Targeting Creek Bass: Part 1 — Flies

There are lots of effective flies for targeting largemouth bass in DFW creeks. Generally piscivorous (fish eaters), their diet can vary from baitfish to crawfish to leeches to grasshoppers and more. Sometimes the biggest challenge is selecting a fly that mimics the current forage they are interested in.

The first fly I will tie on for targeting bass is a baitfish pattern. My two favorites are a Clouser minnow and my Baby Bluegill (see my February blog post). Both of these flies perform beautifully in DFW streams as a searching pattern, as well as for sight casting to cruising bass. Because the size of the forage fish in creeks leans to the smaller side, I will tie these flies in sizes 2 to 6, and even a size 8 is not out of the question.

Those aren’t the only two baitfish flies I will use. I have had success with glass minnows, EP minnows, a threadfin shad pattern that I developed, Bennett’s Lunch/Brunch Money, and many others. Tie on your favorite baitfish pattern and give it a go! An EP Minnow, like the fly shown at the top of this page, will catch just about anything, especially bass.

When considering the retrieve, I like to have my baitfish flies look injured or otherwise unsound, making them an easy target for predators. To do this, I will use intermittent groups of 1 to 4 short strips at a time, with varying pauses in between. I will often get a strike on the pause.

If your baitfish flies aren’t working, and there is no obvious forage that the bass are eating, it’s time to work your way through your fly box.

My next favorite fly for bass in North Texas creeks is probably a crawfish fly. I developed my Demon Craw (see my June blog post) specifically for creek fishing. It sinks relatively quickly to get low in the water column, but can be dead drifted in moving water, or stripped fairly aggressively to keep it higher in the water, or twitched along the bottom to find the big boys hiding there.

Of course, if it’s summertime and I see a bunch of grasshoppers on my walk into the creek, I will definitely tie on a foam hopper that matches the size and color of the ones buzzing around the creek. With a hopper, I will often tie on a dropper of a beadhead nymph or similar to activate the local sunfish. I have found that having a few sunfish wiggling around in the water on the end of your line will draw the attention of the bass in the area, increasing your odds of upsizing your catch with a bass attack on your hopper.

Other flies that have produced hundreds of bass for me are:
– Morrish mouse
– Woolly Bugger
– Johnson’s Brushy Creek streamer
– Texas Bug (see August blog post)
– Zonker leech
– Small balsa/foam popper

***Next month: Part 2 – How to locate creek bass***