If you want to know more about fly fishing for Smallmouth Bass, I suggest you pick up the new book by Jake Villwork, “Smallmouth Bass Flies Top to Bottom”.
This is a gorgeous book with beautiful photos throughout. On top of that Jake really goes through everything you need to know to catch smallmouth with a fly rod. He explains rods, lines, and leaders. Tools he uses for fly tying, seasonal strategies, and fly movement. He includes 16 of his favorite flies with step-by-step instructions on how to tie each one. With flies included, he takes you through each section of the water column, top, middle, and bottom. The icing on the cake is the over 300 flies with recipes from today’s top tyers.
Here is a brief introduction from the book.
“Smallmouth bass swim in lakes and rivers across the United States and Canada and are a premier fly-rod game fish in almost every way—they take flies readily, feed on diverse foods for a long period of time, tolerate higher water temperatures than trout, and fight harder than any other North American freshwater fish their size. This is the first book dedicated to the best modern flies for these fish that includes both detailed step-by-step tying instructions as well as top patterns and recipes for flies that cover the complete water column, from top to bottom. With over 500 full-color step-by-step images and 300 patterns by today’s top tiers from around the country, this book is the definitive resource for smallmouth bass.”
The book is available in many places, here are a couple links.
TCO Fly Shop: https://www.tcoflyfishing.com/products/smallmouth-bass-flies-top-to-bottom
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Smallmouth-Bass-Flies-Top-Bottom/dp/0811737845/
Jake Villwock is owner and head guide of Relentless Fly Fishing. He grew up in a commercial fishing family on the Eastern shore of Maryland. After guiding in Alaska, Jake returned to the East Coast and worked for TCO Fly Shop. He started Relentless Fly Fishing, which serves as TCO’s contract guide service. In addition to guiding, Jake is a Fulling Mills Signature tier, blog writer, author and contributor to Eastern Fly Fishing magazine.
You can follow Jake on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/relentlessflyfishing/
Weather you’re a beginner or experienced fly fisher, this is a book you need in your collection.
