Report 11/20/10

[zthomas]

Did Maumee to Spring Creek Saturday morning while visiting the in-laws in Marshall. Flow was around 90 cfs on the Hwy 14 bridge gauge, and water level was no problem in the little inflatable. Had to push with my feet through a few riffles, but never had to actually get out and drag. Very little current, though, so lots of rowing. Weather was definitely not as advertised--46 and windy at launch, 51 and windy at take-out, and not much different anywhere in between. Left a truck (admittedly a pretty unappealing one) at Spring Creek for five hours with no trouble.

Fishing-wise, got skunked for the second late-season Buffalo trip in a row. I'd sure appreciate any tips about fall/winter fly fishing for smallmouth. I feel like I'm at least a competent fisherman when it comes to trout and saltwater stuff, but I'm new to the area and these stream bass have pretty much gotten the better of me except when conditions are good and everybody is catching. I tried bouncing/twitching crazydads in olive and brown along the bottom of the deep holes and slow-stripping woolly buggers in black, brown and olive down deep. Tried going super-stealth with long casts, 10-foot leader and 5X fluoro tippet. Tried adding a bunch of lead to get right down in the rocks. Tried dead-drifting, swinging down and across, stripping down-current and cross-current. In my defense, I broke my 6-weight a couple weeks back, which is the only rod I have a sink-tip for, so I was handicapped a bit by a 4-weight with only a floating line. But still, one short bite for several hours of hard fishing? Again, tips appreciated.

Sunday took our little guy to a farm pond to tug on some bream, which cooperated much better than the smallies.

[eric1978]

Fishing-wise, got skunked for the second late-season Buffalo trip in a row. I'd sure appreciate any tips about fall/winter fly fishing for smallmouth.

Stream smallmouth fishing is tough during fall...always has been for me anyway. The fish are transitioning, and the water is usually clear and low, so they're spooky, too. It's hard enough to find the fish, let alone pattern them.

[tjulianc]

My advise, would be to bring along some spinning gear or a baitcaster, and if you are getting skunked on the fly, try fishing a jig or a worm on the bottom in deep pools. Thats about the only way I caught any on the lower Buffalo a few weeks ago. Fly fishing and spin casting both have their virtues, and if the situation calls for one over the other go with it. Also paddle quickly through shallow water, and spend more time fishing deep holes. The more time your lure or fly is on the bottom of a deep pool, the better chance you have of catching a big fish. I could be wrong on this, but I think that big fish in cold conditions are more likely to go after a big lure than a small one. Basically a cost benefit analysis. If they are going to chase something down to eat it, might as well be worth while. And when the water is cold, it might be the only thing they need to eat all day.

Thanks for sharing some great photos.

[zthomas]

Thanks. I'm definitely no purist about the fly. It's just what I grew up with and I'm more confident with fly gear than spinning. But I will take the spinning rod next time. What are we talking about in terms of a jig--like a brown or black crawdad-looking thing? How big? Trailer? Sorry, I'm pretty clueless about freshwater non-fly stuff. Casting in-spinners for trout in mountain lakes is about the extent of my knowledge.

[flytyer57]

Thanks. I'm definitely no purist about the fly. It's just what I grew up with and I'm more confident with fly gear than spinning. But I will take the spinning rod next time. What are we talking about in terms of a jig--like a brown or black crawdad-looking thing? How big? Trailer? Sorry, I'm pretty clueless about freshwater non-fly stuff. Casting in-spinners for trout in mountain lakes is about the extent of my knowledge.

2½ inch tube jigs in a brown or watermellon should work great.

[tjulianc]

Yes, browns and blacks work well, I prefer green pumpkin. Try to find a finesse bass jig, something around 1/8 to 1/4 oz ( I really like 3/16 oz for river smallies). Zoom makes a lot of good trailers, (plastic craws) but there are a ton out there (if you can find it NetBait's Pacca Chunk works well too). Tube jigs almost always work well for river smallies. Depending on jig size 1/16- 1/4 oz jig head should be fine. I get frustrated with tube jigs sometimes, because they get caught in the rocks on the bottom and break off or you have to paddle over the good fishing holes to get out of a snag, scarring off finicky fish.

For starters the Strike King's Bitsy Bug is a good jig you can find just about anywhere, such as Walmart. Its not my favorite jig, but it works, and is affordable. Here is a link:

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Strike_King_Bitsy_Bug_Jig/descpage-SKBB.html

The Zoom super chunk is a good trailer that is also easy to find, Walmart, Academy, etc. Go for the smaller 2" size over the big 3.5" size. You should catch a few more fish with the smaller trailer.

http://zoombait.com/chunks-trailers-grubs/chunks/super-chunk-jr/

A good article on fishing a finesse bass jig:

http://www.strikeking.com/journal/00181/1.php

Hope this helps.