stilhdr1963:

I have not had much success for smallies on the fly. Largemouth will take a fly however, they need to be larger flies and ones that can be chugged or make some form of commotion.

Pheasant tail:

Smallmouth bass are regularly caught on fly gear.

That being said, most fly-rodding for smallmouths is usually in moving water (rivers + streams). Target smallmouth holding areas (they love rocks and boulders in moving water) and probe with big brown wooly-boogers (to imitate a crayfish or
stone-cat) or try the fly that probably catches more smallmouths that any other – the clouser minnow.

I use a 9′ 6wt rod, handles the bigger wooly boogers and clouser minnows really well.

Blaizer35:

try a popping fly i have caught many bass on those also i have caught many bass on colorful spiders..Good luck

Sagefisher:

You bet smallmouth take flies, with a vengeance. Pheasant tail gave some good info as did others. I fish for smallmouth on the Yakima River and they are great fighting fish. Even the small ones slam the flies. I use large streamers, around 5 inches in length and I have caught baby smallmouth that were smaller than the streamer but they were willing to try to eat it.

When casting heavy streamers you don’t need a tapered leader. You only need about 4 foot of good solid leader, fairly heavy. Smallmouth are not leader shy. You can often get away with fishing with a floating weight forward line. There are some bass lines or nymphing lines out there that add a little extra weight up forward to help turn those heavy streamers. If the fish are deep then you will need a sink tip line to help get down to them.

Smallmouth are predators and like some have said, fish around structure or ledges under the water, where they can hide while waiting for their prey. Oftentimes they are right up against the shore or under overhanging trees and brush.

You can have a lot of fun fishing for smallies, but you will be casting all day long. Vary your retrieve speeds to find what they want.

Larry