Last summer a good friend caught the largest smallmouth on a bass fly that he had created. This was the largest bass that he had caught in many years. He was using a crayfish which he had designed and tied. This is the type motivation that sparks one to carefully evaluate the natural foods which smallmouth bass feed upon. Closely examine the flies. Then make improvements to each one.
The fish will make the final evaluation of our efforts to develop a more effective bass fly. The Murray’s Hellgrammite evolved in this way. It took four years and a great amount of help from two angling friends in order to come up with the fly which most smallmouth anglers believe is the best smallmouth bass fly we have.
The Murray’s Strymph, a cross of streamers and nymphs, was engineered by the moods of the smallmouths and the trout as they dictated the natural foods they wanted to feed upon on specific days.
I actually used this approach to develop the Mr. Rapidan Dry Fly which is extremely productive during the major mayfly hatches all across the country.
Looking for a gift for Father’s Day? Our Virginia’s Ten Best Bass Flies Assortment contains 10 of our best smallmouth flies including streamers and top water flies.