Last Bronzebacks of the Season

Perfection on the North Fork of the Shenandoah

After last weekend's trip with Bryan I was convinced that I had a shot at a 100 smallie trip if I could just stay on the river long enough and with the season fast turning to trout I wanted to give the North Fork one more shot.  

James headed out with me this time and we took my trusty canoe in case the river proved to be longer than our legs and backs could handle.  It was gorgeous and 58 when we started out, the mist rising off the water and the sun burning off the marine layer hovering over the river.  I started with a clearwater 4wt that I love for its smooth and relaxing mid-flex action and took an old 6wt Fenwick glass rod my grandfather had given me to put it through its paces too.  

Almost snook shaped

James worked a Fenwick glass rod as well.  My plan was to pass over shallow water and unproductive stretches to focus my fishing time using weighted buggers and streamers in the deeper holds that I knew from last week were harboring smallies.   I started out with a weighted olive bugger followed by a size 8 barbell-head golden retriever.  It soon became apparent that I was not going to match my catch-rate from last weekend as the fish seemed to be coming about half as quickly, but the beauty of the river was incredible made up for it.

Several times we stopped to make sure that we were taking in the majesty and peace of the river as we walked through it.  If you reference the map we put in at point A and fished to point B with the most intense fishing happening in the bend of the horseshoe. By the time we closed on the straightway before point B we were pretty darn tuckered out. 

We did find the smallies in the deeper rocky pools and they generally hit on short strips and were stimulated by movement.

I do have to find better tactics to lure the larger bronzebacks as  most of our smallies were again trout size.  James had his best day on the river and pulled in many a water dancing prize.  I missed my goal of 100 fish (45 to hand) but it didn't matter as I had a great time closing out the smallmouth season.

Bass delicacy along for the ride

Perfect

 

 

 

 

James with river smallie

Golden day for the Retreiver

Love these guys

When Henry and I last fished the North Fork we turned around at the end of the straightaway down-stream of the low-water bridge off South Hollingsworth Road and the bend of the 180 degree horseshoe teased us.  I was determined to fish all the way to the next low-water bridge on my next visit and found a willing partner in Bryan. 

Bryan & Brookie

We got on the river at 0740 and planned to fish this section in 4.5 hours, but as they say the plan didn't survive contact with reality as the fish started hitting quickly.  The air was cool at 70, the water clear and low, the clouds thick and heavy sending tendrils to the surface of the water.  There was an amazing hatch all day and clusters of juvenile smallies were rising to feed on the surface.  About an hour in we wished that we had brought a few dries to temp the bronzebacks rising from the cobble, but we continued to swing tandem streamers with good success.

Rt 33 Feather Golden Retriever

 By far the most effective streamer today was a #10 golden-retriever trailing a heavier streamer.  Scott taught me how to tie these goldens so it was with alot of pleasure that they were so productive. The smallies were, well, smallish today, none exceeding a foot, but what they lacked in size they made up for in exuberance many tail-dancing across the river to our delight.  While I expected the bronzebacks to be concentrated in the deeper runs on the shoulders of the riffles and in the pools at the bottom of the runs they were actually very much spread out wherever the cobble bottom was three or more feet deep.

Bronzeback

When we completed the bend of the horseshoe, 2/3 of the way to our destination, we were both pooped and sore from the rock bottom and began to move more quickly downstream.  If we had fished more slowly there's no doubt I could have caught 100+ smallies today.  As it was, we ended up climbing out of the river, skirting corn and soy bean fields and climbing a ridge to the back of an old-timers house (don't shoot -- hands-up).  I ended the day with 63 smalmouth, 1 large chub and 4 sunfish.   Bryan didn't count, caught a few less, but caught the biggest smallie of the day, an acrobat that etched a smile that's still on my face.

One of the few today on a crayfish pattern from Murray's

Friday afternoon escape

River Smallmouth

Island on rt plan was to fish down the channel viewed here

I had an early-out afternoon last Friday so I ran up to the Shenandoah to get a quick fix as I knew the weekend wouldn't support another fishing opportunity. I really wanted to try deeper/slower streamer tactics on the channel left of the island downstream from the Rt 50 Bridge.  The island channelizes the flow on the left creating deeper & faster water over the rock-cobble bottom.  To get down deeper I used 12 feet of sink tip leader prior to my terminal tippet to sink a size 6 green and black (with flash) barrel-head bugger.

smallie on hand-tied kreelex

As I began fishing a 6wt rod I found that that this pairing found the bottom in all but the fastest current and especially at the end of the sweep.  It felt alot like salmon fishing; tap-tap-tap as the bugger moved over the cobble bottom on the swing.   I began picking up smallies, but not the big ones of my dreams so I switched to a self-tied bead-head kreelex with some white (Rt 33) goose tailfeathers.  This hyrbid kreelex turned out to be the most productive fly of the day.

Swarm of dragon flies rests on downfall

I rounded the bottom of the island with the heavy approaching rumbling of summer thunder reminding me not to linger.  I wasn't planning on fishing the far (east) bank on my way back but its hard not to make a cast (or 50) and I was lucky I did.

Monster carp at my feet

I concentrated on the major deadfall and after catching an oak I walked into the deadfall to find a casting call for River Monsters Shenandoah; three huge carp, 16-18 inch bronzebacks and catfish suspended and patrolling the shady deadfall.  I caught one 11 inch smallie and created such a rucus keeping him out of the wood that I mucked up the area.  With the storm closing in I trundled upstream to Clifford as the rain closed in on a great escape.

Monster smallie hidden in tree limbs