Father's Day Smallies

Last weekend was the TFF Smallmouth Trip.  I had a great time but the fishing was on par with the other trips.  A few fish here and there but most of the fun is had around the campfire.  We stayed at a new campground this year and the accommodation's were nice.  The group site had it's own campground and at first glance I thought it was kind of sketchy. With a more thorough inspection I was amazed at how nice it was inside. I was expecting a wooden bench with a hole or some trough style urinal. This was a lot more welcoming.Don't get the wrong idea. We were still roughing it. The bathroom was pretty open to the elements. The windows had nothing covering them and the door was held shut with a sliding bolt. There's only so many places you can go to the bathroom and smash a spider crawling towards you at the same time. Now that's camping.

The first day I went on a float trip. It was supposed to be mainly a fishing float but it turned into a 9mile canoe trip. The water was so shallow we had to constantly stop fishing and navigate around submerged rocks and ledges. It was kind of exhausting. It's been a long time since I've done a canoe type trip so I still enjoyed myself. Luckily there was only one class II rapid to contend with. The bad part is the canoe we were using was a 16foot flat water canoe. It was pretty heavy and dragged constantly. One of the funniest comments was when my buddy said "I bet the bottom of this canoe looks a lot different then when we started." We got stuck a few times and used the opportunity to fish or eat something. The next day some friends and I tried our luck trout fishing the Helton.We got to the river early but most of the spots were taken. I couldn't figure it out until someone mentioned it was fathers day weekend. Delayed Harvest regs ended in June and the meat fishermen were out in full force. They were the only ones we saw catch anything. I saw a few fish but it was only when I was wading. The fish seemed to be swimming and knowing they are running for their lives.

My wife and kids were visiting my father in law about 2hrs from where I was camping. I really wanted to spend time with them for fathers day so I made a trip up. My brother in law and his family were there too so that made the trip even more worth while. It was nice to relax and just chill out. My lack of smallies was still on my mind and my father in law has a friend that owns some land with a section of creek on it. I asked if he wanted to head down there. My father in law just got a fly rod a couple years ago and has barely used it. We headed down to the creek and I really like fishing with him because he just enjoys being outside. He wants to catch more fish than me but he loves the experience. I think he's a little intimidated when it comes to fly selection. He always asks for my advice. There was a ddh leach from the last trip and I figured that should be good as anything. The stream was so clear it almost looked as though it was dry. It's hard to explain. It was some of the clearest water I have seen and that includes the glacier fed streams in the Sierra's. The fish could see me coming a mile away. The great thing about this section of water is there is almost zero pressure. The fish have not learned to associate people with danger. I had a few fish right in front of me and I could experiment with different flies until I found the proper one. The right fly turned out to be my navel lint pattern.

I realized how much I am influenced by the Internet and what I read. I've read so many articles and watched so many movies about fly fishing for smallies with poppers. It looks so much fun and seems so effective. I've also heard clousers work and they are one of the most go to flies for smallies. I have never had much luck with either one of those. What has worked best for me is crayfish style patterns. I would say maybe it is where I'm fishing. But these patterns have worked for me in the Shenandoah and New River. I've also seen fish behave the same when it comes to these flies. I'm not sure if it is the color or the action but I have used similar flies like black wooly buggers with rubber legs and I get follows but not the same reaction. I was able to catch some fish on a top water fly and if you've been reading my blog lately you can probably guess what it was. A chartreuse stealth bomber. The great thing I'm learning about smallmouth is I don't need a huge selection of flies. The fish seemed to be more interested in retrieval and fly style or color. The fish near grassy edges wanted a fast retrieval. The ones near riffles or runs wanted a dead drift. The fish hanging near the bank in slack water wanted a floating fly that just sat there. It was fun figuring out what the fish wanted and it was probably one of the funnest times I've had fishing. The neatest thing was when I gave the navel lint fly to my father in law and he caught his first fish of the day. He went on to catch a few more and talked all the way home about how the smallie fought on the five weight. A great end to a great fathers day.

Labor Day Smallies

I've been really eager to catch small mouth bass lately. I was told of a place near where my brother-in-law lives that has a good supply of them. This Labor Day, my wife and I headed up to Boone, to visit the family and get in some fishing. The weather was perfect. There has been some decent rains recently and the River level was at perfect depth. We weren't the only ones enjoying the river, there were canoers, kayakers and people tubing. We shuttled some friends to a put in and surveyed the water while they were getting ready. The scene made me antsy to get my fly rod out. We drove to anther put in and decided to start our fishing from there. The water was cool and clear, there were flowers blooming on the banks and insects buzzing around birds singing. Everyone was enjoying the day. Russell was able to catch a little sunfish right off the bat. We figured this had to be a sign for a great day. The ticket for him was a black ant. That fly was the fly of choice for the day, I was reluctant to tie on the same pattern. I went with a popper, white bugger, and hopper with a san juan dropper. I had no luck with any. Russell was doing well catching fish here and there. There was lots of cover on the banks, perfect for holding fish. The cast was usually done from the opposite side of the river with a presentation of a bug falling off the overhanging branches.
Russ, continued his good luck catching a red eye, then a few casts later, his first smallie of the day. I was happy for him but getting a little irritated. This was his fourth fish and I still had yet to catch one. We came to a section that was very calm and had pine trees towering over the water. I figured fish might wait for bugs to fall off the trees. I threw a popper near the bank and instantly had a strike. I missed the first few hits but later was able to manager a red eye. I was happy to get the skunk off for the day. I figured the fishing would pick up. We worked our way upstream but the fishing was slow. We saw a group of paddlers heading are way and knew they'd probably disrupt the water enough to spook any fish. I decided to head back downstream to the parking lot, for fun I tied on a clouser I made from a fly tying class I took a few months ago. I messed round swinging it in the current. I looked at a tree near a bank that had a eddy underneath baring its roots and creating good cover. I threw my clouser in there and swung it away from the pocket of water. To my surprise I had a hit. I kept thinking, "please be a smallie, please be a smallie." Sure enough it was. I can't describe to you the rush you feel when you catch a fish on a fly you tied. Especially in a situation where everything comes together. You pick the cover, throw the proper cast and your fly tricks the fish. It really makes fly fishing addicting. I was so proud of myself I had to take one more picture. God blessed me with that fish but decided to let that be my limit. The paddlers were splashing and causing a commotion anyways. We decided to head back and fished the parking area with no success. It was a great day. I think Smallie fishing will be my summer fishing when its too hot for trout. They are really fun to catch. The thing I found while fishing for them is you need to be on your game. They hit just as fast, if not faster that trout. If you have a lot of slack line in the water you will miss them for sure. Red eye, also known as rock bass are no slouches either. They hit flies with such ferocity you can't help but appreciate their intensity. They are small fish and must figure what ever they hit they have to kill fast, so when they hit your fly, usually half their body breaches the water. It was one of those perfect weekends, where Kristin and I had time to fish and spend time with family.