Smallmouth bass are dangerous. Wherever you find them, they cause headaches for fly fishers who normally pursue trout. They change everything. Once these strong, fast predators make inroads, you can be sure that they’ll impact your angling.

Why? You’re going to forsake the gentle creeks for the big rivers. You’ll have felt the pull of a smallmouth. You’ll have seen the surface explode under a  popper. How are you going keep anyone down on the stream once they’ve seen river bass?

Pound for pound, inch for inch, smallmouth are perhaps the most well-rounded freshwater fish. Some fish might pull harder, but don’t get as big or chase the same variety of flies. Other species grow to gargantuan sizes only to fight with significantly less gusto. A smallmouth bass will eat anything and everything, run hard, jump high, and fool you into thinking you’ve hooked into something much larger every time.

They’re dangerous to trout anglers, though. Particularly when they’re found in rivers, fishing for these bass is a simple transition. Aside from retrieved surface flies like poppers, sliders, and gurglers, fishing for smallmouth is essentially the same as fishing for trout. And while the dramatic strikes and active angling of topwater patterns is productive (and a real thrill), you’ll catch more smallies if you do fish for them like trout.

Nymph

Yes. Nymph for smallmouth. They’re not intellectually inferior to trout. A bass would much rather simply catch a big hellgrammite or stonefly in it’s mouth than chase down a baitfish. Heavy flies and intermediate lines make for a good feel on what is happening subsurface. Targeting rocks, shelves, and deep holes is the best plan of attack. Strikes are subtle, but that tight connection and a quick response will inevitably hook a fish looking for an easy meal.

Dry

Mayflies, caddisflies, terrestrials: you name it, smallmouth focus in on it. “Hatches” trigger any and all animals. Birds, bats, frogs, and catfish will all gorge themselves when there are dying bugs littering the water’s surface. A chunky damselfly is a great pattern to fish. They’ll float like a cork, benefit from a little twitch now and then, and produce strikes that rival those induced by poppers. But  just like on the trout stream you have to avoid drag on each and every presentation.

Streamer

Obviously bass chase baitfish imitations. But think beyond the cast, strip, cast, strip mentality. Swing a fly for a smallie. In fact, a double-handed bomb across a river with a swung retrieve is a spectacular way to cover water. Another ridiculously effective approach is to jig a crawfish imitation upstream. Baitfish work, but there are so many other swimming things that will trigger hard takes from bass.

---

It would take a lot to ruin dainty fly fishing for a true trout angler. But warm rivers, wide enough that you don’t have to worry about your backcast, might do the trick. Thankfully, you don’t need an entirely new set of skills. Take what you know, amp it up a few line and fly sizes, and tie into a fish that will wear your arm and your smile muscles out.