Winters been dragging, it’s freezing outside, and I’m stuck inside with visions of bass striking my fly. It seems a distant memory, the last fly fishing outing of the year. Looking at the same river today with a barren setting of snow covered shorelines and bare deciduous trees, it’s hard to believe about 4 months ago we were wading in these very waters enticing smallmouth bass with our streamers.
Recapping the day, we went out on an mild autumn afternoon to a temperature of 22 c with partly cloudy skies. The weatherman called for the temperature to drop like a stone later that evening, so we expected the fish to be on a heavy feed. After deciding what stretch to start at, we hiked down the steep bank to the shoreline stepping into the tea tinged waters which were still relatively warm.
We started off with dry flies, and poppers, thinking the warm waters may call for more a surface strike. Achieving moderate success, however it was when we switched are approach to minnow imitation streamers when the action really heated up. Ripping our streamers through the deep current, looking for the eddies and other breaks in the current, the smallies would come out and nail our flies with vengeance. Some sections or holes would produce over 20 fish before moving on to the next hole, and although most of the fish were in that smaller 10″ – 13″ range, we did manage to catch a few 2lb – 3lb individuals, as well as missing a couple bruisers. Fly fishing may not be the choice method for guaranteed hook ups, but at times can produce sheer numbers while still missing 1/3 of your strikes. We lost count at about 50 fish, with the majority of our catches being smallmouth bass, with a few Rock bass, and Chub in the mix as well. 
These day we usually don’t put much merit in the weather forecast, but of course on this day the weatherman was correct, and in true cold front fashion the wind picked up as the evening progressed, and those balmy low twenty temperatures soon became an afterthought. Without any warning we abruptly found ourselves wading in water with single digit air temps, but that didn’t seem to phase the fish at all, so the fast action kept us warm to an extent, but even the more die hardened fisherman reaches his limit, and we quickly headed to the truck for much needed warmth. It’s that chill in the air that makes you realize the open water fishing season is coming to an end soon, but being in February now, it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s time to bring out the flygear once again…
Fishin envy 