Fly Fishing for Bass: Rod, Line, Flies and How to Fish Them

The short version

Bass fly fishing is a big-fly game. The outfit exists to throw bulky, wind-resistant poppers and streamers into cover and pull a fish out of it. That is why the standard advice is a heavier rod than you would use for trout, a simple weight-forward line and tippet you could tie a lunch bag with.

Orvis puts the best all-around choice at an 8-weight. Fly Fisherman goes a little lighter, recommending a 6- or 7-weight with a medium action, and says a 5-weight trout rod can work but is not the best tool. The gap between those two answers is the fly size you plan to throw, and I come back to that below.

I have not fished these rods, and what follows is a summary of what published sources say. If you want the gear first, our fly rods tables let you filter by line weight.

Rod weight: how to choose

Orvis frames the decision around the fly more than the fish. The heavier line helps drive large flies such as hair bugs, big poppers and streamers. For smallmouth alone, it says a 6- or 7-weight can work because those flies are smaller.

Fly Fisherman says a 6- or 7-weight with a medium action suits bass because the flies are large and wind-resistant and need that power. It adds that the rod should load deeply into the mid and butt section so it can cast bushy poppers into thick cover. (A rod that loads only at the tip will mostly just wave at a popper.)

Putting the two together gives a simple rule of thumb:

• 6-weight: smaller poppers and streamers, open water, light wind.
• 7-weight: the middle of the range, and a sensible pick if you also want to fish smaller flies for smallmouth.
• 8-weight: the all-around choice Orvis names, and the one to pick if you plan on large poppers, heavy streamers or windy ponds.

If you already own a 5-weight, you can start with it and small flies, but you will be limited. If you are buying new, the 8-weight fly rods page is a good first look, and our fly rod weight chart guide explains the numbers.

Line and reel

Orvis recommends a basic weight-forward taper, which turns over large topwater bugs well. A floating line is the usual partner for poppers, and our floating fly lines page lists the tapers and lengths we can confirm.

On the reel, Orvis is direct: you do not need an expensive one. The reel mainly stores line, and bass rarely run far, so a costly drag system is not required. That is a good place to save money. A reel that fits the rod and balances it is the goal, and it does not have to be a showpiece.

Leader and tippet

This is where bass differ most from trout. Fly Fisherman recommends heavy 0X to 2X tippet, so you can set the hook hard and then lever the fish away from weeds, branches and other hazards. For crayfish imitations it suggests 0X. In weedy water it mentions monofilament weedguards on surface flies, where the biggest bass tend to hold.

Heavy tippet does not make the fly look wrong to a bass. These sources do not describe bass as tippet-shy, and the stout leader helps the big fly turn over and keeps a snagged fly from becoming a lost fly.

Flies

Fly Fisherman groups bass flies into a few families:

• Popping bugs, in sizes 2/0 to 4. Named examples include the Dahlberg Diver, Clouser's Floating Minnow, Umpqua Swimming Frog, Whitlock's Deerhair Bass Bug and the Blados Crease Fly.
• Streamers, such as large Woolly Buggers with rubber legs, Muddler Minnow variations, Zonkers and Clouser Minnows. The key, the article says, is a large streamer with built-in movement. Bright, outlandish patterns can also work when natural ones fail.
• Crayfish imitations, such as tan Zonkers, brown conehead Woolly Buggers and tan Slumpbusters, fished with short, twitching retrieves.
• Large dry flies, including big bushy Wulffs and Parachute Adams in sizes 8 to 14. The article says mature bass tend to ignore small midges and small mayflies.
• Nymphs, including mayfly, dragonfly and damselfly nymphs and hellgrammites, fished with trout nymphing methods.

Poppers are the family most people associate with bass, since you see the strike. If you want to learn streamer technique for the subsurface half of this list, our how to fly fish a streamer guide is the place.

Where bass hold

Fly Fisherman says to cast in and around lily pads, piers, downed trees, rock gardens, under overhanging branches and other shoreline structure on lakes and ponds. It also says bass in streams and stillwaters hold in many of the same places trout do. The practical lesson is to put the fly close to the structure, which is where bass hold.

On big rivers such as the Susquehanna, Potomac, Ohio and Allegheny, the article suggests a johnboat for fishing flats and shoreline structure with a fly rod. Boat safety and wading safety apply here as anywhere. Wear a life jacket in a small boat, and see our wading belt and wading staff pages if you are on foot in current.

How to work a popper

Fly Fisherman's popper routine is short:

1. Let the fly land with a splash.
2. Wait. The article says to let the ripples settle, about five to ten seconds.
3. Take up the slack slowly, keep the rod tip low, and strip sharply so the fly pops, dives or slides.
4. Pause again, and repeat.

Bass often take the fly during the pause, so the most common mistake is retrieving too fast. When a bass strikes in a sudden explosion, wait for the fly to disappear, then set the hook hard. The article says bass have tough cartilage around the mouth, which is the reason for the hard set and the heavy tippet.

What to buy first

If you are starting from scratch and bass are the target, the shortest path is:

1. A 7- or 8-weight rod, depending on how big your flies will be.
2. A weight-forward floating line to match.
3. A simple reel with enough capacity for the line and some backing.
4. A few 0X to 2X leaders and a spool of the same tippet.
5. A handful of poppers and streamers in the sizes above.

If you already fish trout, you probably own a leader and a few streamers. You may need the rod and line. Our fly-rod combos page shows outfits that include a line and reel if you prefer a package, and the line weight column will tell you if the rod matches the 7- or 8-weight range.

For bass, the spec to read is line weight, since the rod's job is to throw a big fly.