He said if I drove up there (about 45 minutes north) he could fish for a little while anyway but I told him that we'd reschedule and to head home and relax for a while. He had been fishing hard since 6am and at this point it was around 4pm.
So I decided to head back to the small stream I fished almost two weeks ago. It hadn't rained significantly in a few days and I figured the water would be more clear and lower now than it was then, and that all was true. I stepped up to the proven hole and threw a couple of big giant dry flies, spider imitations, and hopper imitations into the current and foam, making sure to skate them, slightly, before letting them drift. The only thing interested was this years Walleye and Bass hatchlings that were all around an inch in length - nothing I was going to or wanted to hook.
The tung head muddler was next up on the list to sacrifice itself for my pleasure. On the third or fourth drift a beautiful, feisty smallie took it the same as last time - simply put it in its mouth and stopped its movement. I did a strip set, since this fly was heavy enough to snag on rocks on the bottom, and the bottom moved. First fish of the day, ladies and gentlemen, and its a nice 10" smallmouth.
I cast a few more times but one cast landed directly between two rocks and, as much as I tried, I couldn't dislodge it. I broke it off, tied up a new leader, and moved down stream a bit to let the strong water rest briefly. Next up was a clouser of some sort - I'm a bit foggy and can't remember the color. Probably orange and brown. I landed two more fish - both over 12" and one nearing 14" - before bending the hook point on a rock on the bottom and having to retire that fly.
It was time - time to try my super secret prototype crayfish. I hadn't seen any signs of crayfish in this area, but brown seemed to be semi successful and all of the babies I was seeing in the water had a brownish or light greenish tint. I tied it on, excited to try something new but knowing that if it was a complete failure, I'd be switching back to another clouser.
First cast with this fly pattern, and I thought I snagged bottom... but the bottom started moving slowly... then suddenly bursting with energy straight down stream. I quickly got the fish on the reel and it immediately started taking line... darting toward me and then quickly back away, jumping, bulldogging, shaking its head... every trick in the book. This was a big fish - and an old one. I had my 5wt but really could've used my 8wt. There were moments of stand off - where I was putting tension, side pressure, on him and he just wasn't going to move, and there was moments of nervousness as he lept out of the water by nearly a body length. Good fish. Good fish. BIG fish.
It was a smallmouth. A big smallmouth. The biggest I had ever caught. I finally got him subdued - or at least I thought. He wasn't happy with me, and every time I tried to lip him while keeping his body in the water, he bit my finger (thank god they have no teeth) and thrashed violently enough to rip the line from my hand and nearly steal my rod a couple of times.
I finally picked him up by my 6lb mono leader and held him next to my rod - it was past the 17" mark on my rod but before I could tell exactly how much my leader snapped, I lost my fly, and the fish was helplessly laying on a rock. Since I didn't want to stress him any more, I cradled him in the water until he jetted out of my hands, healthy and no worse for wear. When I picked him up with new, good quality 6lb mono leader, he wiggled a little and it snapped. NICE fish. I'd guess in the 3 or 3.5lb range and somewhere above 17". Out of a small stream on a fly I hadn't ever fished with before and had just made up a few nights prior. The biggest fish I've ever caught. To give you an idea what an 18" smallmouth looks like...
(photo courtesy of Charles Stanley and Riversmallies.com)
Did I mention that I forgot to grab the camera and was too busy taking fish off of hooks and trying to land them from a slightly awkward position to use my cell phone as a camera? Of course, right? Big fish, no camera.
I caught two more 12" fish, a bunch of under 6" fish, and one fat chub (my first) before the hole completely shut off. Its a small hole, and its not completely unbelievable that I had either scared or caught just about every fish of catchable size in it. I'm sure I scared most of them, but I stopped counting shortly after the big fish and that was only just over an hour into a 3 hour trip.
Once the fish were off, they were off. I didn't even see the babies chasing each other around in the shallows anymore.
What a trip. This was a nasty week at work and next week will be almost as bad. I wish I could've fished with a friend, but in some ways I'm glad he canceled. I probably would be writing about how much I hate trout instead of how much I love smallmouth - especially big ones in small water.
Next time I'll bring a camera. Right now, I'm headed to bed. The Fly Splat post for today will have to wait until tomorrow.
2 comments:
I knew you were hiding something when we went up there...keeping all the good ones for yourself? And not even any pictures.
I've got the secret sauce now.
Nymphs and size 8 or 10 thinly tied buggers for little fish and chubs.
Clousers for medium to big fish.
Crappy brown flies with a lot of weight and eyes at the hook bend for really big fish.
You'll have to come back up - the Hudson has turned off in a big way but this place is just shaded enough and gets enough cool, fresh water to keep them healthy. I saw a ton, TON! of caddis coming off and even more nymphs when I turned a rock over, and dragged a stick out of the water. Both were covered in funky box-like nymphs.
I didn't explore beyond that one hole but I'd like to give it a shot again - see if there is any fish activity at all in the other places now that you can see the bottom.
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