The soft hackle flies that are so great for trout are also very effective for bass. However, we need larger soft hackle flies for the bass. With this in mind, I’ve developed the Mr. Rapidan Soft Hackle in both Brown and Olive in sizes 6 and 8. These match a broad variety of natural insects both on the river bottom and those which are hatching so here are the two techniques I use to fish the Mr. Rapidan Soft Hackles.
There are great populations of nymphs in the riffles and by wading in below the riffles and fishing the Soft Hackle upstream dead drift you can catch many of the bass which feed here.
A second potential for the Soft Hackle occurs when we see bass feeding on the surface or when we suspect a hatch is about to take place. Here I set myself up so I’m casting down and across stream at a 20 degree angle to where I see feeding bass or where I suspect the bass are holding. A very slow two inch line hand twitching action every ten seconds is very effective. I usually use a floating line with this latter method but in some cases a SA Mastery Sink Tip III Line is excellent.
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