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Thread: Need Some Help Catching Smallmouth

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  1. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Posts
    5

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    Lot's of good advice here. A few other comments ....
    First of all, you are extremely lucky to have such an ecosystem right outside your back door. Enjoy it. I'm jealous!

    Bottom line is, that I believe you're not going to catch as many smallmouth, day in and day out, with fly tackle as you would with spinning. I'm confident of that fact having fished side-by-side with some excellent fly fishermen when most around them were using spin or bait casting tackle (free spool reels vs spinning). On the other hand, if you used live minnows with slip-bobber rig, you would catch more than with artificials of any kind.

    I'm convinced that a lot of smallmouth will take a sub-surface fly and spit it out without the fisherman even knowing. I think this happens even when using an indicator. I believe that a soft plastic lure just feels more like the resistance the fish is used to feeling from minnows and crayfish. (Hard plastic lures have so many hooks generally that hooking up isn't much of an issue). Other than trying to keep a tight line and watching for the movement to appear to stop (often the fish is heading up-river), I'm not sure there's a magic cure for the "suck and blow." I've seen it happen many times in clear water, where I'm used to having a fish swim longer with soft plastic.

    Tim Holschlag wrote a good book on smallmouth fishing with a fly rod (as well as one generally on smallmouth in moving water). That would make a good winter read and at least you'd have the confidence that you have covered all the bases.

    I generally carry a fly rod as a diversion while kayak fishing for smallmouth with bait casting and spin tackle. If it's working fine ... especially if they're hitting surface poppers on a particular day. Should be a strong option on summer evenings.

    Good luck and enjoy what sounds like a gem of a stream, aside from the cattle in the river. There are laws against that in many places, even if not observed or enforced. In the VA/WVA/MD area we have Riverkeepers who campaign against the practice. It would certainly not endear you to the local agricultural interests, however.
    Last edited by PotomacBassBug; 10-28-2013 at 09:53 PM.

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