First Tuesday Tips
Tip 10: Meet the Basses and Panfish
(This is Tip 2 in Skip's book 365 Fly-Fishing Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish)
This First Tuesday Tip Applies to Largemouth Bass in Lakes, Smallmouth Bass in Lakes, Smallmouth Bass in Streams, Panfish in Lakes
The basses and panfish (with a very few exceptions) prefer warmer to much warmer water than trout can tolerate. And don't think that warmwater fishes are just misshapen trout—you can be a fine trout fisher yet fail to catch many, or any, bass and panfish.
LARGEMOUTH BASS
Found in every state but Alaska, also in Mexico and Canada. Loves warm water but does fine up north thanks to summer water temperatures. Leaps and fights hard (though briefly). Tolerates only very slow currents—a true lake fish. Has a smudgy black horizontal stripe along each flank.
Largemouth Bass
(photo ©Carol Ann Morris)
SMALLMOUTH BASS
Looks something like a largemouth, but has vertical stripes (if it has stripes at all) in place of the largemouth’s horizontal band. Likes quick, rocky streams but does just as well in slow, weedy ones, and in lakes. Needs warm water at least a fair chunk of the year but can’t handle largemouth’s upper limit. Fights hard and long, and sometimes leaps. All over the US and well up into Canada.
Smallmouth Bass
(photo ©Carol Ann Morris)
PANFISH
Bluegill
The most common and beloved panfish in North America. Fights hard for its small size (a 10-incher’s a dandy), rarely jumps. Prefers lakes but does fine in lazy currents. Needs warm water. Often schools. Does have powder-blue gill covers.
Bluegill
(photo ©Carol Ann Morris)
Crappie
Crappies, both black and white, really bunch up (especially black crappies) for mating in spring, run large for sunfishes (sometimes a pound and a half, even two pounds). Crappies are rounded and flat-sided like other panfish, but silvery with dark markings.
Crappie
(photo ©Carol Ann Morris)
Other panfish
The list is long: redear, pumpkinseed, warmouth, green sunfish . . . They’re all well worth knowing and seeking. Use the bluegill as your model, or at least your starting point, for exploring most of the panfish. A few (yellow perch, rock bass. . .) don't follow the bluegill model.
Yellow Perch
(photo ©Carol Ann Morris)
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*Announcements*
Skip has an essay in Big Sky Journal's annual Fly Fishing issue, called "Montana Hoppers: the Princess and the Brute" released February 1, 2023. Skip rewrote it a bit; I painted and illustrated it here, on our website. Here's the link on our web page to check it out:
©Carol Ann Morris
Click here to read Skip's essay Montana Hoppers: The Princess and the Brute...
Skip's latest books:
Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them, is now available on Amazon as an ebook...check it out! Click on the links below to go to the information page on Top 12 Dry Flies (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page...)
Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them
Click here to get more information about
Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page)...
Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page)...
Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them, 2nd Edition, originally published as an e-book only, is now available on Amazon as a paperback...check it out! Click on the links below to go to the information page on Top 12 Nymphs (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page...)
Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (2nd Edition)
Click here to get more information about
Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (2nd Edition). . .
Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (2nd Edition). . .
Click here to get more information about Skip's e-book,
500 Trout Streams...
500 Trout Streams...
Skip's latest paperback book:
365 Fly Fishing Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish
Click here to get more information about Skip's latest book,
365 Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish...
365 Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish...
Print Skip's chart for FREE:
Skip Morris's Trout-Fly Proportion Chart
Go to Skip Morris's Trout Fly Proportion Chart
Skip's Predator is available to buy...
Skip's ultra-popular Predator—a hit fly for bluegills and other panfishes and largemouth bass (also catches smallmouth bass and trout)—is being tied commercially by the Solitude Fly Company.
The Predator
CLICK HERE to learn more about or to purchase the Predator...
Learn to Tie Skip's Predator
Do you want to tie the Predator?
Tying the Predator
Skip shows you how to tie it on his YouTube Channel link, listed below:
CLICK HERE to see Skip's detailed video on how to tie the Predator...