Fishing report August 26

[riverrat]

Fished the smallmouth management area Saturday. We had torrential rains in the few hours before daylight. Under normal circumstances I would have canceled, but it takes an act of congress for me to get on the river this year so I went anyway. The river at the put in point was clear except for where a small wash entered the river upstream a ways. This created a mud line about 1/4 of the river. We would be fighting these conditions all day. I caught a 14" largemouth running a buzzbait subsurface in the put in eddy. My buddy caught a 16" LM about the same time running a buzzbait on top. Tried fishing the mud line with no luck. Below the first shoal the muddy water mixed making the river dingy. Had a few blowups on the buzzbait and some little dinks were slapping my sammy. Tried various lures with no success. Finally outran some of the mud into clear water only to run up on 3 other boats. Tied on a green pumpkin fluke and caught 3 smallies 12-14". Had 3 smallies 16-18 grab the fluke and run towards me by the time I caught up to them(close enough that I could see them in dingy water) they spit it out. The last 2/3 of the float was muddy. I still enjoyed myself even under these conditions. We only landed 20 fish between us with 4 of them being spots. Muddy water conditions are not presently in my bag of tricks.

[Al Agnew]

Hey riverrat, just a couple of suggestions for the next time you find yourself in that situation...

Dingy water, the kind where you can barely see a white lure 1.5-2.5 feet down, try some medium size crankbaits. Something fat that doesn't run too deep. And that kind of water just calls for a big tandem blade spinnerbait, too.

Once it gets to be less than about 2 feet of visibility, though, it gets real tough. On a stretch of river you know well and know where the fish usually are, look for current obstructions along the nearby banks like logs and rocks, in water that can be either deep or shallow, and fish the eddies behind them with a big jig and pig. Do the same thing anywhere water is running into the river.

If that doesn't work, just sit back and enjoy the scenery!

[riverrat]

Thanks for the tips Al. I think I'm learning more about fishing this year than I ever did by just fishing. I'll Be glad when I finally get the time to perfect all the new techniques.

[mzrealfish]

Hey riverrat, just a couple of suggestions for the next time you find yourself in that situation...

Dingy water, the kind where you can barely see a white lure 1.5-2.5 feet down, try some medium size crankbaits. Something fat that doesn't run too deep. And that kind of water just calls for a big tandem blade spinnerbait, too.

Once it gets to be less than about 2 feet of visibility, though, it gets real tough. On a stretch of river you know well and know where the fish usually are, look for current obstructions along the nearby banks like logs and rocks, in water that can be either deep or shallow, and fish the eddies behind them with a big jig and pig. Do the same thing anywhere water is running into the river.

If that doesn't work, just sit back and enjoy the scenery!

How were you fishing the flukes? Drifting or weighted? Thanks.

[riverrat]

I don't ever use weight with the fluke. If I need to run it deeper I just slow down. I also use fluorcarbon line, which helps it sink faster.