Not often do we find perfect conditions when heading out to a Smallmouth stream, but the 4th of July just happened to be one of those days. The stream's level, clarity, and temperature were all perfect! We knew it was gonna be a fun day. We located a nice hole of water that we have never fished with some decent sized rocks and moderately flowing water, so we spent the morning concentrating on that area. We caught several Smallies in that hole of water but was surprised by how small the fish were, so we decided to head up stream in search of the big ones. We hiked a mile fishing several decent looking holes as we went; yet we only landed 2 Smallmouth through that entire stretch. By this time is was around 10:30 A.M. and it was starting to get quite warm so we felt it was time to start making our way back. We went back to the first hole of water we fished hoping to catch a few more before we called it a day. To our amazement the Smallmouth was still feeding despite the temperature hovering around 90 degrees, and the fish seemed to be getting bigger! Within a one-hour time period we caught several fish around 13 inches. The very last fish I caught was almost high noon exactly and was a trophy Bronzeback measuring 16 inches and was guesstimated at around 3lbs. We learned a lesson that day that because usually we are out of the water long before it ever gets that warm.
Yea it was one of those days! Then the past two days have brought in some heavy storms that raised the water quite a bit. It was a one day window of opportunity and we were lucky enough to catch it.
Thanks for the compliments on the site, things are going well for us!
P.S. I caught all of the bigger Smallies on a #6 crayfish pattern. Most of the smaller fish I caught early in the morning was caught on a #6 olive wooly bugger.
Great report Will. Don't let the heat and sunshine deter you from going after smallies. A friend and I went fishing (not FF :tsk_tsk: ) at Saratoga Lake, NY, during the last weekend of June (free fishing weekend in NY state ). It was hot and sunny on both days, but the smallies were hitting on top all day long in about 4' of water!
will,
got your e-mail...yeah, water up agian here too. Had an "unconfirmed tornado" touch down just a few miles from the crib on thursday. Was windy fri. and has rained all day today. I made it out to a local stream this afternoon, and it was a roiling, muddy mess. What stream you hitting in IN? (sneaky, sneaky)
Oh, have an appointment with the ortho surgeon Monday morning...i'll keep you informed about any prognosis.....Kentucky smallies are safe, for at least another week anyway, so take advantage my friend! I'll be back out there before you know it...casts, sutures, and all!!!:devil:
just got back from the ortho., not good. gonna be off the job for a a couple months. have major soft tissue damage and two small fractures. they scoped it today, but there was too much swelling around the tallus to do any repair work. gonna give it a couple of weeks until the swelling reduces and try to fix it then. just another day in paradise!!! Now i gotta find someone willinbg to drag my useless carcass around in thier boat for a few weeks!! LOL Save me a smallie or two!!
Chris
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