Getting Ready for Smallies

Been working on some new popper creations for the Spring smallmouth bonanza on the area waters. Prismacolor markers are magical, and there are no limits on what your can create. My most recent creation is the firetiger popper. Get yourself some foam poppers and half a dozen assorted colors of markers, including the "blender", and open up your mind.


--- Recipe ---
TMC 777SP #6
Yellow foam popper
Chartreuse and red krystal flash
Dun Hackle
Prismacolor markers
Yellow rubber for legs

Skunk Off! Clinch Treatment

Made it out today from 3:00 till 5:30, and managed to catch 4. They were very tough again today. I would watch for a consistently rising fish and have to put it right on his nose before he would take. The first fish probably required 20+ drifts before it finally took my blackfly larva. The others didn't require as much effort, but still demanded a perfect presentation.

Water temp was 42 degrees, and the wind was brutal for strike detection. Made for a tough day, but at least I got the skunk off after last trip. A steady dose of blackfly larva is just what the doctor ordered to relieve the pain and irritation of a skunking.

The Clinch is fishing really tough right now, and is showing it's bipolar characteristic. Some days people are lighting it up and others you have to force feed the trout.

Conditions:
Weather - Cloudy, Breezy, 46 degrees
Water - Some discoloration, 42 degrees, receding water level
Flies - midge and blackfly larva

Trey's First Fishing Adventure

I was supposed to meet up with a buddy on Friday to fish the Clinch, but some external circumstances prevented me from doing so. Luckily, I managed to wrap those items up earlier than expected, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take my son fishing and enjoy the mid-afternoon beautiful weather. He is 21 months old, and loves looking at my Flyfisherman magazines, watching people catch "ish" on Saturday's with daddy, and looking at fish pics online. I took him to a little remote park on Melton Hill lake to catch him a bluegill. It didn't take long for him to catch his first fish, and he wanted to participate in the landing, unhooking, and release of the fish. After about 10 minutes he needed to take a rock throwing break, before catching his second fish and heading home. It was so much fun, and I just tried to let him do things that would keep him interested and not bored. I look forward to taking him more as he gets older, as those are some of the fondest memories I have with my dad. Unfortunately those trips are few and far between now. Hopefully one day Trey will pick up the long rod, and I will be able to report on many more father & son trips. Here are a couple pics from the trip.

Trey's First Fish

Patiently Waiting

Trey's Second Fish

"Hep Momma, Hep"

Rock Throwing Break

Casting Practice

Taking the bad with the good

Made it out to the river this afternoon around 3:45, and was very excited about the possibilities. Dave hooked up with two bows within the first 10 minutes. However, we didn't realize that it would be 2 1/2 hours before another fish would take one of our offerings. The trout were rising quite regularly taking adult blackflies, unfortunately I did not have anything that they thought looked tasty. I fished for three hours today and never even got a single strike, I can't remember the last time that happened. It has been more than two years since I have been skunked on the Clinch, so I guess I was due. I threw everything I had at them, including streamers, with absolutely no interest. I took a water temp reading before leaving and it was 42.5 degrees. Surprisingly that was 1.5 degrees colder than when I last fished the Clinch two weeks ago. The overcast skies for the past couple days apparently have slowed the water warming trend.

This only adds fuel to the fire for my return trip.

Conditions:
Weather - Cloudy, Calm, 52 deg
Water - Clear, 42.5 deg
Best Patterns - ?????
Tackle - 9' 4 wt

Is Spring around the corner?

It appears we will have some decent weather for a few days. Has winter loosed its strangle hold on us finally? Winter is my least favorite season, and this past has been the longest, coldest, and wettest I can remember. Bring on the spring weather, flowers, birds, and good fishing.

Speaking of fishing, I made it out to the Clinch today for a few hours. I expected to see all the parking lots full, but was surprised that it wasn't all that bad. The generation schedule kept me off the lease, so I was limited to fishing near the dam. I have an area below the weir dam that I fish when I am forced to stay in that area, however it requires quite a long walk. I have never seen anybody in this area, so you can imagine my surprise when I showed up there today and found three other people fishing. So, I forced myself to get in amongst everybody below the weir dam. I tied on my clinch river typical tandem with a #18 midge pupae and a #20 midge larva point fly. I quickly picked up two fish, and then the wind started blowing. The waves created by the wind were so large that they easily overtook my little poly yarn indicator. Add to the fact that it was very chilly, and I chose to try my luck in another area I am familiar with.




I got out of the river and hoofed it way above the weir dam and got into a section of river that was deserted. I then strung up my sinking tip line and an olive streamer. Not long afterward I was into some more fish. I fished the streamer for about another 45 minutes before calling it quits for the day. My final tally for the day was six. Four bows and two browns, however none of them were of any significant size. The largest bow was about 12", but I did see some larger fish working the weir pool. Also, there was not much surface activity today, and I was a little surprised by that as well since I expected the sunshine to spark lots of midge activity.

I met six fishermen walking out today that all had limits of trout with them, and most of the fish were in the 12 to 13" range. This along with the number of fisherman just reminded me today why I prefer to fish down at the lease. The peace and quiet along with the quality of fish is just so much better. I am anxious to get reacquainted for the first time since probably August.

Until next time,
Tight Lines and God Bless