Just wondering what patterns everyone likes to go to early in the year for smallies…
I like to use little clousers, and sometimes poppers, mostly stuff with action, just to get them excited.
Soft-bodied (floss etc…) streamers with one or two wraps of undersized, dry fly hackle for a collar. Some flash, like holographic tinsel, is also good. Sometimes I walk upstream on the bottom and watch the fish get all curious. Sometimes they even get caught. 
Ed
It is a bit early here in Massachusetts and I usually get some time in on the rivers for trout until the bass become active. I like to fish deep for early season smallies and like lots of action. Perhaps this is because I tend to deaddrift my offering and “swing” them in the current. So I need to rely on the fly itself to impart the action, since I am only twitching it.
Anyway, I love the Conehead Combo (see it here as a former Fly of the Week)… I also have sequence photos and instructions on my own Web site.
http://www.fishingwithflies.com/MyFavoriteFliesTheConeheadCombo.htm
Here’s a photo:
Peter,
That is a fine looking fly! I can just see all that marabou waving like crazy making them little fishies, in turn, crazy. Sweet website by the way too. 8)