I have wasted a good deal of my life chasing smallies with a fly rod and wouldn't have it any other way. My favorite way to fish is topwater - poppers or sliders. That said, I have caught the most smallies on a chartreuse wooley bugger. I tie it big: 1/0 mustad 3366, two marabou for the tail, large ice chenille and 10-12 wraps of 0.030 lead wire. I used to tie them on size 4 streamer hooks but I find I get many more solid hook ups with the wider hook gap (same shank length) of the 1/0 mustad 3366. Another deadly fly is the Holschlag Hackle Fly - a crayfish pattern. It is best fished bounced on the bottom using the "crayfish hop". I use fluorocarbon tippet. Everything said about rocks by the previous posters is excellent advice. Books by Harry Murray and Tim Holschlag are a good place to start learning! Have fun!