14 Best Flies For Smallmouth Bass (2023 Updated)

This review is just until I get an update/message from the seller. I got my order today, but it only included the first box of the two box set. Not much of a value of you only get half the flies you were expecting.

I’ll update this review after I’ve been contacted. *UPDATE*–I contacted Amazon and Ventures after only getting half the order–as Ventures doesn’t do the shipping themselves, it definitely wasn’t their fault, and Amazon quickly sent out a complete order after I talked to their Skynet AI chatbot.

I’m very happy with the quality and assortment of flies–it’s approximately half dry and half nymphs, with a little bit of streamers and terrestrials thrown in. I’m a beginner fly fisherman, and it certainly gives you a lot of usable flies fast.

A great, cheaper way to bolster your collection, and they’re made in the USA! Also, the personal attention and concern from Ventures was much appreciated. I’m trying to get my dad and brother into it, so I’ll definitely be buying more sets of these in the future! For the price, quality, and service, these can’t be beat.

Last spring, I decided to try out fly fishing. I started to like it so I ordered this product, so I’d have many types of flies to try out as I wasn’t sure what flies I needed. With this assortment, I’ve caught many panfish and bass in southeast Texas and some trout in the up in the Rockies.

The quality of the flies is surprising, however, they do break down after a few good fighting fish get hooked on them, though I believe this is the case with most flies anyway. In conclusion, these are great flies for the price and excellent for getting into fly fishing.

Do the math. 122 flies for $84 is $. 68 a piece. THAT’S CHEAP! Being a fly fishermen for over 50 years I was quite skeptical. Been down this road before and was NOT happy. So far, Ventures has gained an extremely satisfied customer! The quality of the Ventures flies are very good.

At least the patterns. I will come back and update after I fish them some? See how they stand up and if the materials are good? THANKS VENTURES!.

In the spring we like to fly fish the lakes of Minnesota. We have found these to be very productive at getting crappies off of their beds. You will also find that they are good for smallies.

The propeller on these flies really do the job here in Iowa. We’ve had bass, crappie, bluegill, perch and catfish all take the bait. You can bend the blades for different speed and action.

Overall, I’m fairly pleased with the GS Bandito Bug. I have some of the full size and some of the Jr size. Make a great trailer on jigs, spinners and the like. Good for Texas rigs as well. Great action.

My only complaint is that they tear a little too easily due to what seems like maybe a little too much salt? Combined with the fact that they’re a bit more expensive per individual lure compared to some other brands, that can make using them all the time a little bit of a stretch for me.

Maybe if they were in packs of 10 or more for the same price that would be more feasible. I do pick them up in bulk whenever they’re on sale or a BOGO because I do enjoy them. All in all not a bad buy and worth a try for anyone.

Googan baits has,set the standard for an all around flipping bait, carolina rog bait, jig trailer and topwater trailer with the bandito bug, this bait is hands down the best bait on the market. I fish 20 tournaments a year and have made this bait my almost all around go to.

The feel and scent of this bait is unbelievable. The lifelike action is amazing. If you have not gotten on the googan baits bus yet, you are sincerely missing out. Now with the Bandito bug jr. in the 3.

3 version, they have covered the bases.

I have lived on a private golf course for 13 years. In that time I have never caught a bass on any craw style soft plastic. I decided to give these a try and on my first cast I got crushed. Simple Texas rig with tungsten weight.

I was able to grab 4 more in the hour I was out. I will definitely be recommending these to everyone. If they work that good on lakes where that style isn’t normally effective, I can only imagine how well they will do on my other honey holes.

THIS isn’t necessarily a bad thing!! I’m STILL locked down in MY State BUT, I THINK these are going to WORK WELL in several applications that I can not WAIT to try!! I see them working great on a more Finesse style A-rig and my intended use as the lead on a Double Fluke rig!! I SEE many MORE applications but, I have shared too much already!! Tight Lines!.

I tried this fluke out and on the first day, I caught a small largemouth bass fishing it drop-shot style. Didn’t get any big ones but that had more to do with where I was fishing as well as the fact I only put in an hour or so there.

The next day I tried this lure out in saltwater, where it caught grass rockfish like a charm. Only issue is that all of these baits have an indent in one side. I think Zoom may have a defective mold in use.

Does not affect the action obviously but makes them hard to put on a jighead properly.

These came in a different color than I ordered. Ordered watermelon gold glitter and got a much darker green with glitter. Overall they attract the fish but they don’t last long. Longer than others but after a couple fish I have to replace it.

It’ll take a hit without ripping off most of the time but once they start to go that’s it.

A good friend of mine gave me one of these baits while out fishing one morning. He had a new one (Tennessee Shad) and was catching bass like crazy. I didn’t have one so he gave me his old one that was the same color.

Unfortunately I lost my good friend to a heart attack last year and because his friendship means so much to me I ordered the same color lure and have put the one he gave me in my tackle box where it will remain.

I don’t want to take the chance of losing it. But this product is the best you can buy for those explosive, blood pressure increasing strikes from these fat mamas we love to catch. If you want to have fun on the water you need to buy some of these lures you won’t be disappointed.

By far the best price out there for these plugs. I regularly pay $11-13 a piece. No more with these guys. Great selection too!!

Whether you like to walk the dog, retrieve with steady non-stop little tugs, or jerk and pause, the chug bug will catch bass. Before hearing about this bait from a pro, I used to toss hula poppers, or other similar top waters.

No more. I don’t know if it’s the action, the rattle, the profile, the colors, or all of the above, but smallmouth love this bait. Change the hooks out for something sharper as soon as you open the package though.

The ones that it comes with are garbage.

so. i dont know how many of you guys have caught a walleye on a top water but last year i did. on a chug a bug. i estimate the fish came up ten feet to smash my lure and it completely exited the water.

i thought it was a pike till i saw the dot on the tail. (pike love this lure incidentally) now im not suggesting you fish for walleye with it but pike and bass love it. something about the big terrified looking eyes i think.

cant beat it for a bloop bloop style topwater.

Cast like a bullet. Easy to retrieve. Great splash for it’s size. Good hooking bait with quality HD hooks. I have paided twice the price for baits of this quality!!!

I was in my local Bass Pro Shop to pick up my favorite lures for a trout fishing trip to my native state of Arizona. Next to my old favorites were an assortment of Joe’s Flies. I’m not much of a fly fisherman, so these really appealed to me being they were half fly, half spinner bait, designed to be used on ultra-light spinning gear.

On a whim, I bought a couple of them. When I got to AZ, there was a lot of activity on Oak Creek, due to the Memorial Day weekend. I waited until Thursday, then set out to go fishing. Note: all the locals told me I would be lucky to catch one 7″ brown if anything at all.

I tried my old favorite (rooster tail) and nothing happened (I had one 13″ rainbow come out and look at it once, and that was it). I decided to try the Joe’s Flies I bought. The very first cast in that same small pool, I saw the 13 incher come out again, and without hesitation SLAM The fly.

He was on the hook very well, and caught serious air twice before landing him. After releasing the rainbow, I tried casting a little further back into the small pool, Two casts later, I had a 14″ brown solidly on the line.

Just like the rainbow, there was no hesitation, and he hit the lure hard! All in all, I caught 4 rainbows, and two browns (all over 11″) out of 4 very small pools. All of them reacted the same, if they saw it they hit hard, with no hesitation.

I saw all 6 trout come out of hiding and immediately slam the fly. I’m certain I would have caught many more, but I only had a little more than 2 hours to fish (lots of time needed to walk in/walk out).

These are the most awesome fish getters, and I highly recommend them.

Caught my PB Chain Pickerel using this bait on a Light powered rod.

Bought a meal worm spinner a while ago online. The shipping was very fast and I got everything I ordered. I was worried at first that I wasn’t going to be able to cast the spinner very far, but I was wrong.

I have an ultra light trout set up and I could cast these things a country mile. First time out with it I could 37 brown trout in about 5 hours.

I have fished for trout for over 40 years both fly fishing and using a spinning rod at times. I have now used this spinner on two consecutive trips. This past trip I caught Brown, Brook, and Rainbow on this spinner.

The cylinder shaped spinner must add a unique look for fish. They love it. I found this size to outperform the smaller sizes, getting down to where the fish are a little better. I used other colors with success too but this one was the most effective.

I have now stocked my tackle box with a large supply of these.