Fishing Report 24-AUG-2016

Well, August is nearing its conclusion, and the cooler nights are finally starting to creep into the area.  Naturally, a rally of the hot, humid weather should be expected, but it will not be too long before Autumn is upon us.  With that said, fishing is still in the summer patterns, and I have been splitting my time between river and lake fishing.

With river fishing, the time of day is less important, with keeping an eye on water clarity and lighting conditions more so.  Rivers tend to be clearer than lakes, and typically are more shallow.  This makes fish more skittish of aerial predators.  I've been spending some time fishing the Rivanna River near downtown Charlottesville, and have enjoyed my fair share of smallmouth action.  Typically, during sunny, clear water days, the action can be slow, with the best success coming from fish hiding in the shadow lines found near the banks.  Generally, fishing is better during overcast or muddier water days (although not too muddy), as the fish tend to swim around more freely.  This is also true for the early morning and evening hours, as the lower light conditions have a similar effect.  This is not to say that fish cannot be caught during the bright, sunny, summer days, but it does help narrow down where the fish may be hiding.

As for flies, I've been finding great success with topwater in the evening hours, and deceivers during the rest.  Specifically, I've found blue over white deceivers to be particularly deadly, with both swing and cross current retrieves working best.

Blue over white deceivers have been very successful against smallmouth lately

In the lakes, subsurface flies are a must during the day, with topwater not setting in until just before sunset.  With that said, some of the best fishing is to be had in the last hour of the day, with the bass keying in on topwater lures.  Lately, I've been having fun with the Master Splinter mouse pattern.  It is a great topwater pattern that is easy to tie, lightweight, and casts well.

The Master Splinter is a great mouse pattern

As a general rule, you know when you've selected the right topwater fly when the bass inhale the lure deep.  This makes going barbless even more important to ensure safe releases.  I've found the best success with either a slow twitch retrieve, or a steady, gurgling retrieve.  The key is to find what motion attracts the best strikes for the particular time of day you are fishing.  While the sun is still fairly bright, I've found a slower retrieve to be more successful, but typically speed things up as the sun sets.

This ambition little bream decided to go for a big meal with my mouse pattern

Fishing in Maryland: Potomac and Conococheague

Once again this weekend found me up in Maryland visiting friends and family.  After spending the day at Pangborn Park playing Ultimate Frisbee, and otherwise goofing off during my friend's annual reunion, my father and I spent the evening at the Potomac River.  This night, the fish were not overly enthusiastic about anything, and very little action was to be found.

After trying deep and mid level waters, the sun was getting closer to the horizon, and I decided that enough time had past since the harsh midday sun to throw on a topwater popper.  This was to be rewarded with a largemouth bass near the edge of a weed patch, and a smallmouth on the edge of a whitewater channel.  This was actually very interesting, as it perfectly highlighted the preferred habitats for both species, and shows how one river can support both species with very little overlapping competition.

This morning, we decided to try a more scenic river, and found ourselves along Conococheague Creek.  We set out around an hour after sunrise, and if you have never fished that early, you are missing out.  One of nature's finest effects is the steam rising off the water early in a summer's morning.  This only happens when the water is warmer than the surrounding air, and never fails to take my breath away.  Even if we hadn't caught a fish, it would have been a trip worth taking.

Smoke on the water...one of my favorite sights

The good news is the fishing matched the scenery, and we had an outstanding day.  Since we started early enough, and since the first stretch of the creek was fairly shallow with lots of grass beds, I kept my popper on from the evening before, and quickly was rewarded with a fun little longear sunfish.

Not the most common of catches East of the Appalachian Mountains

With the topwater bite being strong, I quickly found success targeting smallmouth, and many smallies were taken, with much bending of the fly rod :)  Most of the catches were your average small river bass, but all put up a strong fight.

Small but fierce, these guys are a ton of fun on any rod, especially the fly

The earliest hours saw very aggressive topwater takes, but as the sun rose, and the temperatures increased, more action was found on subsurface streamers.  I found the best luck on green over white clousers, and blue over white deceivers.  All in all, it was a great day, with nearly forty fish landed, including more than five different species.  Definitely a good sign of a great day, and a healthy river.

And, naturally, my father outfished me again...although he does tend to use a spinning rod, so I like to say I have more fun ;)

First Striper on the fly

As I usually do when I am traveling on the road, before I leave I check to see whether or not I should bring my fly rod.  This week, I am up in Portland, Maine, and the Internet said they were catching Rockfish/ Striped Bass/ Greenhead/ Squid Head/ or whatever else people have named this hard fighting fish.  After seeing that the fish were biting, I next checked to see what the local fishing regulations were, and, for Maine, saltwater fishing only requires a $1.00 angler registration with the Maine fisheries department, so I happily packed my 8 weight.

One thing I highly recommend if you travel with your fishing gear, is to find a local tackle shop, and patron their store.  This is a great way to pick up some tips, and to learn if there are any local restrictions/precautions that should be taken.  If you do visit a local shop, be sure to support them by picking up some local flies or gear.  For this trip, I visited the nice folks at The Tackle Shop (http://www.thetackleshop.net/).  They were awesome, and gave me great advice on when and where to go, as well as what to use.  If you find yourself in Portland, Maine, I highly recommend you pay them a visit.

Following their advice, I found myself at Back Cove this morning, looking at a salt flat during full low tide.  After tying on a CK Baitfish and sinking leader, I walked along the shore to begin my search.

CK Baitfish designed by the legendary Chuck Kraft

 The CK Baitfish is an amazing fly designed to mimic the darting, panicked actions of a fleeing minnow.  Walking along the shore, I checked for signs of baitfish, and variations in shoreline structure.  Sure enough, at a section where the tidal flats drained into the main channel of the bay, tons of small minnows were schooled up along the shore.  A quick couple of casts, and my flyline slammed tight with my first Striped Bass on the fly.

Hello Beautiful

Fishing Report 1-AUG-2016

Well...my ocean trip was a bit of a bust, and by bust, I mean it was never meant to be.  Such is life, and it was for the best.  Next Time!  As a consolation, my family came down to Charlottesville, and the local fishing commenced.

The first stop was the Rivanna River, during the heat of the afternoon.  As was stated before, during the dogs days of summer, expect the bass to be less active during the day, with better fishing times in the early morning, and late evening hours.  If you can only pick one time of day, pick the evening, as the bass tend to eat late into the night, and therefore are less hungry in the morning.  With that said, sometimes you don't have the opportunity to fish during the best hours, and just getting out is a reward in itself.

As was expected, fishing was tough, and was made more-so by the passing kayaks and river floats.  With that said, we still managed to catch a few fish, with the largest smallmouth being caught deeper in a fast moving rapid.  Warmer waters mean less dissolved oxygen, so look for fish to take advantage of deeper white water during the hottest hours.

After an afternoon cookout, an ode to summer charcoal, my father and I hooked up the boat, and headed to Chris Greene.  After all the recent rains, the water is back to a darker chocolate, but the fish are still active, and did not disappoint.  After starting the evening with the usual bluegill, ensuring a successful trip, we targeted a deep water drop off near the shoreline with lots of fallen trees.  This type of bank structure allows access to cooler water with a shorter swim to bait rich shallows seeking refuge in the sunken tree limbs.  Here, fishing deep and slow is the key, and my father was rewarded with a nice 2-3 lbs largemouth, among many other fish.  Unfortunately, as is the danger with evening fishing trips, a strong thunderstorm rolled onto the lake, ending our trip.

Sunday morning, for our last outing, we decided to go to a more scenic lake, and trailed the boat to Beaver Creek Reservoir.  Besides from the pleasant views, Beaver Creek is spring fed, resulting in consistently clear waters.  While all of the surrounding ponds and rivers were mud choked from the torrent of Saturday night, Beaver Creek was still holding 4 foot visibility.  Unfortunately, while the morning looked fishy, the bass did not respond.  Several fish were raised from the deep by clousers, but none took the fly.  Our best guess is that the previous night's passing storm caused too great a shift in one or more environmental variables (temperature, pressure, etc), and shut down the bite.  Even the bluegill were reluctant to respond, although I did trick a decent 10"+ brim on a small yellow popper.

Next weekend sees the return to the upper Potomac...weather permitting of course.

Sometimes a fishing trip is just an excuse to get away, and enjoy the water...