I'm new to fly fishing and was hoping to see what colors and patterns of flies work well in Belton Lake for largemouth, small mouth and white bass. I am learning tying and have a lot of material as in furs, dubbing, feathers, threads, flash, foam and such So far I have tied several bluegill shaped flies, a few minnow imitations, and about 6 bright orange basic Zonkers. I have also tied several fur jigs for when I'm not fly fishing.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

SB

Think threadfin for the species you are going after. Whitebass are really fond of them and these have been good to me during the shad spawn on Buchanan. Haven't done Belton this year because all of the virus stuff going on.

Bluegill patterns do have their place. I have done better on these style patterns on Stillhouse though. Early mornings over shallow flats with some sort of vegetation.





In years past I have done well on Jeezus lizards over on Belton for smallies where you find rock shelves descending into the water.

Flyfishing the lakes around here in my opinion becomes a matter of getting deep as we move into June and I usually switch to conventional gear. Just not a fan of sinking lines. I really am not much of a lake "blackbass" guy and am usually targeting whites and or hybrids when on the bigger waters. For largemouth, spots, and Guads I usually hit up the creeks doing some wade fishing to beat the heat. Poppers and size #8-#4 clousers are pretty good most places. Bigger bluegill imitations can call in big fish from the creeks when you get a chance to sight fish for them. I need to branch out some and find a few new spots and try to locate some smallmouth in moving water. Again there is an open invite if you want to hit up some the are creeks just shoot me a pm.

Thank you for the info. These are what I have created so far. Be kind..... I am new to all of this LOL!!! I'll definitely drop you a pm when I'm ready.

I really like the bunny strips. I tie a mess of flies with them. My weightless version of the lunch money is an example.



Used to also use them in pike spinners for my conventional gear buddies in Colorado.




Of course I tied gigantic bunny flies for use on my 9wt when I was chasing toothy critters,

Bunny gets hard to toss though unless you are using heavy gear. Going smaller helps like the little white #6 zonkers in this photo

You sir are an artist. Bravo!!!! I have all of the materials to make every one of those flies.... I just don't have the skill to put them together like that...…. YET!!! LOL!!!

I just realized what you were talking about with the bunny. Actually none of these are rabbit fur. The white and black one is clothing grade skunk fur, The black and red one is beaver & marabou, the orange ones are fake fur, and the large brown one is from a red fox's tail. I do have rabbit fur but have yet to use it. As a matter of fact I have samples of about 25 or so different fur types, colors, and textures as well as feathers & such to play with.

Fox is a favorite of mine too. So many flies to do with that and coyote.

Here's a redfish crack with a shrimp pink fox collar



and some minnow/mullet flies with a chartreuse fox fur head



Then here are some more bunny strip style flies that are also more of a saltwater fly with freshwater applications.

These are all I have made so far. I can't wait till I get myself a fly rod to test them out. I'm taking lessons for both fly fishing as well as tying. But I wont get hands on fly fishing lessons until the virus bs is more under control. I'm in an at risk category and am not willing to take too many chances. Once I am good at this..... I'm going to attempt building a fly rod also. To catch a fish on a rod and fly that I built by hand is a bucket list thing for me and I don't mean stringing up a stick with a hook and worm Tom Sawyer style LOL!!!