The Five Best Flies for Bass

A fishing friend recently told me he wanted to try fly fishing for bass.  He knew there were hundreds of fancy trout flies, but should he get different ones for more aggressive freshwater bass? We’ve all heard those familiar questions: If you were allowed only one book on a desert island, what would you pick?  If you were allowed one companion, who would you pick?  Even more tragic, if you were allowed only five flies to use for bass, what would they be?  Imagine the emotional consequences of such a question.  

Like my fishing buddy, I was also faced with such a terrible dilemma many years ago. 

Back then, I solved the problem by asking several experienced fly fishing dignitaries for their choices of the five best flies for bass.  I knew these men and some were also fishing buddies, so I knew their choices would be priceless information.  One bit of advice: If you don’t know what bass flies to buy, take this article to your tackle shop. It’s a great shopping list. You may have to do some searching for a few of these flies. Nearly all are still available, but some may require some online searching. I found many of them on Amazon.  If you know a good fly tier, maybe they can match some of these flies for you. But there is one thing I can guarantee…all of them will catch bass!

Here are the top five best bass flies picked by the fly fishing experts. These flies could be your best bass arsenal this season.

The first fisherman on my list was Jerry Gibbs, an old friend and retired fishing editor of Outdoor Life.  Here’s Jerry’s pick of five hot bass flies:

• Clouser Deep Minnow: Jerry likes the half-and-half, which is part Clouser and part Lefty’s Deceiver.

• Sneaky Pete: This is one of Jerry’s favorites for smallmouths.

• Gurgler: This Jack Gartside foam surface fly can be popped and softly gurgled. Deadly for both largemouths and smallmouths.

• Woolly Bugger: Jerry prefers his color combination, which is maroon chenille body, black  marabou tail and  grizzly hackle wound down on the hook shank to make  hackle fibers stick out at right angles.  “Sometimes I use a cone-weight or dumbbell eyes at  the head,” says Jerry, “but don’t use any weight in shallow water.”

• Dahlberg Diver: This is Jerry’s favorite, but he offers a tip.  “Trim the deer or elk hair at the head to make it dive when you sharply pull the line. It then pops to the surface.” 

Next on my list was my friend John Randolph, the former Editor and Publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine.  Wow, I thought, John has made fly fishing a lifetime career and his advice has to rank high on my list. While some experts are not too free with their secrets, John opened up for me with his choices:

• Clouser Deep Minnow: This Clouser was at the top of John’s list. It’s his pick for both largemouths and smallmouths.

• Cup-faced Yellow Popper: Any brand will do, but John has a great modification.  He attaches a Number 10 or 12 Zonker (white or black) dropper rigged off the bend in the hook.

• Dahlberg Diver: John has no preference.  He likes them all in various sizes and colors.

• Clouser Crayfish: A good producer for river smallmouths and largemouths.

• Woolly Bugger: Best with red-and-yellow rubber legs.  John uses it with and without the bead head, depending on water depth.

Jim Babb, former Editor and Angling Columnist for Gray’s Sporting Journal, was my next call.  Jim is one of the most knowledgeable fly fishermen I know.  Here are Jim’s picks:

• Tapply Hair Bugs: Jim says he likes them in  yellow, red-and-white, and black.  He uses all sizes from No. 12 to 2/0.

• Dahlberg Divers: In full-dress frog colors and all black, usually fished on a sink-tip line.

• Gaines Frog Poppers: “Some of my Gaines poppers,” says Jim, “are pretty chewed up, but still going strong after 30 years.”

• Big Woolly Buggers: Jim likes them with Petitjean Magic Head in chartreuse, olive or black.

• Marabou Matuka Bullheads: Most effective with lead eyes under-shank and Petitjean Magic Heads in mottled brown, olive or black.

I thought I could see a pattern emerging in these choices until I called the late Homer Circle, a familiar name to Outdoor Life readers.  Homer came right to the point with an honest conclusion:

“Greetings Old Friend, Having lived in Florida for 34 years, and tried fly fishing numerous times, I’ve found that the best way to conserve bass is to fly fish for them with wet flies! But, for catching the day’s greatest total of smaller bass, I would not bet against a finger-size floating hair bug in black or yellow.  Best Wishes, Uncle Homer”

Digesting Uncle Homer’s simple approach to selecting a fly for bass,  I decided  to visit Wendy Williamson, a fly fishing guide in Hayward, Wisconsin. When not running rivers in her drift boat, Wendy and her husband run the Hayward Fly Fishing Company. Wendy’s specialties are smallmouths and muskies.  Her top choices for bass started to sound familiar:

• Dahlberg Diver (Green)

• Swimming Frog (Green and Black)

• Sneaky Pete (Green Head with black hackle)

• Craft Sculpin (Rust Color)

• Tequeely (tinsel body with green legs)

I never heard of a Tequeely, so I  figured I’d  better check with a few more fishing guides.  I called the late Nick Karas, a fly fisherman who operated charters in Orient Point, New York.  Nick, a novelist who has also written books on brook trout and striped bass fishing, went a step further and broke down his choices for both smallmouths and largemouths.

For largemouths, Nick picks:

• Muddler Minnow, fished dry

• Swimming Frog

• Mickey Finn

• Furry Hellgrammite

• Miller Moth Bug

For smallmouths, Nick picks:

• Muddler Minnow, fished wet

• Mickey Finn

• Clouser Ultra Deep Minnow

• Clouser Crayfish

• Peck’s Popper

Did I have enough to boil down all this great advice into the five best flies for bass?  Not yet. I wanted one more fishing guide to be sure.  I called Mike O’Brien, a Susquehanna River guide.  “What are your best producing flies for those Susquehanna bass,” I asked.

Mike came back with a quick reply. Here are his top choices:

• Clouser Floating Minnow

• Arbogast Fly Rod Hula Popper (weedless)

• Cramer Jailbait

• Clouser Crayfish

• Gaines Skipping Bug

Some of the same names of flies kept popping up, but several of these flies were new to me.  I now had enough advice from the pros to come up with their personal favorites, but what were the hot sellers in tackle shops?  I had to know.  I went a step further and contacted Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s.  

Katie Mitchell at Bass Pro responded quickly.  “I checked with our product development experts and here’s the list of our best selling bass flies.”

• Dahlberg Diver

• Frog Colored Popper (deer hair or cork)

• Bendback Minnow

• Clouser Deep Minnow 

David Draper at Cabela’s called me and read his list of the best selling flies for bass in its chain of stores. 

• Enrico’s Bluegill

• Enrico’s Perch

• Peck’s Popper Frog

• Woolly Bugger

• Leadeye Leech

I was finally satisfied with all the choices I could muster from these anglers.  I had uncovered a wealth of valuable advice for both novice and veteran fly fishermen.  When I finished reviewing and tallying the choices, I definitely knew what flies could be called “The Best Five Flies For Bass.”  With the help of these fly fishing icons, here are the winners:

• Dahlberg Diver

• Clouser Deep Minnow

• Woolly Bugger

• Clouser Crayfish

• Swimming Frog

These five bass flies took top honors, but there were a lot of close second-place winners, including Sneaky Pete, Muddler Minnow and Peck’s Popper.  My best advice is to start using the top five flies, then save your pennies and buy the rest of them, too.

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