OK, this fish wasn't taken on a fly, but Colin had a great time hooking and landing this nice fish with a Panther Martin. Click for larger image.

For many fly anglers, trout is the ultimate fish of choice. There are many reasons why some anglers prefer the powerful rainbows, the wily browns and pretty brookies, but for some reason, bass often seem to be overlooked. When flyfishers lobby for special protection for rivers and other waters, you will usually discover that the water contains some type of trout or perhaps salmon. Most flyfishing publications concentrate on techniques and flies aimed specifically at trout. Feature articles on great flyfishing rivers discuss more about trout and salmon than anything else.

The River - Find out about the river we fished and how to get there. The Fish - Smallmouth Bass can be fiesty and scrappy fish to fight. The Flies - The flies I had success with, and how to tie and fish them.

I have been fishing bass, both large and smallmouth, for as long as I can remember. Not only do smallmouth bass make great eating, pound for pound, bass are as fiesty as any trout. They are scrappy fish that can bend rods and offer the angler some very exciting fishing! Smallmouth bass can provide everything - deep diving runs, tail dancing jumps and the strenght to bend rods over while trying to throw the hook at the end of a line.

The smallmouth of Burnt River are no exception. Although they were not huge, the average fish being about 12 to 13 inches, they willingly took many of the flies offered to them, and once hooked, provided a great deal of fun. They took flies with a vengeance, hitting hard and fighting ferociously until they were landed. Many of them managed to shake the hook and escape being brought to shore.

Smallmouth bass can be found in almost every region of North America. Most are in the half to two pound range, and a fish over 5 pounds is considered a trophy! The record smallmouth weighed in at 12 pounds. Although it still has a fairly large mouth, it's mouth is smaller than its cousin's, the largemouth bass. It usually also has a greener colour to it and larger spots on the sides.

A smallmouth will eat insects, crayfish, and minnows, and sometimes their appetite can be quite voracious. I once caught a smallmouth that had two minnows in its mouth as well as my fly!

A chunky bass caught on a Cat's Whisker

While exploring along the edge of the Burnt River, we found a small pool that contained a huge bass, about 20 inches long. We grabbed a fly rod, drifted a Cat's Whisker towards it and watched as it chomped down on the fly and immediately began to fight. The pool was not that big, and the fish had the advantage of being able to swim underneath a couple of different rock ledges in the pool while my rod was bent right over. We didn't have a net handy, which added to the difficulty of landing the fish and I was concerned about breaking the light leader, especially with this fish looking for cover underneath the rock ledges. Finally, the fish was landed but he managed to make a final jump, breaking the leader and flopping back into the river.

Although smallmouth bass are plentiful in some areas, in smaller waters they are prone to being overfished. Perhaps they do not garner the same interest among fly anglers as the trout, they are no less deserving of respect and conservation as any other game fish. There is a lake in Central-western Ontario near where I used to live that had a healthy population of bass. After a popular fishing magazine published an article about some of the large fish that could be found in this lake, there were literally crowds of people flocking up from the city hoping to catch 'the big one'. The end result was that the fishery was almost destroyed and it will take many years for it to recover.

Smallies also make great table fare! While they do have a scaly skin, fillets of smallmouth bass, fried in butter or cooked with some other recipe, are delicious. Many a time I have enjoyed a shore lunch of fresh caught smallmouth bass, although on this trip, we released all of the fish we caught.

Return To:

Cat's Whiskers & Skinny Dippers
The Fish Of Burnt River
The Flies That Worked!

RELATED LINKS

County Of Victoria
The official website for the County of Victoria, Ontario, where a large part of the Burnt River flows.

Drag River-Burnt River Canoe Route
From Canadian Canoe Routes, a description including information on portages and distances.

New Magazine Hits The 'Net
My review of the Western Flyfisher.

Second Fly Swap
Looking for some new fly patterns? Take a look at the latest swap's flies! Some nice nymphs, streamers, and more.

Custom Rod Component Selection (Part II)
Snakes VS. SiC guides. Which ones are for you?

Custom Rod Component Selection (Part 1)
Some things you should think about before choosing the grip and reel seat for your custom rod.

Previous Features

From The Bench: The Muncher is a favorite of Ian James for carp, smallies, more.    Tie This!

The Doc's Rx: Thoughts of a Chicken Rancher. Doc tells it like it is.    The Doc's Rx