Catching Smallmouth Bass on Grasshopper Flies provides exciting top water action once mid-summer arrives. Some of the largest smallmouth we catch each year are taken on our Murray’s Bass Hopper.
The ravenous feeding of the smallmouth bass on natural grasshoppers was shown to me one summer evening as I walked down a hayfield beside the river on my way to a favorite riffle on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. I heard many splashes in the river close to my bank as I walked down the field. When I checked the river I saw the bass were rising to feed on the natural grasshoppers I had accidentally chased into the river. In order to add more hoppers to this natural drifting food line I walked up and down the bank two more times. By this time there were dozens of hopper on the water with many rising bass.
I entered the river a hundred feet upstream of my feeding bass and carefully waded down to them. From 40 feet out in the river I cast my Murray’s Bass Hopper 8 in tight against the bank. I let it drift naturally five seconds and then gave it two gentle two inch strips with my line hand in order to make it like the real hoppers kicking along the surface of the river. The first bass took my hopper solidly and in the next 200 feet of the river I took over 20 bass, some of which were dandies.
The greatest numbers of grasshoppers are found in pasture fields and hay fields so when I wade smallmouth rivers along these fields I rely strongly on the Murray’s Bass Hopper 8.
On our guided float trips and our own personal float trips this same fly has become one of our most dependable flies for large smallmouth bass. The technique which works well is to cast the Hopper in close to the bank, let it drift naturally for 5 seconds. Then impart a gentle two inch stripping action to it every 5 seconds to fish it out 10 feet. Successive casts are made every 10 feet down the bank as you drift along.
Unlike much smallmouth fishing, this action gets better the hotter the weather because the natural hoppers become more active. And it stays good well into September.
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