making progress

Well I guess I am making process in flyfishing, I did manage to catch a fish yesterday (about time) a little 10 inch smallmouth out of the rocky river. I am still a little annoyed I cant catch more than 1 fish an outing, but I guess I am making progress, the fish took a yellow deer hair popper. I threw everything in the box at those darn fish and only managed one? I threw buggers, clousers, and some tied up whitlocks nearnuff crayfish, and I still couldnt get anything. Any ideas that will help my catch ratio? I know you will say do the same thing you did to catch the one fish, and I did and still didnt get a hit! Any ideas?

[lee s]

Are you "reading" the water?
Are you spooking fish by lack of stealth...either moving around the water or with rough casting?
......lee s.

[LadyFisher]

If you aren't reading Rick Zieger articles you are missing all kinds of tips to improve your catching rate. Changing flies, changing retrieve, changing the depth at which you fish....and on and on. Read more, catch more.

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

[Bluegill Budd]

If my memory serves me I believe the formula is :

Maraboo Mudler = Smallmouth Bass...

Many a fine morning on the Nashua River where it flowed through Manchester NH gave tremendous fun with Smallies and once in a while an ambitious Chub, which can be a handfull on a 5wt.

Stay with it and vary your retrieve. Sometimes they want it to start/stop, sometimes just straight pulls. The colder the water, the longer the wait between pulls.

Smallies in moving water are worth the effort.

Clint

[MAC in NEOhio]

Smallie,

Don't get too discouraged. With how low the flows are around here I am surprised you caught even one. Every time out is a learning experience so keep filing the data. If you fish for steelhead, use your smallmouth trips to also make mental or written notes on the local streams for good lies while the water is low and the holding areas are visible. You didn't mention what methods you were using, but I have had some (I am also learning) success with minnow patterns on the Chagrin. Usually just swingin' them. I caught a couple of small ones last week during my lunch hour drifting a red gurgle pop over a likely area. Don't give up. I didn't have much luck at all last summer for largemouth on a couple of ponds that I frequent. I know they have decent bass from previous years with spinning gear, but I really wanted to focus on fly fishing the last 2 years. Well this year is a completely different story. I had a blast 2 weeks ago, 14 fish on the same black gurgle pop. Some took it while popping, others wanted it to sit for a while.

If you venture over to the east side of town, stop by Chagrin River Gillies in Gates Mills and ask Mark Kasubik for some advice. Real nice guy, willing to lead you in the right direction. Give his retriever Otis a pat on the head while your there.

mac, I was doing all sorts of techniques. i would cast out to cover, then strip back, I would cast down stream and fish back up, nothing seemed to work...I like fishing the low water very exciting to see the fish take the flies. Also I did manage 9 smallmouth in all, 8 on spinning gear when I got too annoyed to cast my arm off for another 1/2 hour lol. O well, I am considering giving the chagrin a try, how would you rank it in terms of fishing?

[Russ C]

My one fishing rule: try to learn one thing every time you go out. It is a good goal to have.

Fishing is hard to learn because the only thing that tells you are doing something right is a fish. I have seen people stand side by side, with close to indentical tackle, lures and retrieves, and see one person catch much more than the other. Or one person catches one type of fish, and the other another type. There are many subtle, almost unobservable things to learn, but when you do something right a catch a fish, it sticks in your system somehow and you can do that one thing again. You learn fish by fish, I think.

Russ

[OkieBass133]

Sometimes it's not the fly you use but what you do with it that makes the difference. . .

[Eight Thumbs]

Smallie,

Please don't be disheartened by your progress so far. Fishing is a little like becoming a billionaire---the first couple of million are the hardest part. You're well on your way.

Your post doesn't say if you are wading or not. My guess would be that you may be spooking fish as you wade from place to place. A couple of quick suggestions would include dark clothing (especially your hat), a little more distance in your presentations and a slow, steady approach to good locations. As you get to know your river better, it also becomes easier to avoid the cardinal sin of wading----don't wade where you should be fishing.

Hang in there. BTW, summer can mean tough fishing in many locations; try early mornings and evenings. 8T

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You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it's a real short camping season.

[billknepp]

On the rivers I fish in the summer,Mostly it's popper time,they'll usually go for either a white or brown...in size 6 to 10..always seems the smaller sizes got the most if not the biggest fish...usually start off with a brown popper that ends up white..they knock the paint right off em,on the susquhanna river..I'd assume these tactics are pretty much universal...

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"I've often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before" A.K.Best

"Wish ya great fishing"

Bill