Although I’m sure there are many different opinions about the top smallmouth flies,  at some point we have to decide what we are going to go with and either buy them or make them.  Most bass fly fishermen love the thrill of catching a nice smallie on a fly that was hand tied by them.

Top Smallmouth Flies

Compared with the drabness of many trout patterns, flies for bass are a carnival freak show come to life….Bass bugs are fanciful rather than factual, full of wanton wiggles as they pop, slide, or slither among the lily pads of summer.

Top Picks

Poppers and sliders are both essential patterns for topwater fishing. The styles are classic, but modern bodies of painted, dense foam float better and last longer than the cork versions. Soft silicone-rubber legs, meanwhile, add lifelike movement that drives bass nuts. Cup-faced poppers like Ump­qua’s Bass Popper (umpqua.com) make lots of surface noise when twitched, thereby stirring up lethargic fish.

Then there’s the Chubby Gummy Minnow, a fly caster’s version of the soft-plastic jerkbaits used by conventional bass anglers. Its soft, reflective body is a great imitation of the threadfin shad that are common forage in many lakes. Original article here.

In addition, some commments from other anglers:

My best smallmouth fly has always been a clouser of one color combo or another. I think one color that is very underrated is brown over orange. That one seems to do very well around here.

For whatever reason I haven’t had much luck with Clousers
Anyway, for me my goto fly would be a rabbit strip crayfish. I tie them in a variety of styles and sizes but to me the key is Crawdad Orange rabbit strips for pincers. Forum posts found here

I’ve included a few videos for you to learn from as well. This is a nice video in creating a Clouser minnow and a curly tail critter bug in a small and a cool fast action Musky size.

https://youtu.be/2XV2mvShFpM

I hope these top smallmouth flies help you catch more bass.