Smallmouth bass often leap in an attempt to capture both damselflies and dragonflies in the air over the streams. When I see this, I put on a Murray’s Olive Damselfly Skater size 8 and dress it liberally with dry fly floatant. I position myself up and across stream about 40ft from where I saw the bass jump. The goal is to make the Skater dance across the surface like the real damselfly. I catch many bass around the edges of the aquatic grass beds with damselfly and dragonfly nymphs. Cast them tight against the grass beds and swim it out by stripping it 4 inches every 5 seconds. I use a Murray’s Bright Butt 9ft 2X leader with the flies listed below for all of my summertime smallmouth bass fly fishing.
Recommended Damselflies and Dragonflies
- Murray’s Olive Dragonfly Skater
- Murray’s Bass Dragonfly Dry
- Spent Wing Bass Dragonfly
- Murray’s Bass Damselfly
- Blue Damsel Dry
- Damselfly Nymph
- Dragonfly Nymph
I can usually get some good smallmouth fishing with these flies from June to October on the Shenandoah River near my fly shop. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles and sizes offered in the industry.
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