***I haven't shared much regarding techniques for quit a while, my recent posts being more about the fish with which I am so enamored. I'm going to start sharing more specifically what I've learned for the various species I've caught.
We all know fish in different waters can behave differently and have different preferences. But I think overall this will give folks who want to try for certain species more info that can hopefully get them started off on the right foot, rather than going blindly. We can all shorten our personal learning curve by first learning from the experience of others.***
This blog post is about Rock Bass.
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| Rock Bass on Fly |
Rock Bass are typically found in rocky streams with relatively cool, clear water. I did catch one in a Canadian lake once, but most of mine have been caught in streams. Some were trout streams, some were smallmouth bass streams. A few surprise fish came from warm water below a midwestern reservoir! That's not typical.
In the streams, Rock Bass typically prefer to hang out in the slower water (not stagnant) areas, often near large rocks, root wads, and fallen trees.
Rock Bass can be caught pretty much year-round. For some reason, the cooler seasons seem best. In some waters I've fished, anglers have commented that the Rock Bass seem to disappear during the summer. But in other waters they can be caught in the summer, so I could only speculate on the behavior of Rock Bass in those waters. In winter, I've caught them closer to springs in spring-fed streams. In warmwater streams during winter, I've found them in deeper holes, especially those with rocky or steep rip-rap banks, where they were tucked in tight to those rocks...and when caught, they would often spit up significant quantities of large dragonfly nymphs.
They have large mouths, so you can usually catch Rock Bass on flies in the #8 to #2 hook size range. I've caught some nice ones on surface flies...like smallmouth bass-sized blockhead poppers and large foam hopper / stonefly patterns. Subsurface, I've had good results with small crayfish / sculpin patterns, and large nymphs. Microjigs in various sizes and colors also work well, and sometimes you need that sort of weight to get a fly down into the deeper holes they often like to inhabit. Black and other natural colors seem to work best, in my experience, although I've had some good takes on chartreuse at times as well.
For gear, a 4wt or 5 wt fly rod is more than sufficient. I use a 9' long 6 wt fly rod, mainly because there may be large smallmouth bass in the areas I'm fishing. 4-6 lb fluorocarbon tippet is perfect. They aren't super-strong fighters.
Here's a few pics of Rock Bass I've caught while flyfishing:
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| Rock Bass from southern Missouri |
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| Rock Bass from Missouri |
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| Rock Bass from NE Iowa |
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