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Considering that SoCal is home to some of the best largemouth fishing in the country springtime opens up lots of opportunity to target these exciting fish. Largemouth Bass, or Green Backs, are a warm water fish and when the water temps begin to rise so do the fish, which makes for some excellent Fly Fishing opportunities all around in most ever body of water in SoCal. So whether you are on the west coast or east coast or somewhere in between, there is probably bass fishing near where you live. I guess thats why the largemouth bass might be America’s most popular gamefish, besides the fact that they are the most voracious predators in most any water.

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Dustins Destroyer Shad getting it done as usually in the Spring / Summer months.

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A fat shad eating pre-spawn largemouth put a good bend in the H3.

So for a fly fisherman this species is perfect especially when they move into the shallows in the spring. This is the time they begin to look up for their prey instead of dwell deep on the bottom searching for it. Not to mention these fish have huge mouths able to take down small ducks amongst other things and smash your offering with great aggression. Basically they are the apex predator in most waters in the west. When spring rolls around they become very aggressive and feeding patterns begin to increase due to their metabolism rising and the onset of mating, better know as “pre-spawn”. The begging of pre-spawn, meaning before they make a nest and lay eggs, is defiantly some of the best times to target bass on the fly. Whether you choose to target them on frogs along tulle lines and timber or simply cover productive water on streamers you are sure to get some aggressive takes both on top or below the surface.

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Springtime bass on the surface on the Tiger Diver….Good Times!

From a SoCal perspective on where and how to target largemouth bass in the spring there are many options for most. San Diego and Riverside County offer many lakes and reservoirs that are accessible by walking the bank and by launching or renting a boat. Unfortunately float tubing is not allowed in many lakes anymore, but there are a few left which makes for a great way to target bass on the fly. In following segments I will go deeper into which lakes fish well for the fly angler and what features to look for when you do decide to go throw bass bugs.  

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Hal Cady with an absolute monster springtime largemouth on the fly….nice work Hal!

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Father and son, the Cady’s, with a very impressive double on the fly in the spring.

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A nice Johny Cash Bass on the fly in the onset of spring pre-spawn.

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Alex Cady with a nice largemouth on San Vicente Resevior before the spring arrived.

There are also other warm water fish that move into the shallows in the spring and summer months that give a fly fisherman other targets to cast to as well. The mighty bluegill, crappie, and the stealthy carp make up for the other species available thoughout SoCal. These fish spawn around the same time as the largemouth which makes them another perfect option to fish in every lake, pond, or resevoir around. Dry fly opportunity for carp becomes very productive through late April to June. Good time to get your cast down to hit these spooky but strong pulling fish.

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Good Ol Johnny Boy – Carp Master – Showing you how its done.

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Hopper Hatch fooled this guy into sucking the fly in. Henshaw Lake

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Huge pre-spawn bluegill on the fly, Otay Lake is where he lives.

Largemouth bass succumb to a variety of dry and wet techniques way too long to list on this blog. In the following segments to come I will be going more in depth about how to fish each technique and the patterns and gear involved in targeting these amazing predators. So without going into to much more detail, if you haven’t tried fly fishing for bass now is the time to get on it and experience how exciting this fish can be. 

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Tiffany Sergent with a beautiful pre-spawn bass from Skinner Lake recently. Gorgoues pic from Dustin Sergent.

Always remember “Fly Fishing is a State of Mind” – Tight Lines – Fish on!