Bass question

If your fly fishin for largemouth bass is it better to use bugs on the surface or subsurface flies like clousers and other stuff?

same as plastic & hard baits, top early, deeper as day warms up & at dusk back on top

Good advice from BOTW. If I'm fishing heavily stained water sometimes the only thing that will draw a strike is something on top that pushes some water. In those conditions I frequently do better sticking to top than with Clousers or anything subsurface.
bd

Catching them on top sure is FUN!

Depends on where you are and weather conditions. I find in clear lakes that get fished alot like Chatuge deer hair floater divers that "wake" the surface and unwieghted leaches tend to get more strikes than high floated loud gurgling poppers. But add some wind or a few ripples and waves and the heavy noise and splash makers do better.

I spend most my time on the river or private lakes and as fun as topwater bassin is. I get bigger fish, better hook ups and more strikes fishing from just below to about 3' beneath the surface. And I'm not dealin with 3" brim and sunfish thinking they're big enough to take a deer hair popper bigger than they are.

My all time favorite is keepin the fly just far enough below the surface to make a "wake". That seems to tick the fat girls off nice and pretty.

Out of old habits I use poppers and dear hair bugs. I've got some others that I should try, but pretty much stay with what seems to work for me.

Poppers have been working for me.

Its the underwater bucktails that are working for me. I tie them with lots of flash and use a heavy sink tip line and strip them in quickly after letting them fall to the bottom on the cast. Also a 4" black zonker with a lot of weight tied in the head and tungston conehead. It drops to the bottom quickly and the tails floats up like a rubber worm. Its heavy and you have to endure the casting.

Deer hair bugs and poppers are by far the most fun. I catch them with large decievers early in the spring. Get one with a lot of white and you can see the fly move when they hit it under the surface in relatively clear water. Top water is still by far the most fun. I have a photo of one 8# 9oz I will post some day when I take the time to figure out how. Caught it on a Whitlock hair bug about 1/0 size.

Big streamers = Big bass.... especially streamers with a little flash stripped around lit up boat docks at night. This used to work awful well on Lanier. Gotta agree, bugs on top sure are alot of fun when they are hot but I seem to catch a heap of little ones?