Maybe Progress

[LarrySTL]

or maybe just luck, but either way I'll take it. Saturday I went wading on the upper end of a river about an hour and a half from here that I had never been to before. Its in Tryon's book so it's no secret. I started at one low water access that turned out to be mostly waist - to -chest deep almost stagnant looking water but eventually caught a few small bass and lost about a 12" largemouth on a Tiny Torpedo from a small log jam in a chute with a small amount of current. More undifferentiated steep bank and almost dead looking water above there. So I went back and started driving to each upstream access.

I found one with more sloping banks, some current, and perhaps a mile upstream, things funnelled to a narrower chute with some depth and brisk current in it. At the upper end the chute was maybe 3 feet deep, had a lot of those water weeds that look like grass and have small flowers on them, the stuff that covers so many gravel bars.

Lots of bass there. Biggest that I caught was a 14 " LM, two 12 " smallies maybe a dozen from 9 to 12", and some dinks. About 1/2 LM, 1/2 SM, no spots, which surprized me. I started with a 4" Roboworm on a light jig head but that was getting expensive fast so I tried a 5" zoom finese worm, which seemed to get as many strikes, and didn't rip as much. I did what everyone's been telling me, long casts, staying back from the fish, etc. A few fish from small slack areas in the chute, the vast majority from the head of the chute. Some, but not nearly as many at the tail of the chute. I ran out of time and energy before I found another spot like that. I am assuming that the current, especially after long slackwater areas, was a conveyor belt of oxygen and food. Its nice to have some success to report.

[Stoneroller]

nice report, great job, sounds like it was a fun day.

[RSBreth]

I love exploring and trying new spots - sounds like you found a good one.

[Gavin]

Good for you...sounds like you figured out the pattern on that creek.