Many large smallmouth bass quickly grab a real dying minnow struggling on the surface of the river. I’ve had great success mimicking this in the season when the rivers are low and clear. I dress a streamer such as Shenk’s White Streamer or a Muddle liberally with silicon cream fly floatant as well as dressing the leader. Starting at the riffle I wade slowly upstream and fan my casts over the whole tail of the pool as far up as I can wade. Use a slow line hand stripping action to swim the streamer just slightly faster than the current–a six inch strip every five seconds is usually good. Be patient if you see the wake of a bass headed for your fly. Don’t take it away from him but wait until he has it to set the hook. Yes, this takes patience. I usually need to redress my streamer with silicon after I’ve caught a dozen bass and replace it with a fresh dry streamer after I’ve caught 3 dozen bass.
