Tag Archives: warmwater flies

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3 Brothers Flies, Bass, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Warmwater

Summer may be coming to a close here in Minnesota, however, that doesn’t mean that the bass fishing is wrapping up. With the cooling weather, bass go into a frantic frenzy to eat tons of food before winter sets in and their metabolism slows, making fall a great time to target bass on the fly rod.   Bass, both smallmouth and largemouth, are one of the hardest fighting fish that I have caught. Due to their hard fighting nature, it is a lot of fun to chase them on a fly. While bass aren’t always super picky they can get in moods so there are some flies that outfish others. None of these flies are super original or revolutionary, however, we have found them to produce well when chasing bass. In general, like all bass fishing resources would say, I have found natural colors to work better in clearer water or…

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Fly Tying, Panfish, Warmwater

Big panfish eat few flies consistently, while smaller fish swallow everything that moves. In order to catch big panfish you’ll need a box that can adapt to water conditions and fish location. Here are the flies that help me catch more big fish in a variety of conditions:   Pink Punch The scruffy collar pushes water and the cone head gets it down, making this fly a good option for murky water or aggressive fish. The pink color makes it irresistible to crappies, and the ice dub gives it a translucent minnow effect. Thread: Pink or Black 8/o UNI Hook: # 12-8 Bead: x-sm Silver Conehead  Tail: Pink Marabou or pseudo marabou Body: Pink Ice Dub in a dubbing loop        Noah’s Minnow The Noah’s Minnow is a great fly for picky panfish. The marabou tail twitches in the water driving the most skittish fish to bite. The…

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Fly Tying

After a long, wet spring full of high water here in Minnesota, summer’s low, clear water and hot bronzeback fishing has finally set in. Here is one of my top flies for summer smallmouth bassin’ – Murray’s Strymph. As the name implies, it is a crossover of a streamer and a nymph. It is deadly both dead drifted like a nymph or stripped like a minnow through a fishy hole. The Strymph was created by Virginia smallmouth expert Harry Murray. It’s a great pattern for wary summer smallmouth in low, clear water. Small stream bronzebacks like them tied in #8 to #12; their big water cousins like them a little larger. I’ve had a lot of success this past season fishing a black strymph tied on a small streamer hook. The smallmouth love them! Hook: #4-12 streamer Thread: Black 6/0 UNI Tail: Ostrich herl (I like mine with a few…

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Fly Tying, Warmwater

Part one of Noah’s three-part series on panfish flies. Small panfish will take almost every thing that moves and is colorful, but if you want to catch slabs consistently you have to fish flies that are designed for panfish. Big panfish eat meat, and streamers are a great way to catch slabs consistently. These five patterns are all fantastic streamers for panfish, producing in every environment. They are also pretty quick and easy to tie. They are overall great flies. Enjoy! Pink Punch If I had to pick one fly for my panfish box this would definitely be the one. I created this great warmwater fly in August of 2012 and have fished it in small streams,  lakes, and quarries.  Fishing for greenies, sunnies, ‘gills, crappie, and perch, I’ve never found a spot where it would not produce. Here’s the recipe: Thread: Pink or Black 6/o Hook: # 12 Bead: Silver…

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