Terrestrials and Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth Bass are well versed on the availability of terrestrial insects such as crickets and hoppers.  Fly Fishing these dead drifted along grassy banks with 18″ – 36″ of depth has produced many nice smallmouth bass for us.  Traditional patterns such as Shenk’s Cricket or the Letort Hopper will work quite well but I prefer one of our Bass Hoppers or Bass Crickets because they are a little more durable and tend to hold up a little better after two dozen fish or so.  With the low August flows typical in the mid-Atlantic, 3x tippet will prove to be beneficial.