Bass Flies You Didn't Imagine

Simple Bass Flies
Dec 17 2020

A favorite avocation of mine is reading old fishing books.
Not new ones, (although I read those, too) but old ones, in particular.
I see much of their information as something people used to know - but today it's forgotten.
Some will call me a bookworm, I suppose...

                     

The Bookworm
 Carl Spitzweg. ca 1850

...and, after reading these books for a while, I start talking like they did a hundred years ago, which is kinda weird.

But, I think about it like this...
"People have been fishing for thousands of years, and each age had practices that worked in its time.
Maybe there is something to be learned from them...and maybe an edge that no one else knows."

With this in mind, let's take a look at some fly patterns for bass, possibly the most popular sport fish in America... and maybe the world.

Now, the bass is not much thought of as a fly fishing quarry except by a dedicated cadre of anglers. 
But, it has been considered one of the gamiest fish on this continent for a couple centuries... back when all they had were flies of some sort. 

So, here I got to thinking again, "Just what did they use to catch bass, before we had modern soft plastics, zippy crankbaits and a million different baits and lures.
More specifically, what flies did they use?" 

I've previously written a few articles that answer that question, and you can check those out, starting here: Bass Flies of A. J. McClane, pt 1

But, fishing books have been popular with publishers for centuries, and I recently found another vintage book that covers the topic of bass flies in a way that we can use.

Its called, "A Boys Own Guide to Fishing, Tackle Making, and Fish Breeding," by John Harrington Keene.
  
Published in 1894, it was meant for a youthful audience and was intentionally simple, easy to follow, and full of practical tips that wouldn't break a boys savings...at a time when that might only be a dollar or two!

I find this uncomplicated approach appealing, but I want to warn you: if you picked up fly fishing for bass anytime within the last 4 decades, what you find here won't be what you expect.

We join our narrator, Mr Keene, as he  leaves trout fishing behind, and moves to a discussion of bass on the fly...

=========================

"...If you have carefully followed the directions for fly-making for trout, you do not need them repeated here, for bass fly-making is identical in principle and practice, except that a larger hook and stouter gut are used. (1)

A few of the best bass flies I know of may be described, and with these you will probably catch as many fish as someone with a $500 collection.
These have the merit, also, of simplicity.

The Flies

1. Brown Hackle, — body, peacock herl; legs, webby saddle hackle of brown, reddish-brown.
No. 3 or 4 hook.

2. Brown Moth, —body, brown worsted wool yarn (cinnamon brown); tail, a few hairs from tail of brown squirrel; legs, brown hackle; wings, turkey tail. 
No. 3 hook.

3. Coachman - a Brown Hackle Fly with white goose or duck slip wings, laid on reverse style and tied backwards toward tail. Small white feathers may be substituted. 

No. 4 hook.

4. Royal Coachman, — made same as ordinary Coachman, but the body is divided in centre by a band of scarlet silk.
No. 3 or 4 hook

5. Gray Hackle, — made same as the Brown Hackle, but the body is of grey wool; legs, webby dun or barred rock rooster saddle hackle  
No. 3 hook.

6. Professor, — body, yellow silk ribbed with gold tinsel, and a tuft of red ibis feathers as a tail; legs, brown hackle ; wings, two breast feathers of the mallard. 
No. 3 hook.

7. Black June, — Body, peacock herl; legs, black hackle ; wings, crow. No. 3 hook.

8. Cowdung,— body, yellowish green wool yarn; legs, brown hackle; wings, from the brown hen. 

9. White Miller, — body, white wool and ribbed with yellow silk, or gold tinsel, or, orange silk; hackle, white; wings, white.

10. Seth Green, — body, green silk ribbed with yellow silk; wings, brown (buff turkey tail); hackle, brown. No. 3 hook.

These are sufficient to begin with.

In using the fly for bass, somewhat similar tactics to those in vogue for trout are employed. 

Of course, the thing to do first, is to ascertain beyond peradventure that bass are present. (2)

The fly is cast in precisely the same style as for trout; but it is allowed to sink several inches, at least, under water before it is drawn back by little jerks towards the caster.
In deep water, it is advisable to close a small split shot about 12-18" above the hook, so that the line is sunk a foot, or even two, beneath the water. (3)

The small-mouth black bass is usually found over a rocky bottom, near old submerged trunks of trees, and in deeper water generally than its confrere of the "large-mouth" species. 

But both take the fly greedily when its in their mood to do so; and when either is hooked, there is quite a "circus" on hand to deal with.
Especially is this so with the smallmouth.

He is the very bull-dog of the water. As soon as the hook pricks him, the line runs out with startling rapidity; then he leaps from the water, following this up with other leaps, sometimes to the number of six, or even more; and it is necessary to be patient and wary if you would secure the fish in the end.

I do not think any fish that swims is superior to the black basses in fighting-power on the hook.”

- J. Harrington Keene, Greenwich, Washington County, N.Y., 1894

NOTES
(1) * "gut" as used here, means tippet and leader... and
BOOM! ...He tells you right upfront that the flies you'll be using for bass won't differ from trout flies, except in size.

(2) (“beyond peradventure” = without a doubt)

Also, this point about fishing where the bass actually are seems obvious. 

He makes the observation elsewhere in the book that the local boy often out-fishes the well equipped stranger for no more reason than he knows from familiarity where the fish are. 
However, we seem to get the notion that monster bass are behind every log, rock, and bit of weed, just waiting for us to come along. 
Naturally, that is not the case, and this leads to much wasted time and frustration. 

The problem lies with our expectations, not with the flies, or even the fish.
We have to make ourselves remember that 90% of the water before us holds no fish, that the fish we seek have tails, and they use them.
Our main job is to be The Boy of this book, to learn where they have gone, and why. That way we spend our time on the productive 10% of fish-holding water.

 (3) You'll notice that subsurface fishing is the key here, not surface poppers or other floating patterns. 
They say that the difference between a good trout angler, and a successful one, are two split shot. 
So it might seem the same with bass...

You'll also see right off that the flies are not lurid, gaudy things designed to catch your eye, but are intended to catch fish.
They are not complicated, they use commonly found materials, and can be tied by a boy with limited means and experience  ... which is pretty much how I tie all my flies.
So this was right up my alley.
Nonetheless, they all follow the consistent pattern of large, generic hooks to create big trout flies - I tied all on #4 bait hooks.

Imagine yourself a boy in 1894, and you only have available the hooks carried by the local hardware store. Your materials are culled from local farmers, hunters, your moms knitting box, feathers from your own bed pillow, etc.
That is what we are aiming for here. 

Conclusion
Did you catch these terms: "Peradventure?" and "Confrere?" 
See what I mean about talking oddly after reading this stuff. Try 'peradventure' on your fishing buddies and see how that goes...

So there you have it, yet another dip into the pool of arcane lore. This old book has taught us one thing, at least: There are simple, familiar and easy-to-tie patterns that we can craft from common materials... patterns that will maybe catch bass when little else does.

It's kinda like those early GEICO caveman commercials...

"So Easy, Even A Boy Can Do It!"

Thanks so much for reading and,

Tight Lines,
David 

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