Small Streams

Here I sit, just at the beginning of my lunch half-hour, wishing I were anywhere but at work.

I know this great little place - actually, it's family owned - that holds fish and is just beautiful by nature. A large flowing waterfalls feeds about 100 yards of rapids that lead into a gravely and sandy bottomed stream with a few areas of deadfall and full of undercut banks.

Sounds like the perfect trout area, right? Right. I suppose it could be, but this particular body of water is stocked way upstream of where this land is.

Why, exactly, am I dreaming of it then? You all know, by now, that smallmouth are probably my favorite fish to catch. I've only fished for them in big rivers up until now so the idea of catching a 10 or 12" smallie in a stream no more than 12 feet wide really gets my blood pumping.

Global Fly Fisher has had a series of interesting articles outlining the lure of small, warm water fish in small streams. My favorite post, thus far, was about what they refer to as Brookus Bassa.

The small stream smallmouth is a fish that acts a lot like trout, at times, but fights a lot harder and is more readily available in my immediate area. A theory that I subscribe to is that targeting these species could be a great way to learn small stream trout fishing. They take dry flies, love nymphs, and brutally attack typical trout streamers. You may need to upsize your dry flies and nymphs, but the practice is the same. Drag free drifts, subtle underwater takes... they all are things you use in any small stream, no matter the species.

I figure, when I've got a lot of access to private water that doesn't get fished hard and definitely holds pretty good amounts of fish, why not take advantage? Especially if fishing that area will help me with trout, which is a species I have yet to be able to master.

Speaking of, I took a trout trip this past Saturday... skunked. I'll post the full report later with photos.

As you drive through the country, keep in mind as you cross that small farm creek or stream, what fun might be had on a hot and humid August day with that ugly brown and green fish attacking a big Royal Wulff on the surface.