Pre-Festivity Smallmouth
Fishermen: Chad, Collin and I
Species: Smallmouth bass, Largemouth bass, Redbreast sunfish, Green sunfish
Methods: Topwater and streamers
Gear: Arctic Silver 10’ 7 weight Zense, 6/7 weight TFO rods, Lamson reels, 2X and 3X tippet
This weekend was one we have long been looking forward to. First, it’s the official friends and family celebration of Collin’s wedding to his longtime girlfriend, Leah. Second, it turned out to be another attempt to help our close, mutual friend Chad onto his first Smallie. Late summer Smallmouth trips with Collin and Chad are really a great time so I’m hoping this turns into an annual (or hopefully even more frequent) occurrence.
To set the stage, Collin grew up in the north Alabama region and learned his passion for fly fishing while targeting the bass in this region. He has the inside info and access for us and had a great location to take us to. None of us go much in for lake angling so we looked to the mid-size streams and mid-gradient rivers in the area. The chosen stream flows through miles of farmland dropping 20 or 30 feet every mile and leaving us with multiple stretches of broken water, shallow riffles and slower pools. Though I’m not much of a morning person, we got out on the water just after 06:15 with time for us to have a few good hours on the water before party preparations had to begin in earnest.
While Chad and I rigged up and discussed tactics, Collin got out there and broke the skunk for us. He had multiple Smallies and even the odd Largemouth practically before Chad and I were even in the water! For flies, we all agreed that top water was called for while the water was shaded from the early morning sun. Collin threw Stealth Bombers and other foam concoctions of his own make while Chad and I stuck to Boogle Bugs in sizes 4 and 6. It didn’t take long for us all to get into fish. Chad scored next with an assortment of Green and Redbreast sunfish ranging in size from 3 inches to multiple healthy fish measuring 8+ inches in length. I put my first Smallmouth on the board in a slick above two channels of moving water. My fly couldn’t have been in more than two feet of water when it was delicately sipped off the surface. I assumed this was merely a moderate sized Green Sunfish until a split second later a beautiful, and surprisingly large, Smallmouth exploded from the glassy water! This fish put a tremendous bend in my 10 foot 7 weight and I was pleased that I had just tied on fresh 3X tippet (light tippet was necessary due to the incredibly clear waters of the stream). After an excellent aerial fight I brought a 16+ inch Smallmouth to hand, one of my better Smallmouth ever and out of skinny water to boot!
We spent the next few hours working fish on a pleasingly steady bite. I landed a total of three fish in the 14-17 inch range, one with some absolutely spectacular coloration. The most exciting of these came when Collin and I saw an approaching wake swimming swiftly downstream towards us. This scene was immediately reminiscent of fishing for Redfish in shallow water and we both threw our flies upstream and several feet in advance of the approaching wake. Just after the first pop my Boogle Bug was confidently sucked down by one of the charging fish! She ran up and down the stream for a couple of minutes but I managed to lip her while Collin and Chad, both excellent photographers, snapped some shots. Besides my larger catches, I also brought in some smaller bass in the 8-12 inch range and some Redbreasts large enough to tow those smaller bass around. Importantly though, Collin and I managed to guide Chad into his first Smallies! Collin stuck with Chad in the shallow water while I ascended the river bank to spot fish for them. Chad has a great cast and even more importantly is persistent so we knew it was only a matter of time before he bagged his target species. Eventually he caught multiple Smallmouth and had a great mixed bag of Smallies, Largemouth, Redbreast and Green sunfish.
To speak for my companions, we all had an excellent time on the water and were thrilled with the results of our efforts. Cheers to Collin and Leah for giving us a reason to celebrate and bring close friends even closer together.
