in mind matching your fly to current prey species is good most of the time... but, as we know bass are opportunistic feeders and many times will attack a fly simply out of instinct
and curiosity.  Especially if the fly appears to be wounded or edible.

One final thing that will help me to determine my fly choices and retrieve style is what I call my "One, Two Punch."  After I find a location that meets my criteria, I then want to determine the bass' mood or activity levels.  I move through my chosen location with power/reflex style of flies first.  Those that I can aggressively retrieve and cover lots of water with to help locate active fish.  I want to find those bass that want to bite now!  If I find a group of bass that are blasting my flies and/or traveling long distances to intercept them this tells me they are very active!  I now want to cover as much water as possible in the general area while this period of aggression lasts.  If after sometime I do not locate some active fish or I notice the bass begin to miss strikes or turn away from my fly... I then begin to experiment with different retrieve speeds and styles; erratc, stop and go, kill it, etc.  I also may change my casting angles relative to the cover I'm fishing.  Make multiple casts.  If this does not work I will slow down my fishing speed and use fly patterns that I can work more slowly to find some inactive fish that are not willing to chase down my fly or entice a reaction strike.  When fishing for these inactive fish, I tend to spend more time picking apart the cover in locations that bass my be holding.  I slow down and really cover the area slowly!  It's all about establishing a general pattern that will work on catching most of the fish in a given location.  Now remember fish become active at different times of the day.  Sometimes a change in the weather, like cloud cover and a breeze may turn fish on and move them shallower.

Some locations may become active while others location are becoming inactive.  It's a constant search to stay on aggressive fish.  You must always be aware of what the fish are telling you.  You also need to be on constant alertness to changing water and weather conditions.  If you lose focus and concentration, you may not pick up on natures clues.
An alert angler who is always aware of his/her surroundings is successful angler!  Bottom line is this... when choosing a fishing location and fly choices you should always trust your instincts, and remember to fish the moment!  Fish with confidence... confidence breeds success.




"And now... as I've been doing with all these Fly Fishing for Bass Series.  I close with a newer breed of a Country Music Outlaw!"... "EC!"


Also see...
Fly Fishing for BASS series parts 1-6!


Don't forget to go the Freshwater Fly Fan Page on Facebook... hit the "LIKE" button and become a fan!  You could win a Fish Fighter Mini-Fly Clip!  




Remember... FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. CATCH. RELEASE. FIGHT AGAIN.