Bronzebacks still bountiful

Yesterday I had the honor of fishing with Brad Besler and his father.  Boy, were they great fishermen!  We did a float trip down the Vermilion with Brad in my solo canoe and his dad and I in my two-man canoe.  Brad was armed with spinning rods and his dad went strictly with the fly rod.  The river was clear, but quite low as we had to get out of the canoe on a number of occassions to push the craft through inches of water in some places.  But, what a day we had!

The grand total for the day was 53 smallmouth bass, two rock bass, a catfish, a drum, and a largemouth bass.  The fish were relating to anywhere in the river where there was still current and at least had a couple of feet of depth.  The best baits for Brad were the Pointer 65 jerkbait (this bait has been on fire for days) and the Zara spook “puppy”.  Mr. Besler caught most of his fish on Ward Bean’s jointed baitfish fly and a nice black popper.

The only downfall of the trip, if you can really call it a down fall when you catch 53 bass, was the fact that no big smallies showed up.  Brad had a big one blow up on a popper, but we were unable to coax him into biting.  We did have a quite a few bass in the 12-13 inch range.  Here is a nice one caught by the elder Besler on a black popper:

I want to say thanks to the Besler boys for a great day on the river.  Their fishing prowess made for an easy day for me…............and, thanks also to my beloved smallmouth for cooperating and making me look good.

AS ALWAYS…..........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

One for the Record Books

A few days ago I had the pleasure of guiding Dan Starmach.  Dan has come down a few times before and is an excellent fisherman.  The first time he ever came with me, he brought a friend, Bernie Kennedy.  On that particular morning, Dan and Bernie set the record for the most smallmouth caught by two anglers in my short guiding career.  They caught 67 smallies by 1:00 PM.  This included many fish over 14 inches and Bernie landed a 19 incher.

Now, fast forward to a few days ago when Dan came down.  We tackled five miles of river via the canoe.  And, boy, the bronzebacks did not dissapoint.  Matter of fact, Dan now holds the record for the most smallies ever caught by ONE angler while fishing with me - 57!!  It was truly an amazing day.  It seemed the fish just could not feed fast enough.  Dan did his damage with basically two lures - the Lucky Craft Pointer 65 and the Megabass Prop Darter.  Both baits are supreme minnow imitators.  Dan not only caught a ton of smallies, but some were mature river bronzies:

Here is the type of water that is holding alot of bass:

If you have ever thought about booking a trip with me, NOW IS THE TIME!  We have low, clear, warm water and the bass are biting.  If you are interested, give me a call at 309-399-7055.

AS ALWAYS….................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE

River fishing for Bronzebacks still strong

Hit a local flow yesterday armed with only my little, five weight fly rod.  The river was low and clear and the weather was perfect for topwater flies.  Heavy, threatening clouds and no wind made for a dream day for an angler like me who just loves to catch smallies on top.  My beloved bass did not dissapoint.

Started wading upstream throwing my new pencil popper I had just made the night before (the red and white fly in the picture above).  Had few slashes at the fly immediately, letting me know the fish were going to be receptive to top water flies.  I was targeting current runs located next to large expanses of water willow.  Moved upstream a little farther to a great riffle with large pool eddys located on the side of the river.  Water willow grows in these eddys and the smallies were stacked on one little current seam next to the willows.  For the first five or six casts I saw smallies slash out from the eddy into the current and hit my fly.  My only problem was I was a little quick on the hook set, which caused me to miss the first five or six strikes.  Finally I was able to slow down and began to hook a few bronzies on the pencil popper.

After exhausting the fish at the riffle spot, I moved upstream to a huge pool that contained good current flow and about 200 yards of water willow.  I knew they would be packed into this area.  The first key current seams produced some strikes from very small bass and then a nicer fish took a swipe and I was able to tangle with a 14 incher.  A 14 incher is not huge, but on a five weight fly rod in current was a quite a tussle.

After a slow period, I switched to the Murdich Minnow (silvery minnow streamer located on the picture above).  Caught a few on the streamer and then decided that it was too perfect of a topwater day to be fishing a subsurface streamer.  Tied on my favorite topwater fly of all time - the blockhead popper.  A few casts with the blockhead produced the smallie below.  What a fight on the five weight fly rod:

I stuck with the blockhead and kept catching smallies as I continued upstream.  Met up with a buddy of mine and he began to catch smallies on top as well.

When my day came to an end, my total was 15 smallies and 1 largemouth bass in 3 hours of fishing.  A great afternoon spent with the fly rod.

Got a guide trip tomorrow and possibly Friday as well.  Hope this rain does not mess up my rivers.  When the rivers are this low it is really hard to stay home and do the “honey do” thing.

AS ALWAYS….........................HAIL TO THE SMALLIE