Hello Guys,

Just joined and will be fly fishing for bss for the first tiem next week. Headed to Signal Ranch – Cash. I normally fish trout in Colorado and Oklahoma and know what I’m doing with all that but no idea here. Shoudl I take my 5wt rod or my 8 wt? Or? Floating line? Sink tip? Fish wiht streamers on a cast – twitch – retrieve at various depths? Or what flies and techniques shoudl I try?

Thanks for the help brothers and will definitley post a report based on what I learn.

Best,

Larry

I haven’t fly fished much for bass yet, but there is a great thread discussing fly fishing that covers most of your questions.

https://www.privatewaterfishing.com/forums/view/seeking-recommendation-on-fly-fishing-equipment-set-up-for-lmb

Good luck!

Buggers, poppers (foam or deerhair), and baitfish imitations, especially clouser minnows will cover you for 99% of your fly needs.  Multiple sizes/colors of those three flies will fill a small fly box and should catch bass if they’re biting (or sunfish or crappie).  

I actually usually take both my 5 and 8.  Only ever using floating line.  Even if you are fishing a fairly heavily weighted clouser, as long as you have enough leader (I use tapered 9’ 10 lb or 12 lb) it will get where it needs to.  

Buggers and baitfish patterns and other streamers are just fished with a strip, but you can vary between steady and erratic, short and long.  Lefty always said you should change your retrieve long before you change your fly.  Poppers are pretty self-explanitory, although I will say I get strikes a lot of time in between strips, and sometimes when I wait a long time especially.

A decent bass will give you hell on a 5 wt, and you’ll have to play it a while.  No worries now as the temps are cooling off.  I like to fish small poppers with my 5, especially if bass action is slow and bream are hitting topwater. If you have to pick only one, take the 8, if for no other reason than casting bigger bugs into bigger wind.  Let me know how you do.