Spring smallmouth fly fishing is one of the best times of the year to be on the water. Fish are shaking off the winter slump, starting to move, and (most importantly) starting to eat.

This is the season of bigger flies, aggressive eats, and covering water until you find fish. But it can also be a little confusing- water temps are changing, fish are constantly moving, and what worked last week might not work today.

Keep it simple. In this guide, we’ll break down the flies, setup, and tactics you need to consistently catch spring smallmouth without overthinking it.

Spring Smallmouth Flies

Springtime smallmouth bass fishing means one thing- baitfish. Fish are coming out of their winter slumbers and preparing for the spawn, which means that they are hungry and aggressive. We still need to have a collection of crayfish patterns if the conditions make the fish moody, but for the most part, it’s baitfish time.

I love fishing baitfish patterns in the spring- it’s one of the best times of the year to aggressively strip a 3-5 inch fly and get rod-shaking takes. I also carry a handful of crayfish patterns, rounding out my box so I’m ready for any situation.

Here are some of my favorites:

Murdich Minnow

Murdich Minnows are similar to “jerkbaits” in the conventional world- if you listen to any of those pro bass anglers talk, they’ll talk about how effective these lures are during the spring. While we can’t exactly replicate that with a fly rod, flies like the Murdich Minnow get pretty damn close. When stripped, the fly will kick side to side, giving the erratic action of a wounded baitfish. This action can drive spring smallmouth nuts, causing some aggressive eats.

Clouser Minnnow

If you only carry one baitfish pattern in the spring for smallmouth bass, it’s hard to go wrong with the tried and true classic Clouser Minnow in chartreuse/white. 

Gamechanger

If you’re looking for a fun fly to fish in the spring, look no further than the Gamechanger. This fly has taken off in popularity over the past few years and has become a staple in many fly angler’s boxes. 

Wooly Bugger

I like to throw a Wooly Bugger to start out the day, especially if I’m on a new body of water. I can drift it, swing it, swim it, or strip it aggressively to hone in on what kind of mood the fish are in that day. From there, I can adjust to other flies (larger baitfish, crayfish, etc.) based on the fish’s reaction to the Bugger. For those reasons, it’s hard to head out for a trip without a handful of Buggers in box.

Clawdad

I will likely use the Clawdad as a last resort for spring smallmouth. I’ll prioritize faster-moving baitifish patterns first, but if those aren’t producing, I’ll confidently switch over to a slower presentation with a Clawdad and probably be happy with the results.

Any Baitfish Fly

When it comes down to it, if your fly looks like a baitfish and you find where fish are holding, you’re gonna have success. Fish the flies you have confidence in, mess around with different variations and you’ll be good to go.

The flies I listed are some of my staples. I also use plenty of other styles of flies. I also plan on continuing to experiment with different patterns- maybe one day a new fly will become a go-to.

Spring Smallmouth Setup

For smallmouth setups during the spring, I like to beef up the gear. This is the time of the year that we’re throwing bigger flies for bigger fish and we need our gear to be ready to handle it.

Rod/Reel

I stick with a 7 or 8 weight rod and reel setup for springtime smallmouth bass. The heavier, stiffer rods will help toss 3-5 inch baitfish patterns with ease and help control the larger fish we are gonna run into. 

Springtime smallmouth fishing also means covering a lot of water- searching different depths to figure out where fish are hiding. To do so effectively, it’s best to be equipped with rods that will save effort for fighting fish, not flinging flies. I’ve had days of making long cast after long cast and using a lighter rod would’ve been depleting. Beef up your setup so you spend more time fishing and less time wearing out your shoulder. 

Line

For springtime smallmouth, use a line that will get you subsurface. This means either a full sinking line, a sink tip, or a floating line with a polyleader. You can get away with a floating line as long as your fly is heavily weighted so it sinks to the desired depth.

Smallmouth are most likely gonna be anywhere from 2-10 feet of water during the spring. We need our flies to be able reach those depths. However you do so (sinking line, heavy flies, etc.) is up to you. Just know that your flies most likely need to get down deep, so the surface flies and floating lines are most likely gonna stay at home during this time of the year. 

Leader/Tippet

Springtime smallmouth tippets are generally on the heavier end, anywhere from 12 to even 20 lbs with 16 lbs being my go-to size. Mono or fluorocarbon isn’t all that essential, though fluoro can help the flies sink a little faster and adds a touch of additional abrasion resistance. Use what you got!

Because we’re targeting bigger fish with bigger flies, we need to build our tippet and leader to handle it. Spring smallmouth are also on the aggressive side and are less leader-shy than they are during other times of the year so we can get away with the thicker stuff.

Depending on your line, you can keep your leader setup simple. If you’re using any sort of sinking line, just throw on 3-4 feet of thicker tippet to the end of your line. For floating lines, go with 8-10 feet so the fly has enough leader to sink down to the right depth. With either choice, err on the side of shorter leaders- this will help your larger baitfish flies turn over correctly. 

Spring Smallmouth Tactics

Spring smallmouth fishing can be broken down into 3 key timeframes, all revolving around the spawn. This will depend heavily on your region, body of water, and local water temperatures but these are the general time frames to know as the weather transitions from cold winter and the heat of the summer.

Use these water temperatures as a guide to hone in on where and how fish are feeding:

Pre-Spawn (mid-40s to upper 50s)

Once the water temperatures creep into the 40s, smallmouth will leave their deep wintering holes and start heading for the shallows.

To catch them, we need to target what are known as “transition areas.” These are areas in your body of water that offer easy access to both deep and shallower water. They likely won’t be in the shallows quite yet nor will they be deep in the trenches. They like spots that offer both as they begin to shake off the winter chill. 

Here are some solid spots to key in on:

• Deep Pools Near Flats
  • Smallmouth spend the winters in the deepest slowest pools and as the water warms, they move towards the shallows to start scouting spawning areas and have more access to prey. If you’re fishing these spots early in the spring, scope out the deeper stuff and as it warms up, start to target the shallows
• Tailouts of Deeper Runs
  • As smallmouth push shallower, they can often stack up in tailors- the slower, flatter section of deep runs. This will give them access to both shallow and deep water, exactly what they’re looking for this time of the year.
• Tributary Mouths
  • If you’re fishing in creeks, get as close to the main part of the river as you can. Fish will start to migrate up these shallower creeks to spawn and will likely hang out in the larger, deeper part of the river until they’re ready to spawn in the creeks.

Spawn (upper 50s to mid 60s)

There’s some debate on whether or not you should fish for spawning fish. This is the time of the year where smallmouth are on their beds reproducing and some believe we should let them do their thing. You’ll see them up in the shallows guarding beds (or even mating) and while it’s tempting to catch them, it does raise some ethical concerns for the longevity of the species. 

Personally, I don’t like fishing for bedding smallmouth. I will give a fish a cast or two but won’t spend much time making cast after cast until they bite. They’re very vulnerable this time of the year and it just doesn’t feel right to hammer them while nature is taking its course.

Post-Spawn (60s to low 70s)

Once smallmouth are done spawning, they generally need some time to recover from the strain of the spawn. This can pose a tough situation for anglers as fish are pretty lethargic from all the energy spent reproducing. They’ll generally slip back to slower parts of the water so they can rest and don’t have to fight the current.

Post-spawn fishing can be tough. Those same areas that produced aggressive fish earlier in the spring may be filled with post-spawn zombies. I’ve noticed that the post-spawn period can last a couple weeks (at most) until they recover.

To target these fish, go back to those deeper pools (drop offs near spawning shallows are a great place to look) and fish very slowly. We need to make our flies easy to eat as they probably won’t have enough energy to chase down faster-moving flies. Dead drifting crayfish patterns or Wooly Buggers is a great choice during this time of the year. 

Conclusion

Spring smallmouth fishing doesn’t have to be complicated. Throw flies that look like food, get them down to where the fish are, and adjust your approach based on how active they seem.

Start aggressive with baitfish patterns, slow things down if you need to, and don’t be afraid to experiment until something clicks. Some days they’ll crush a stripped fly, other days you’ll have to practically put it in their mouth, but that’s part of the deal this time of year.

If you keep things simple and stay patient, you’ll find fish. And when you do, spring smallmouth have a way of making you forget all the slow days leading up to it.