Pursuing an Inshore Favorite:

A Calico Primer

by Craig Smith

Tackle

Fortunately, angling with the fly for calico bass does not require exotic equipment. If you are a visiting freshwater fly angler with gear for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, or pike, or have fished the salt chuck with a fly rod just about anywhere, you probably already have what you need.

Six to ten weight fly rods will cover just about any calico bass fishing situation. The lighter rods can be used to cast smaller flies and work in less congested waters. whereas the heavier rods and lines will be helpful for casting heavy and/or bulky flies. Heavier rods are also helpful for muscling determined calicos away from kelp or rocks.

An 8 or 9 weight is probably the best all around choice. While most rods in these line weights are 9 feet in length, some of the new rods available from Temple Fork, Sage, Scott, G. Loomis, and Bass Pro Shops are closer to 8 feet long, and may provide an advantage over longer rods for levering stubborn bass away from structure.

Calicos are very structure-oriented, and you will not need to contend with long runs. Most fish must be hand-stripped away from cover, since taking time to get the fish on the reel will often result in a lost fish and possibly even a lost flyline. Therefore, a reel with 100 yards of backing will usually be more than sufficient for calicos. However, while angling for calico bass, incidental catches of white seabass, barracuda, bonito, and yellowtail are not unusual, so you may feel more comfortable with a reel with greater backing capacity.

A fast-sinking line and a floating line will cover most calico bass angling situations. Shooting heads made from fast-sinking materials such Rio T-8, T-11, T-14 or Cortland LC-13, looped to an intermediate shooting line, are ideal for subsurface work. With such a rig, it is also less costly to replace your shooting head if it gets wrapped around kelp or rocks and you need to part with it.

Integrated lines that have a fast-sinking head factory-mated to a shooting line are a good alternative and many anglers prefer this type of line for the simplicity in setting up their rig. However, the separate shooting head/shooting line combination will be a more versatile setup, since a slower-sinking shooting head or floating head may be substituted as needed.

The floating line may be used for surface presentations with poppers, Gurglers, Crease Flies, and other topwater patterns. A standard weight forward floating line will work fine ,but you may prefer a specialty taper such as a bass bug taper, pike taper, or the Rio Clouser taper. Floating shooting heads are also available.

Leaders can be fairly simple. For sinking lines, a straight piece of your favorite brand of 12 to 20lb test monofilament from 4’ to 8’ long will suffice. For shallow or surface presentations a factory-made tapered leader 6’ to 9’ will do nicely. A simple leader that will turn over a wind resistant popper can be made using a 2’ to 3’ tippet section made from 12 to 20lb mono looped to a butt section of 5’ to 6’ of 40lb to 50lb test mono.

You don’t need to have a huge selection of flies to target calico bass. A few unweighted baitfish patterns ranging from 2” to 6” long will catch plenty of fish throughout the water column. The classic Lefty’s Deceiver is all you need, but many other patterns, such as Bill and Kate Howe’s ALF, Trey Combs' Sea Habit Bucktail, Dan Blanton’s Sar-Mul-Mac, or the Puglisi-style flies are also productive.

It also pays to have some flies that sink rapidly for vertical presentations around kelp and rocky structure. Clouser Minnows or Clouser/Kreh Half-and-Half patterns are perfect. Fly tiers can create all sorts of succulent jig-like flies, such as Tomaso’s Jetty Fly, that excel in the vertical game and can be manipulated enticingly through the kelp and around rocks. Calicos are often looking for a mouthful and patterns with a broad profile, such as Blanton’s Flashtail Whistler or Bob Popovic’s Hollow Fleyes should not be overlooked. For surface work pencil poppers, Jack Gartside’s Gurgler, Joe Blados’ Crease Fly, or Nick Curcione’s Catamaran Popper will bring hungry calicos crashing to the surface. It usually pays to have a few flies tied with snag guards to keep the kelp or rocks from getting your flies. The bass will have no trouble collapsing the guards.

There numerous other accessories to consider but two types of items can really make your day at times. The first would be a method to quickly control fish brought to the boat. A lip gripping device such as the Boga Grip can be used to securely hold a fish so that the hook can be quickly remove. Calico bass don't have teeth, but they do have extremely rough jaws which can quickly abrade your thumb if you insist on lipping them. A net will also accomplish the same mission, and has the added advantage of keeping your hands away from marauding sea lions.

The second is eye protection. During daylight hours, a pair of polarized sunglasses will protect your eyes from hooks and help you see near-surface structure. Copper or amber photochromatic lenses are ideal when the Marine Layer is present and you have to fish through the ever-changing light intensity that comes with it. At dawn, dusk, and night hours, a pair of safety glasses instead of sunglasses will protect your eyes from errant hooks.