The core of fly fishing is simple trickery: trying to fool a fish into eating something that looks like food, but isn’t. Predatory animals, such as largemouth bass, one of the most brutal attackers in American fresh waters, have an instinct that makes them react to an object as food and a trigger that makes them eat it, rather than just following and watching. To trick a bass into pursuing and eating, a fly fisher has to understand what attracts it, what triggers it to eat, and exploit that knowledg — to play mind games with the bass.
The payoff is a whole lot of fun on the fly rod. When the mind games work, the takes can be arm busting, the battles intense. Gear that seemed overkill suddenly is too light for a close-quarters boxing match.
As a bonus, largemouth bass inhabit low-elevation waters throughout California. To find these dynamic and fun fish, one usually does not need to travel far. There is likely a bass lake near you.
Fly Presentation
Every person who has hiked in California should be familiar with what to do if a mountain lion is encountered: don’t run! Like mountain lions, predatory fish species are highly evolved to catch fleeing prey and react aggressively to something that looks and acts like prey. To provoke this reaction in a bass, make your fly seem like fleeing prey, and vulnerable, wounded, an easy meal. Exploiting this predatory response is the way to get a bass’s attention.
Perhaps the most important aspect of exploiting this predatory response and then triggering a strike is how the fly gets presented and retrieved. Presentation is of course a key to success when targeting any species with a fly rod. Trout anglers obsess over dry-fly presentation, but it is every bit as much an issue when presenting a big fly to bass in heavy cover.
For starters, to do so requires the proper gear. To cast these flies, turn over the leader, manipulate the fly properly, then haul big bass out of the weeds and sticks, takes an 8-weight to 10-weight fast action rod, paired with an aggressive weight-forward line such as a striper taper. An aggressive front taper helps cast and turn over big, waterlogged flies, but the section following the head is important, too. A well-designed running line allows the caster to mend the line midcast, as well as after the line lands. This helps the angler snake the line around structure and lay a path for the fly that puts it in front of a fish.
This is an advantage that fly fishing has over conventional-tackle fishing, because you can mend the line around corners, zigzag it between rocks, and snake it through cattails. It allows you to manipulate your imitation into places where it will get a bass’s attention. The right fly won’t catch fish if it is in the wrong place. The right place is where the predator thinks it is worth the effort to make the final chase and attack.
Largemouth bass are ambush predators, using structure such as rocks and drowned trees, and even shadows, to help hide themselves. Imagine standing in a shady alleyway on a bright, sunny afternoon, watching people passing by on the open street. You’ll be able to see them, but they most likely won’t see you. Fishing the edges of the shadows works wonders (especially during the low-light hours), placing the fly just out of the shadows so it’s easily spotted by hungry bass, but close enough for them to not have to waste too much energy chasing it down.
Sometimes, the surface itself is used by bass to trap prey. In open water, you’ll often encounter bait balls being cornered on the surface by bass and leaping out of the water to escape capture. When searching for bass in open water, presenting a fly as an injured baitfish just under the surface can help convince cruising bass that the fly is a potential meal, especially if the fly is big enough to get their attention. The rod and line are the key elements enabling presentations that trick bass into eating big flies, but leaders for these bigger flies need not be elaborate. A 2-foot-long section of stiff, 40-poundtest monofilament connected to 3 or 4 feet of 15-pound or 20-pound fluorocarbon monofilament will turn over most of the big flies that draw the attention of big fish. Accurate casts place your fly in the right places, and line management brings the fly past likely holding areas while making it a vulnerable target, but a lot of the time, the final piece of the puzzle is how the fly gets retrieved. Giving the fly the proper action is a must when you’re playing mind games with bass, especially when fishing with the bigger flies that are meant to imitate prey-fish species. Figuring out the correct retrieve is crucial for a successful day on the water, whether it’s stripping the fly as fast as possible, letting it sit completely still, or something in between. Generally speaking, on colder days and after storms, bass can be sluggish, and slower retrieves, or simply letting the fly twitch and fall, can be the best way to fish. When the water is warmer, a faster retrieve is most often more productive. However, in the middle of summer, when the heat has reduced the oxygen content in the water, a slower retrieve works better. On the opposite end of the spectrum, during intense winter storms, the fish get all fired up, and a more aggressive retrieve is the better choice.
Fly Design
Presentation is a big part of playing mind games with bass, but so is a fly that behaves in a way that gets the fish’s attention and then triggers a strike. A popular current trend in the conventional-tackle bass fishing world is swimbait fishing, using large lures in the 6-to-14-inch range, imitating anything from bluegills and threadfin shad to stocked trout and carp. These swimbait anglers target the largest fish in a body of water under the assumption that the largest bass will eat the largest available prey. I’ve seen bass boil on 12-inch rainbow trout like they were shad, have hooked smaller bass that were ripped off my hook by larger bass, and have watched the biggest bass I’ve ever encountered swallow a Sacramento sucker whole. Most of the time, the fish that eat big prey are the top of their food chain, and thus prime targets to play on their predatory instincts.
The concept behind big swimbaits can be applied to fly fishing, even improved upon, because flies have many intrinsic qualities that make them effective baitfish imitations, such as great movement of materials and versatility. Modern fly designs provide an endlessly customizable platform for a fly tyer to experiment with, imitating anything that swims, from on top of the surface down to the bottom. Keen observation of prey species of fish shows certain behaviors that are essential to keep in mind when tying flies. Baitfish swim in distinct ways, which can depend on the species and size. Injured bass, for example, swim differently than injured suckers. Behavior can also be affected by weather and season. Different species may prefer different depths in the water column and different relationships to structure. While a trout imitation might work well if fished over open water, an imitation of a bluegill will fish more successfully on the edges of cover and in shallower areas. Matching the hatch is just as important when streamer fishing for bass as when targeting wily brown trout in spring creeks.
Side-to-side movement can really get the attention of big bass. To achieve this action, the fly tier must reduce the up-and-down motion that some fly designs, such as the Clouser, depend on. A great way to do this is by using silicone glue over a dubbing brush head, because the glue blocks water flow through the material, making the fly swim side to side, and traps air, adding buoyancy. Paired with foam strips placed at the base of the body material, Game Changers, Allsparks, Bulkheads and various other baitfish imitations will hang suspended in the water column, allowing the angler to adjust the depth with the line and fish the fly at the same depth throughout the retrieve. When stripped and stopped, these flies sit completely still, which is often a trigger for nearby bass, because the fish they prey on tend to stay generally at similar depths even when injured.
With large flies, weight becomes an issue that the tyer must deal with. Some materials are inherently heavy or soak up lots of water, such as wool, other natural hairs, and marabou, making them a pain to cast, which leads to sloppy presentations. Better choices are synthetic fibers, such as Hedron Strung Fuzzy Fiber, Steve Farrar Blend, or EP Fibers, which shed water easily on the first false cast and hold their shape well in the water. You can buy commercially manufactured dubbing brushes marketed for tying large flies, but a great way to use these materials and a way to customize color combinations and sizes is by creating your own dubbing brush.
Dubbing brushes make tying large flies such as the Game Changer faster, because you can simply measure out the length of the fibers according to the size of fly being tied and then wrap the brush onto the hook shank(s). It makes what would take an hour or longer tie into a more manageable fly to knock out. It also makes losing the fly on a tree branch at the start of the day a bit easier on the heart.
Dubbing brushes are simply a combination of materials of a certain length that get laid out on a wire strung between a screw hook and a drill. The drill twists the wire until the material gets spun tightly. Then, using a pet brush, the material is brushed out until the profile is smooth and ready to be wrapped on the hook shank. Dubbing brush tables and tools can be bought specifically for this use from most fly shops, or you can make your own. There are YouTube videos available on the subject. You could also do as I do: wing it. Drill a screw-in hook into the fly-tying table. Balance a book on your knee to place the material on the wire, and use a drill to spin the wire.
Tying big flies can be time consuming (in Charlie Craven’s Tying Streamers: Essential Flies and Techniques for the Top Patterns, tying the Game Changer takes 99 steps!), but they’re also great fun to tie and to fish with. Getting the right swim action out of larger flies is a topic for a whole book, but paying attention to how it swims and how fish react to different movements on different days goes a long way toward helping fly tyers who are new to big flies understand how a design affects how a fly swims. A helpful tip is to bring lead wire and scissors along on fishing excursions so you can adjust the keel weight and taper when the swim action isn’t as perfect as you imagined it would be at the vise — pretty flies don’t always swim the best. Trimming the fly slightly more on the bottom, shaping it into a slight “V” shape, can help it swim right side up. Wide-gap hooks and some lead wire at the bend of the hook also help keel it so it swims hook down. Keep in mind that a “perfect swim” doesn’t always catch the most fish, because an injured prey is more likely to make the bass commit to taking the fly, so finding the right balance between a good swim and some unpredictable twitches and spins can be useful for convincing a wily fish to commit.
Mind Games for Success
In pressured fisheries, fish get used to particular kinds of human impacts. In bass fisheries, this means the sound of boats, trolling motors, and the clickety-clack of conventional baits, as well as the appearance and behavior of certain types of lures used by the majority of anglers, such as plastic worms, crankbaits, and swimbaits. For the fly fisher chasing these green brutes, this provides an advantage that should come naturally to anyone who has fished for spring creek brown trout or any spooky, hyperaware heartbreakers. Stealth goes a long way when the fish are used to hearing a trolling motor before seeing a lure. I hike 15 to 20 miles into one of my local lakes to target big bass from the shore in an area where no one else does it, which means the fish have most likely never seen a manmade fly, and more importantly, don’t have their guard up by the time they see it.
Using their predatory instincts against them can make fish that otherwise would not be eating decide to attack your fly. Tricking a big fish into making a mistake and eating a hook covered in fur and feathers is part of the fun of fly fishing, and largemouth bass are a perfect target for the California fly fisher looking for a year-long challenge. Each season brings different conditions and fish in different life stages, requiring slightly different techniques and thought processes to catch them. So go out there, observe your fishery, tie some f lies, play some mind games with the big green fish in your local reservoirs, and most importantly, have fun while doing it.
Tying Game Changers
Quick Gliding Game Changer
I tie a simple version of the Game Changer by Blane Chocklett, using a homemade dubbing brush to make this a simple and quick tie. The result is an eight-inch fly that glides side to side in an unpredictable manner — a bona fide fish-catching machine.
Tail: Large Paolo Paccharini Double Tail
Shanks: 35-millimeter shank behind the hook, 55-millimeter shank in front of the hook
Hook: 2/0 Ahrex X0774 Universal Curved, or any short-shank, wide-gap hook of your choice
Body: Homemade dubbing brush, 70 percent Hedron Strung Fuzzy Fibers 20 percent EP Fibers, 10 percent Ripple Ice Flash
Eyes: 8-millimeter or 10-millimeters eyes of your choice, I use Spawn Fly Fish Eyes or Flymen Fishing Company 3D Living Eyes
Silicone Head Game Changer
This Game Changer uses silicone glue over a dubbing brush head to trap air. This allows the fly to suspend quite nicely and also blocks water flow through the body, which helps make the fly jerk from side to side. A tip when working with silicone is to dip your fingers into hot water mixed with dish soap to shape the head without the silicone sticking to your fingers. Then let the fly sit for 24 hours to cure fully for a practically indestructible head.
Tail: Medium Paolo Pacchiarini Double Tail
Shanks: Three 15-millimeter shanks for the tail and back end of the fly, and two 20mm shanks to form the main body — gradually increasing the length of the shanks forms a better taper and more natural swim
Hook: 2/0 Ahrex X0774 Universal Curved, or any short-shank, wide-gap hook of your choice
Body: Homemade dubbing brush, 70 percent Hedron Strung Fuzzy Fibers, 20 percent EP Fibers, 10 percent Ripple Ice Flash
Head: Darker-color dubbing brush of the same mix, coated with a layer of silicone glue over the brush and eyes
Eyes: 6-millimeter or 8-millimeter eyes of your choice, I use Spawn Fly Fish Eyes or Flymen Fishing Company 3D Living Eyes
— Dagur Guðmundsson
