Every July, I take a multi-week western road trip to visit my brother in West Yellowstone, work a few clinics in ID and MT, and chase trout amongst some of our nation’s most beautiful landscapes. While many making the same trip would be anticipating the highlight reels of themselves fooling large trout with an amazing, mountainous backdrop, I often find myself asking “why am I leaving the topwater bass bite back home?” I’ve become torn between spending my time chasing trout out west or staying close to home to pursue large smallmouth bass that love to take surface flies.