Bass are predators and, as such, also hide from their own predators by seeking cover such as stumps, water hyacinths, docks, etc. This cover also protects them from the discomfort of strong sunlight.

To prosper, Bass must find a location where they can safely eat without expending too much energy – unless annoyed, a Bass will not run down something that takes more energy to catch than it gets back in calories. Much of their prey lives in or near shallow water. Fish understand that anything that is one the surface splashing around is usually out of its environment and vulnerable. Bass always keep an eye on what is happening on the water's surface and rarely refuse to take advantage of it. This is why popper and diver types of flies are so successful. Try using a floating Muddler Minnow or Hopper, to imitate a locust, cricket or grasshopper trying to swim to shore. Bass are opportunistic feeders and if anything suggests of food, they will try to eat it, as long as they don't have to move too far from their hiding place. This is why accuracy in casting your fly next to cover is more important than casting a long distance, but ending up all over the place.

Remember in Part 1 of this series where we stated “All bass are aggressive predators.” Bass assume things that move in the water are alive -- if it moves and is, therefore, alive, it is considered food and will be attacked.

Floating Bass flies, no matter what of what material they are constructed, are lumped into the category of “Bass Bugs”. A few imitate bass food like mice, frogs and leeches. All others are attractors that try to give the impression of something living and edible. Since Bass are predators, they will eat anything that looks fair game and especially attack a Bass bug that suggests a living creature struggling at the water's surface. Flies that attract attention and appear to be vulnerable are the most successful.

Deer hair bugs can be shaped to look and perform like a hard headed wooden plug or popper, yet at the fraction of the weight. This is one of the advantages deer hair bugs have over hard bodied bugs. The drawback of these flies is that they inevitably soak up water. The best solution is to have duplicate flies on hand. As one gets wet, tie on its twin. Rotate flies and fish all day with the same looking lure that brought you success. 

In my last article, we ended by mentioning deer hair fly rotation to keep flies that get waterlogged. Another method is to threat these flies with waterproofing spray. I like my bugs to ride partially in the water surface and not always on top of the water. For example, a frog should have part of its body under the water and this is what I try to achieve. You can work a lot of floatant into the bug when it is still dry at home, but leave the bottom untreated so it absorbs some of the water.

The shape of the bug's heads affects the motion of attraction of the bug. Flat faced bugs are water movers that pop or gurgle the water's surface as it is retrieved. Diving bugs have the head cut at an angle to make the bus dart under the surface. Muddler-style heads make a wake. All of these shapes make the bug appear alive. 

Let's discuss where to fish and how to look for bass sites.

Some of the best areas are around aquatic grasses. These usually form on ledges and outcroppings in the middle of rivers or along river banks. Other sites to explore are lily pads, weed beds, docks, and fallen trees – structure, structure, structure.

Realize when bass find temperatures that are too cool or warm, the will move to deeper water so surface bugs get replaced with deep running muddlers, zonkers, leeches, matukas or wooly buggers. All bass usually migrate to deeper water during the midday sun and come back to the shallows during the evening.

The ability to work out where to find bass any time of the year is not an innate gift – it is a skill that can be learned. Observe the characteristics of the water you are about to fish. The first thing to look for is large areas of shallow water less than ten feet deep, known as flats. Bass are usually shallow water fish, even on large lake, bass will concentrate on large flats that can be found extending out form the shore line.

Buy a good map of the water body you plan to fish. Look for areas where underwater contours are wide apart. This is where to cast. Look for shallow water with cover. Bass hang around weed shorelines boat docks and fallen trees. Look for vegetation growing underwater and fish over and around it.

Realize that, although bass prefer shallow water, they do like quick access to deep water for safety so fish drop-offs between deep and shallow water.

Bass also like vegetation transition zones which occur between change of water depth and ecosystems where marsh grasses, pepper grass and bulrush change to smaller aquatic plants. They are great bass hangouts but your fly must have weedguards to properly fish these locations.

Think cover – over, under, around – as where all fish (not just bass) prefer to lay waiting.

Dark water will bring bass up in the water column while clean water pushes them deeper or closer to cover. In colored water, fish a bass bug which makes a lot of noise like a popper or diving bass bugs.

How to fish with Bass Bugs -- Practice your casting to become an expert at hitting a target area. Bass hang around structure and under hyacinths and getting the fly to the right spot the first time is important to keep from getting snagged on something or scaring the bass off. Successful casting also includes establishing line control quickly at the end of the cast as slack line will result in a lack of hook set – sometimes bass will hit the fly just after it lands on the water and you want to be ready for it.

When retrieving, do not use the rod tip to move the fly. This causes immediate slack in the line and loss of fly control. Always point your rod tip at the bass bug and move the bug by variety of tugs (soft, quick, slow, etc.) on the line with the stripping hand (and not the rod hand) while the rod tip is close to the water's surface and pointed at the fly. (By the way, this is true for both top water and sinking flies.) Different style of bugs react differently to different line retrieval tugs – for most styles, a hard quick tug and the bug dives while a softer tug causes the bug to twitch.

Sometimes big bass will attack when a bass bug is let to sit for a long period (10 seconds or more) or when just slightly moved just after it hits the water. Most fishermen move a bug too quickly. No one retrieve is always best and experiment with all types of actions and retrieval speeds.

To imitate a frog or a snake, use a sink tip line and allow the sink tip to sink. Make short strips and the fly will work on the surface. And abrupt or longer pull causes the lure to splash, pop or dive following the sunken tip. If you keep pulling, the fly swims to the depth of the sunken line tip. If you stop pulling, the fly turns head up and returns to the surface as long as the line tip does not sink deeper than the length of the leader plus tippet.

You can use the no-retrieve method when you fish under structure like a dock or overhanging trees. After casting the fly to the desired location, let it sit for three to five seconds twitch the fly using a very short strip moving it maybe an inch or so. Pause and repeat several times then recast.

In both of the above cases, when fishing on rough, murky or densely structured waters, pick a surface fly which moves a lot of water and makes a lot of noise.

The last retrieve style is the irregular strip and pause. Let the fly settle to the depth you want to fish then begin a series of strips from and inch to a foot long. Vary the strips and pauses, i.e., long strip, pause, long strip, short strip, pause, long strip, pause, short strip, etc.

A couple alternate Methods of fishing for bass.

Bass lying towards the bottom go crazy over a jig that sits on the bottom for a few seconds and then suddenly jumps once or twice. With a weighted jig fly, use a floating line with a ten foot leader – allow the fly to sink to the bottom. Pause. Strip Line. Pause. This will cause the fly to jump or “jig”.

Another deadly method for bass in bottom structure is to swim a floating fly over the structure using a two-to-four foot leader on a full sinking line. The heavy line sinks causing the fly to sink with it. Each time you strip in line, the fly dives towards the bottom and then rises when you stop stripping. If you strip the fly in slowly, it swims above the structure without hanging up.