Smallmouth bass taken in the Boundary Waters with a 6 weight fly rod.
My favorite ways to catch smallmouth bass are diverse and involve both fly-casting and spin-fishing:
#1: Arbogast Fly Rod Hula-Popper, usually yellow in color and thrown on my 6 weight or 8 weight fly rod. The fish shown above was taken on a St. Croix 6 weight with a G. Loomis reel loaded with a 7 weight bass taper line and my homemade flourocarbon leader. Nothing beats topwater smallmouth bass action! I spent the morning of my birthday this year in the Boundary Waters having a riotous time on dead calm water while everyone else was sleeping.
#2: Dahlberg divers on the same rig described above, for when the fish seem to prefer a sub-surface fly.
#3: Switching over to spin-fishing, my favorite thing, but not always the best thing to use around wood, is the famous Mepps spinner in gold with a dressed treble. I use these when I’m just lazily drifting or trolling, as well as casting them. This is my go-to lure for drifting behind my kayak when I’m paddling.
#4: A plain lead-head jig with a 3″ root beer single-tail Yamamoto grub. I am really good at aiming these near sunken rocks. My oldest daughter is even better (probably the eyes) and learned to do this at a very young age.
#5: A slip-bobber rig with a real live leech. If you’re somewhere like many of my favorite fishing spots, this will also produce walleye, and it’s a great way to fish with kids.
Finally, I might have to add another lure to this list if Backwater Eddy’s modified Salmo Chubby Darter works as good as it looks!
