Fly Fishing for Smallmouth by Bob Clouser

Bob anticipates the questions & challenges faced by anglers when they first encounter a smallmouth stream. He explains the natural history of smallmouth--their range, spawning behavior, feeding habits, & seasonal movement patterns--& then introduces the specific flies & techniques he uses when fly-fishing for bass. Contains: recipes & fishing techniques for 32 of Bob Clouser’s favorite smallmouth patterns; 10 tips to catch a trophy bass; & local expertise for fishing the nation’s best bass rivers, including the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, the Umpqua & John Day in Oregon, Maryland’s Potomac, Maine’s Penobscot, & the Little Tennessee. 260 color photos, 17 illus; 8.5x11 inches, 240 pgs.

• Recipes and fishing techniques for 32 of Bob Clouser’s favorite smallmouth patterns
• Ten tips to catch a trophy bass
• Local expertise for fishing the nation’s best bass rivers, including the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, the Umpqua and John Day in Oregon, Maryland’s Potomac, Maine’s Penobscot, and the Little Tennessee

In Fly-Fishing for Smallmouth, Bob Clouser shares the extensive knowledge he has developed over a quarter-century of guiding for smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River. Beyond his native waters, the lessons Bob offers in this book can be directly applied to smallmouth fisheries across the country, from creeks to large rivers. An experienced teacher, Bob anticipates the questions and challenges faced by anglers when they first encounter a smallmouth stream. He explains the natural history of smallmouth--their range, spawning behavior, feeding habits, and seasonal movement patterns--and then introduces the specific flies and techniques he uses when fly-fishing for bass. In sections on casting and presentations, he discusses intermediate to advanced methods of casting with weighted flies and lines as well as various surface and subsurface tactics, with dramatic color photos of the author demonstrating how it’s done.

Bob has designed a series of flies especially for smallmouth, and he reveals recipes and fishing tips for these flies and the other bass patterns he regularly uses and carries in his fly box. In the book’s final chapter, he invites his friends to write about their favorite local bass streams across North America. These well-known anglers, among them Lefty Kreh, John Randolph, and Mike O’Brien, offer intimate details on the greatest bass waters from California to Ontario.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING:
“In addition to being the inventor of the world-famous Clouser Deep Minnow, Bob Clouser is a master of smallmouth bass fly fishing. This book, long overdue, reveals the bass-fishing secrets that have helped earn Bob his reputation.” -- John Randolph, editor of Fly Fisherman magazine

REVIEW from Fly Fisherman Magazine:
"...Although there have been many general angling books on smallmouth bass since Dr. J. A. Henshall's classic 1881 Book of the Black Bass, Clouser's book is the most comprehensive full-color book on fly fishing for them. ...this is a book with continental range, including descriptions of productive smallmouthwaters such as the John Day, Umpqua, Saugeen, Grand, Potomac, James, and New rivers. The tactics, flies, and skills Clouser presents work on bass anywhere....There is no better book on the subject."

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Bob Clouser is also the author of Clouser’s Flies (0-8117-0148-4), which contains complete instructions for tying his renowned patterns. He and his wife, Joan, own and operate Clouser’s Fly Shop near their home in Middletown, Pennsylvania.

Contributing photographer Jay Nichols fishes for smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River and its many tributaries. He lives in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Amelia.

Softcover.