I was recently asked a few questions by Bob at Mystic Fly Rods for a piece in their latest newsletter. I figured I would publish the full interview here for anyone interested. I have been fishing Mystic Fly Rods for several years now and I remain very impressed with their performance. You can see their rod selection at: http://mysticoutdoors.com/
Mystic: When is swinging for smallmouth effective?
Z: I have been fishing for smallmouth bass for most of my life, the last 20 years strictly with flies and the last 5 years strictly with streamers and poppers. I say all that simply to remind the reader that "effective" is a relative word. Although there are certainly the rare occasions when a swung fly is very effective for numbers of fish, that is typically not why anyone choses swinging over other methods. To those that already swing for steelhead and salmon, you know that the swung fly bite is in a class of it's own as far as pure enjoyment of our sport. If you haven't experienced it, I can't explain it well enough... it is simply a style of fishing you must experience. I have yet to hear a client say a steelhead or salmon on a swung fly isn't worth the extra time spent in pursuit. The smallmouth bass is no exception, although the reasons for swinging for bass are a little different than with steelhead or salmon, which I'll try to cover later.
Mystic: How do you set yourself up for it? (Skagit head vs. Scandi vs. other line) - sink tip?
Z: On my home water, Michigan's Muskegon River, I don't find a need for anything longer than a skagit line but keep in mind I am also fishing from a boat and can anchor anywhere I want to, a scandi line may be a better choice in some circumstances. The most fun choice is a floating skagit line with a popper or diver, but if the water temp is below 70 the best choice would be a streamer on a polyleader. In general, the colder the water temp is the deeper you will want your fly. For example, if the water is 60-65 I will fish as deep as possible. At that temperature many of the bass in my river are still making their way upstream from the lake and will take advantage of silty inside bends where they can soak up some sunshine as well as take advantage of easy meals such as fry from our migratory fish and other rich food sources like small crayfish that gather in these areas. A superfast sinking polyleader (7 ips) works well. As the water gets closer to 70 degrees I switch to an intermediate polyleader fishing my streamer just under the surface. Over 70 degrees and I'm typically going for a popper on a floating line, my favorite choice!
Mystic: What types of water do you target?
Z: In general I target the same places for all my river smallmouth fishing. I mentioned silty inside bends in my last answer, but keep in mind that's for colder water temps and only when my river is higher than our typical summertime flow. At normal summer flows and water over 65 degrees I will target bass in the deeper (3'-6'), slower bends especially if they have some structure. Bass are super structure oriented as they are best at hiding out and ambushing their prey.
As I mentioned earlier, my reasons for using a swung fly for bass are a little different than for steelhead. When swinging for steelhead I'm searching for a fish aggressive enough to take a swung fly and my fly may swing past quite a few to find that one fish I'm after. With bass, I'm typically swinging because I either want to cover a certain area very well or I'm fishing alone and don't have the luxury of someone rowing me slowly through the prime water. I have many clients who want to catch a bass on a swung fly just to say they did it, but for the most part on my bass trips, we are using a single hand rod (Mystic M-Series 8 wt. is my rod of choice) casting into structure as I back row to keep a slower pace than the current. For the wading angler especially, swinging is ideal.
Mystic: Tell me about fly pattern selection.
Z: My bass fly selection has become very small over the last few years as I've narrowed down my top producing flies. If I'm fishing a streamer it will either be a Zuddy's Super Streamer (usually in yellow/gold or yellow/copper or an un-named streamer I've come to rely heavily on.
For poppers it's always a Zudbubbler although the color choice may vary from day to day. There are also days when they will bite a smaller, less noisy surface pattern much better, for those days I'll choose a leggy hopper pattern like "Darth Hopper". No matter which pattern I choose, I keep the presentation very slow. Bass are ambush feeders and they won't typically go after something they don't think they can catch easily. The strip/pause retrieve is a good one. Work it slow but let them know it's alive! When swinging a fly for bass, I simply lift and drop the rod tip throughout the swing to give it the same effect as the strip/pause retrieve.
Mystic: What do you look for in terms of rod performance?
Z: When swinging for any species, I prefer a medium to soft spey or switch rod, but it's gotta have power to unload a heavy skagit line. For bass my first choice would be a 7wt. Mystic switch rod 11'3". The 5wt. switch is my favorite rod for swinging wetflies for trout and it'll get the job done for bass as well but the 7wt. is really a perfect bass rod for swinging. The 7wt. can also handle the occasional day steelheading, although a couple more feet of rod would be preferred to throw the extra heavy sink tip required. I can't wait for the Mystic Spey Series for steelhead!
Mystic: Are the casts and 'swings' similar to what you would use when targeting steelhead?
Z: Yes, casts are the same. Whether your using a switch rod for steelhead, trout or bass the casts are all the same, making it a great way to keep your skills sharp all year.
