The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

I am coming to grips with the fact that I will be stuck in Texas for a bit. I am going to get out for some Bass. I've been fly fishing for years, but never for Bass. Anyone have tips on what flys/techniques work well? Anyone with Texas experience at all? Thanks...

I would think some things might work in Texas as well as Calif.

Figure out what the prefered dept is, it's going to very with time of year..
shallow in the spring, deeper as iti gets warmer..

surface lures,,,gurllier (sp?), mouse fly and the ever popular in urban lakes, the little yellow duckling

Subsurfer ; woollybuggers an dbig leeches.

Baitfish patterns fished at any depth

look for schools of bait fish

ridger coming into a lake,

Inside edge and seam at a bend in a river


those are all that I think of for now

Paul

I have done a little bass fishing with a fly rod, mostly out of float tube years ago. I would suggest (if you haven't done so already) purchasing a good intermediate sink line for streamers and one of the newer bass taper floating lines for throwing surface patterns. These heavier lines will help turn over wind-resistant bass flies. I liked to focus on shallow structure (weed beds, submerged trees) with poppers, Dave's hoppers, large ant/spider patterns, buggers and various streamers (clousers)...really anything with good color and action will attract bass. As far as technique, just lay out the line and keep it moving with short pops or strips. Check out youtube.com. I bet there are some Texas bass fly fishing videos.

I'm really just starting to fish for bass, so I don't know too much at this point, but it seems when the conditions are decent the main thing is to fish structure and cover... stumps in the water, trees in the water, rocky points, shelfs... bass seem really keen on structure. Top Action stuff seems to happen in the evening, but a wolly bugger has been the ticket for me.

Bass can be a lot of fun. I love fishing for trout and I'll do that first, but I'm learning to appreciate the warm water option as a real hoot.

B-

I've got limited experience for bass, but have had some fun. Check out the April Fly of the Month, the Rubber Legs Lizard Gurgler. Killer pattern for topwater at Clear Lake. Assume it would work well in Texas.

http://www...Legs-Lizard-Gurgler.html

I've also done well on a big black bunny leech....in Texas at lake Conroe.

Good luck down there. I enjoyed my time in Houston for 3 1/2 years and had to make the switch. Also, if you're near the Gulf, there is good fly fishing for Redfish and Speckled Trout. They can be a hoot!

Phil

Bass can be very easy at times and really tough at others. Poppers and top water stuff works best at sun-up and again just before dark. Black is a good color in low light. I usually start with black and move to frog colored poppers and divers as it gets lighter. The opposite in the evening. Subsurface bass fishing can be tough. It's amazing how such an aggressive fish can take something so softly when it's 6ft deep but knock the snot out of it when it's on the surface. I've started cheating a little with my sub-surface stuff and have gone to plastic tails to give movement. Wapsi has some tails out called "Fly Tails" that are stiff enough to be tied on a hook and can turn a bugger into something more like a plastic grub. I use jig hooks and dumbbell eyes with polar chenille for the body and then the tails. Pretty easy. Here's a link to the place I get my tails from... http://www...97163&showprevnext=1

The easiest bass fishing is done with surface flies mornings and evenings. In spring the evenings can be better than mornings due to warmer weather. As the season progresses topwater will be better in the morning. An overcast morning during warm weather is the best thing to hope for. Try to find cover to fish to. Tules next to shore, boat ramps, weedbeds, submerged rocks are all good. Bass are ambush feeders and like to hide and make a short burst to catch their prey. Look for edges like the corner of a boat ramp, a slight change in a line of tules, or the edge of a line of shade. Fish weedless flies as you want to place them as close to cover as possible. Include some type of diving fly (Dahlberg Diver) in your surface collection. Bass aren't leader shy when using surface flies. Use leaders heavy enough to get a good turnover. Subsurface there are a few good ways to fish. One way is to use sinking flies on a floating line. Clousers or leech patterns are commonly used. This will work down to 5 or 6 feet. Another way to fish shallow subsurface is to use a fast sinking line, short leader, and a floating fly. The best fly I can recommend for this method is a Todd's Wiggle Minnow. When used with a non-slip knot is has the action of a crankbait. Deeper water requires sinking lines and sinking flies. This is the least productive and least fun way to fish for bass IMO. When the heat of summer fades away to fall the surface fishing should return, and can be the best of the year. Bass on a fly is great sport. Their average weight will be far greater than the average trout in a stream. While they don't make long runs they are tough fighters. Enjoy your time down there. Try to find some stream smallmouth while you're at it.

Great stuff - thank you all. I am excited to get going on this. There are several great dudes I work with who know where the bass are (and they all have boats) - but none of them fly fish. Now I've got to get some of the above gear together - I think this is going to be fun. When they see how much fun it is with a fly rod, I'll have some converts, I'm sure. Thanks again...