I landed 5 smallmouths with the biggest being only 12 inches. Those were the first on flies for me. I caught them all on a crab imitation that a guy showed me 3 years ago. An avid smallie chaser, he made it up himself and didn't name it. It had red dumbell eyes. I also threw Clouser Crayfishes (olive & brown) and didn't do anything with them, but I suspect it's because I wasn't fishing them properly. I don't think I had them down in the rocks.

It was work, that's for sure. Casting that 7 wt. with heavy weight for 5 hours, is much more than I'm used to, and it was hard on my shoulder. I'm sure my casting technique needs a lot of work. My nephew landed about a dozen with a spinning outfit. He was fishing a salted yum yum. It was a worm-like rubber thing. For anyone that may know the area, we fished the Juniata River near Mount Union, PA. I think the smallmouth are generally pretty small in that area. I don't think they get bigger until you go East toward the Susquehanna or on the Susky itself.

I didn't know whether to fish the riffles or deeper water. We had plenty of hang-ups. It was nice to get out with my nephew and experience something new. I need to go out with someone that has experience so I can learn.

Thanks,
Bruce