The summer months in North Carolina provide great fly fishing opportunities for smallmouth bass. The best time to fly fish for smallmouth using topwater flies is June, July, August, and September. There are plenty of cicadas, damselflies, dragonflies, and terrestrials that these fish feed on all summer long. These bugs are easy meals for the smallmouth to pick off the top of the water. Some of our biggest smallmouth of the year come on topwater poppers when fishing the shady banks during the hottest days of the year. These bigger fish push to the banks to find shade and it’s hard for them to resist a well presented bug. The subtle presentation of a topwater fly is hard to beat when the water is low, and the bigger fish are spooky. It’s always best to have a variety of colors of topwater flies because smallmouth can become very picky on what they want to eat. Colors that are always in my box for topwater flies are chartreuse, white, black, and Carolina blue. The Carolina blue poppers mimic the blue damsel flies on the French Broad and Nolichucky Rivers very well. Fly fishing for bass using topwater flies is not easy. An angler needs to be able to double haul and cast a respectable distance using a 6 or 7 weight rod. Most casts will be over 40 feet so this can be taxing if one isn’t prepared. Catching a three pound smallmouth on a topwater fly is tough, but the effort is so worth it. There are a lot of external factors that have to come into play to have a good day using topwater flies. The water needs to be low and clear and the water temperature needs to be 60 degrees or higher. A smallmouths ideal feeding temperature is 60-80 degrees. Anytime the water temperature is in the range then you can catch smallmouth on top. Fly fishing the French Broad and Nolichucky Rivers near Asheville is one of our favorite things to guide clients on during the summertime.