Look Out Sunburst, Here We Come!

[FishinCricket]

It was a pleasure meeting you too, Justin.. I can tell this place will definitely be on my list for my local overnight camp and floats..

Got on the water at 10 am and immediately noticed the pattern... Spawning beds everywhere with smallies and gogglies in full guard mode... Raided a few beds from the boat and managed a good 20 fish (all small males, the females were there but very wary of the boat) before we stopped for lunch.. Had lunch in front of a big long gravel bed that was chock full of dark splotches swimming around, Kung fu'ing anything that came close to the cleared out patches... It was awesome watching them bedding... Then after lunch I tied on one of Wrenchies clousers and worked the bed over really good.. The big females wouldn't come away from the current, and I couldn't cast that far with the fly rod, but I did manage to hook my first smallie on a fly right there!! (I missed three or four because, smalles don't take it, they pick it up and attempt to kill/crush it, then they spit it back out and I'm just not that quick..(maddening!!!)

Anyway, the same routine through the next few miles until we came accross the double spring where the jackasses at the private ranch were bulldozing the spring!! Spose it had to be done sometime.. Thanks guys! Muddied up the water for the next three miles, all the way down to Sunburst.. We did some swimming but didn't do much fishing down there (cloudy fast water that was pretty doggone treacherous!).. I think I know which spot was "The Falls" but there were a couple places that were pretty fun/hairy.. No tipping though, the canoe was a good one...

I did manage to scare up one short slender brown just above Sunburst.. Only had him on for a minute and then he jumped and spit.. (I was very I'll prepared, moving 10 mph downstream chucking that pinky jig behind the rocks)

The pinky jig won the day... The highlight of the day was actually the rock ledge across from the double spring.. The double spring was basically a small island midstream that had a spring bubbling up out of it and spilling down both sides... The ledge across from it had a creek flowing in and it had a crew of about 20 smallies in it and I think I got almost every single one of them to hit that jig.. Setting the hook was a different story, those little bastards are fast and subtle! A small snake finally ran is off, or I might still be there!

[FishinCricket]

Is this river one of the ones that had tagged smallies in it? That biggest one above had an odd hole in his back just below his fin, I pulled a small piece of chord (looked like a gut string from a guitar) out of it..?

[Flysmallie]

Dam dude, look at that belly!! You didn't have that last fall, must have been a winter project.

Keep eating like that and you will catch up to me soon.

[FishinCricket]

Dam dude, look at that belly!! You didn't have that last fall, must have been a winter project.

Keep eating like that and you will catch up to me soon.

Yeah, I had initially thought that my fishing clothes had shrunk..!

[gotmuddy]

what were they bulldozing at rainbow spring???

[FishinCricket]

what were they bulldozing at rainbow spring???

I dunno... I didn't bother to stop and ask.. I do wonder though...

[gotmuddy]

I dunno... I didn't bother to stop and ask.. I do wonder though...

any pics?

[FishinCricket]

any pics?

Nah, but if you an imagine coffee with a whole bunch of creamer in it...

[Justin Spencer]

There are tagged smallies in the river, they are fixing the bridge/road over the upper outlet of rainbow spring that was washed out during the flood. Cricket, the spring in the middle of the river is actually North Fork Spring which is just upstream of the upper outlet of the rainbow(double) spring. Then about a quarter mile downstream of the upper outlet is the lower outlet which is much bigger. Great to see some smallies and goggle eye on that float, takes more skill than catching those pesky trout!