Winter Ozark Smallmouth Fly Fishing

Are you feeling restless? Got a little cabin fever?  As this video of winter Ozark smallmouth fly fishing shows, many areas of the United States are still productive for smallmouth bass, even in the dead of winter.

Winter Ozark Smallmouth Fly Fishing

When fly fishing for smallies, here is a common setup:

For fly fishing, I use an 8-wieght GLX (FR1088) and 7-weight GLX (FR1087). I use a Ross Evolution 3.5 reel on the 8-weight and a Ross Rhythm 3.5 reel on the 7-weight both spooled with a Wulff Bass taper 8-weight floating fly line. I use at least 2x tapered leaders (prefer Gamma’s 10′ bonefish leader) and 8 – 10 lb. test Gamma tippet. I initially tie all leaders to the fly line with a nail knot. After using the leader, I trim it to w/in 6-8 inches of the fly line and then utilize the perfection loop from there on with any additional leaders and tippet.  Source

A great book to familiarize yourself with the Ozarks and hiking/fishing opportunities is the book, Ozark Hideways. If you are interested in finding out more, this is a great place to start.

Please post your comments and experiences below if you fish for smallies in the Ozarks to help out your fellow anglers.