River Fishing for Smallmouth Bass: need patterns

Does anyone know any great patterns to use for smallmouth in a river???? if so please leave me a message with the pattern.

a very simple selection would be clousers in grey over white and olive over white. buggers in black, olive, white and brown and gurglers or some such for a surface bug and maybe a deer hair frog. big nymphs dead drifted work well too, stoneflies, helgramites, hex nymphs and big hare's ears. that's what i would have with me.

Don't forget big stimulators!

I do extremely well with a juicy nightcrawler and a couple of split shot. Oops! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...o/wallbash.gif Wrong forum. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...hysterical.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...hysterical.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...hysterical.gif

Just trying to keep it light. I like olive wooly buggers size 6 to 10, and Dave's Dad in #8 & #10

Joe

Of course some Weighted Buggers and Clouser Minnow. My other fvorites are Zoo Cougars, Butt Monkeys, and Poppers

Pick up a copy of Tim Holschlag's Flyfishing For Smallmouth Bass. One of the best books out there. Over 50 pages on flies.

Dave

For a subsurface pattern, this week's Fly of the Week is an excellent one. Though I tied it in tan for photo purposes, black is my favorite with dun colored mallard collar. Use the 2xl hook for a bigger gap. Doesn't seem to frighten the smallies and gives better hooking and holding power which is helpful in a river... Last weekend caught a bunch of smallies with one brown trout thrown into the mix!

make sure that you have sculpin patterns bass love them
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...0/MVC-898F.jpg

Anything by Harry Murray! I've had great success with his Hellgramite pattern and Roadkill nymph. Crayfish patterns are a must and there are a ton of them out there. I use my own recipe for them. I've also been doing well lately, with white crystal grubs. They're easy to tie and very durable. Adding rubber legs to them is a nice twist too!

Try this simple bucktail;

Hart's Ghost Minnow
http://www.bassbugcentral.com/ghost.jpg

I have one word for you....actually two words... Chicago Leech.. black marabou with a touch of chartreus krystal flash for a tail, body is black leech yarn, gold bead head. use a brush of some kind. ( i made one from a piece of the hook half of velcro glued on a popsicle stick) to brush the leech yarn up and back like a horse mane. As a killer alternative I replace the leech yarn with UV black Ice Dub applied pretty heavily, then brushed out like the leech yarn... I've caught a ton of smallies on this pattern.

My favorite for smallies is a chartreuse and black Wooly Bugger.

black marabou tail with a little chartreuse flashabou on each side.
black hackle
chartreuse chenille body
black thread
weighted with lead wire

Later, Jim

I have to echo pspaint's comments. My favorite comes from Harry Murray out of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley:

Murray's Hellgrammite

MATERIAL & TYING INSTRUCTIONS

HOOK: Mustad 9672 or Tiemco 5262 Size 4-10
THREAD: Black 3/0 Prewaxed Monocord
WEIGHT: Lead Wire
BODY: Black Chenille
EXTENDED BODY: Black Ostrich Herl
RIBBING: Soft Dark Blue Dun Rooster Saddle Hackle
PINCHERS: Black Rubber

Cover the entire hook shank with tying thread. Cover the middle three-fourths of the hook shank with adjacent wraps of lead wire about the diameter of the hook wire.

Select strong ostrich herls with very thick hair-like side filaments for the extended rear body (about fifteen to twenty is right for a size 6 hook). Holding the clump together, break off the weak tips by twisting them between your thumbnail and index finger.

Tie the ostrich herl in just over the hook bend so the tips extend beyond the bend about twice the length of the hook shank. Tie the butts down along the top of the hook shank for two-thirds of its length to form a smooth underbody. Trim off excess butts and apply cement.

Tie in a soft webby dark blue dun rooster saddle hackle over the bend by the tip. Tie in a piece of black chenille immediately over this (The chenille must be in proportion to the hook size, but should be rather fat).

Advance the thread to the hook eye and apply enough wraps here to cover the the sharp edges of the eye and to form a flat foundation for the the rubber pincers. About one-eigth inch behind the eye, tie in a folded two-inch piece of line with the hook shank and spread apart at a 90-degree angle to each other. Hold both strands of rubber together and cut them even about three-quarters of an inch forward of the eye.

Wind the chenille forward, and tie off about one-quarter of an inch behind the eye. Cut off excess chenille. Wind the hackle forward with neatly spaced wraps and tie off in front of the chenille (Use about 6 wraps on a size 6 Hellgrammite).

Hi flytyer,
there are a couple of great books that have tons of info for smallies. The one by Harry Murray is "Flyfishing for Smallmouth Bass" and another one is "Smallmouth Strategies for the Fly Rod" by Will Ryan. Each has a section for flies and includes tying instructions. A good shop may have loaners for checkout of your public library can order copies to borrow.