Smith-Continued

[Fishbug]

Streamer time!

Your pics looks clearer/better - minus the one with the trout being held backwards, delete that immediately

Same camera?

[Woolly Bugger]

#25 -- 53, Gas $2.86 Sunny bright sky -- mid to upper 80s


I went up with the intention to swing flies on the spey pole.

I scoped out the Bassett ramp and saw a guy on a bicycle near a WaterMaster raft. I drove by and asked him a few questions as he prepared to pump up the raft as it had a slow leak. He was floating down a mile and a half to the Smith River Outfitters. I wished him good luck and headed up to the damn dam, crossing the bridge I noticed a truck parked with an extender bar used for flycraft rafts. Then up at the dam there was a truck with a trailer for a raft. So at least two rafts along with dozens of kayakers were taking advantage of the upper section on a Sunday without thunderstorms.

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I swung flies from just above the boat ramp on down to the kayak launch. All I got was a couple of bumps. I noticed a couple of bikini clad young women taking a swim and then throwing sticks for their golden retrievers who left before I got down to the lawn. There I saw the Basset Fire and Rescue going over some instructions for river rescue.


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There was also an old guy sitting in a chair waiting for the "PMSs to come off" I replied that the sulfur hatch has been waning over the last several weeks. He insisted they was a great hatch last weekend. I have my doubts. I moved on to swing flies on another stretch of river.

Cast, mend, swing, step, repeat. I thoroughly worked that reach, and managed to hook a nice rainbow.    That was all for that section and it was time for a Tacate. I picked another spot and swung to no avail, unless you count bumps.

Back at the car for another beer, I watched a couple of dudes from Greensboro load their 2 person Saturn raft and then clean three good sized rainbows. The said they only keep stockers and asked what the regulation for browns was.

As they left I rigged up the 3 weight and headed down to the corner where I picked off a couple of fish in short order to finish off the day.

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Maybe I'll try an elk hair caddis next time.

[Woolly Bugger]

#25 -- 54 Gas $3.16, pulled into Sheetz, was surprised by the price hike, filled up anyway.    Mid 80s partly cloudy


It felt like I should be wet wading in the hot afternoon sun. I rigged up everything before wadering up, leaving them unzipped until I hit the water. I skipped the sunny run and went directly to the shady corner, it was a bit early for the action I was looking for but I managed to take a few fish on a caddis. It was a sparse hatch, but it motivated few fish to hit the surface. I lost a few flies to the trees and decided it was time for a beer break.


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I popped the top on a Chalada and sat on the bank near the boat ramp and watch a young women casting a spinning rod with Powerbait. I offered her a cold one, she said, "maybe later, if I get frustrated not catching any fish. She noticed the fish "jumping" on the far side and I mentioned that they were feeding on hatching bugs. I snuck in behind her and worked the far bank, catching an eight-inch brown after a few casts. That was all that run produced. I saw a raft approaching, so I headed back down to the corner. The were more sulfurs than caddis now and I switched patterns and caught another handful of trout before I wore that run out.

Back at the car, I saw the fisherwomen drive off just as the raft guys pulled in with their trailer, after running their own shuttle. I grabbed another beer and took my gear off as I watched them load their raft. They were from the Asheville area and had planned to fish the New as they are smallmouth junkies, but the New was blown out and the chose the Smith as an alternate. They had a good float and caught "lots of small fish" but all on the surface made it fun.

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[Woolly Bugger]

#25 -- 62, overcast, spitting rain for a bit, mid 70s


Back in action on the home waters.

These small trout on 6x worried me more than the large char in Alaska.

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[Dougfish]

Bottle Gentian showing off.

[Woolly Bugger]

#25 -- 63, Scattered clouds, mid 80s


Fall is coming but summer is lingering on, I thought that I was going to have to nymph or bobber fish today. I started out that way, and was catching nothing, when I heard the distinct sound of a splashy rise to my back upstream.  I turned and watched the water, sure enough a little brown was hitting the surface. I quickly tied on a small bwo, and got the fish to rise. Then on the next cast another one chased after the fly. I thought this was going to be easy.

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It was then that I realized that the bugs comming off were actually sulfurs! So I switched patterns and continued on, but the rise was so sporadic that it was impossible to target a fish. It eventually switched over to swining a soft hackle.

I caught a hald dozen of these punes, before moving on down to try another spot as hatch petered out.

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Lobelia siphilitica - great blue lobelia


Switching back to a dry I caught another handful of small fish and many that "missed" the fly. I say miss, because I saw them miss many naturals also.

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Helenium autumnale -- common sneezeweed


Work continues at the damn dam
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I'll finish off my supply of Chelada for this season soon.

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A pair of trout bros flailing away on the same stretch for a long time. They were there when I pulled in, sat on the bank, drank a chelada, thought about fishing, drank another beer as I dewadered, walked and talked to the spin guy about fishing down at the corner with his roster tail, and then took their photo, so at least 45 munites.  I was tempted to holler out, "Mend", "mend again" as I watched them false cast 2 or 3 times and dift (drag) thier fly over the same water over and over and over again.

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[Woolly Bugger]

#24 -- 64


Back at it. Took a look at the bend, not much going on there, except for a couple of rafts on the river. Check out that dual axel beast of a trailer (Trahentis superflua). Didn't see the boats on the water on the drive up to the damn dam. A few sulfurs and a small number of bwos came off late. Some fish chose to rise to them. I caught a few on the surface and swung up a few more on a soft hackle.

Spin guy as I was going in, "I hope you have better luck than I did. They'll be stocking next month."

That reminded a commet I overheard at the Blue Ridge TU meeting the other night, "I can't wait for the stocking to start!"


Any was it didn't take me too long to bring the first trout to hand, but overall it was slow. It appears that the lake is "turning over" as the water appears turbid.


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Purplestem Aster (Sumphotrichum puniceum) with Southern Skipperling Copaeodes minima

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[creakycane]

Water looks clearer downriver with a bit of stain.   Fish will take the odd nymph or big dry, but daytime (esp sunny days) relatively slow until cooler nights come.  Reservoir level getting low.  A bit of rain and some frosty nights will get things going in
October. 

[Woolly Bugger]

#24 -- 65 scattered clouds, low 80s, perhaps cooler on the river.

I started out with the fly that was tied on the St. Croix Legend 3 wt., a partridge and orange soft hackle, even thought I didn't see any surface activity. No fish rising, no bugs in the air except for midges. I waded up to the top of the run and worked my way downstream. I heard a trout rise behind me and I began to notice a sulfur pop off here and there. I got a few fish to hit the wet but they didn't fully commit. After about ninety minutes of casting I worked a fish, the only one that rose more than once, but blew the hookset, I was sure the fish was there, but should haved waited beyond the usual, tap, tap, tap. I pulled the fly out of the fishes mouth.

I moved on down to the lower reach and got a few more fish to show some faint  interest in my fly, but I failed to hook any of them. Finally I had enought dissapointment to change flies. By this time there were more bugs emerging and I selected a nice puff daddy to tie on. Third cast and this brown exploded on the fly as it drifted in the current.

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Several more browns came to hand along with the occasional rainbow.

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After another hour of so I was ready to have a beer and head on home for dinner, but on the walk out I trided casting out on the still water at the head of the run from the bank. I was hitting 45-50 feet out, but couldn't get a decent drift over the punes that were occasionally hitting the surface. I reeled in and as I turned, I saw the wildlilfe officer walking towards me. He greated me and asked if I had and luck, to which I gave my standard reply, "I'm just lucky to be out here." "I guess you want to see my license?" I reached into my waders and grabbed my phont and opened up the GoOutdoorsVa app and showed it to him. We talked a bit about how this spot didn't see many anglers, and I lamented the loss of access to the Philpott property below the mirror plant. 

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[Woolly Bugger]

#24 -- 47


Continuing with the bamboo series, I chose the 1975 8' Madison 4 1/8 oz which cast a 5 wt line. Driving up to the river I realized that once again I didn't have my wet wading or wading pant with me. Riverbum was passing by, and we met up at the 666 bridge for the caddis hatch. The bum was in the water when I got there and I prepared the boo for fishing as he strolled up. There were bugs in the air and a few fish were rising. As the bum waded to the middle of the river a fish rose righ behind him and I attempted to "pick his pocket". I got the fish to rise but missed the hookset. Oh, well, I moved on to the head of the run as he worked his was down stream. I caught a couple and turned to look downstream as the bum hollered about his hookup.

A few fish were caught, and then the bum had to leave, I stayed on waiting for things to pick up in the evening. I took a break as I waited for the action to pick up. Just as I was ready to go after the many rising fish, my son called, and we spoke for 30 minutes during the heat of the hatch.

Neil from Greensboro, the 80 year old that I met the other day, arrived as cautiously waded up stream as I worked the middle of the run. I caught few fish and got a handful to rise but the hookup ration was dismay. A series of fly changes only led to more frustration.

DJ's raft approached from upstream, and we spoke as he beached the raft at the ramp. He said he had some flies to try and handed my three. As I was getting ready to fish his fly it started to rain, I ignored it at first but eventually it drove me off the water.

Back at the car I started put the gear up and then tried to take the boo apart, wating to hear the satifisying pop of seperation. Damn it, it was suck, I tried all the moves, over the head, behind the knees to no avail. Dame it!

Drove home and tried and tried to get it apart, I'm now thinking its a one piece rod.  I even tried Kelly Galloup's tape method. I'll have to try the two-person interwoven method next with grips or tape.   

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Never give up!

This has been bothering me for what 16 months now? I tired several times since that post without success. I even bought some freeze spray to chill the ferrule, but I couldn't get a good enough grip on the tip piece as it's so narrow. So, I ordered a pair of arrow pullers. The one on the butt section felt secure but the tip section is too narrow. I padded the puller with a jar opening pad. Tried again — nope, froze the joint, nothing , continued spraying the ferrule until it was white with froze and pulled. I was rewarded with a loud pop! Like the cork on a champagne bottle!

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Never give up!

[Woolly Bugger]

#25 -- 66 -- mid 70s puffy clouds, hint of fall in the air.

The water turbid as the lake is in full turnover mode. Didn't see any bugs or rising fish. Nymphed for a while without any hits. Hit a few spots and started swinging streamers, had one follow, that I could see.



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That's a wrap!

Ended the day with pizza and beer. 

[Woolly Bugger]

# 25 -- 67 upper 70s with few clouds...

I didn't check the gauge, and was freaked out as I got a glimps of the river on the way into Bassett. Low water, like the good ole days, not!'

I pulled into the canoe launch and ate my lunch while I pondered what to do and where to go. I geared up and went on down to the bent and rebuilt a leader, 2x, 4x, 5x tippet and tied on a dry. Only one problem, I just high holed another angler. I waited for him to work his was up and I made my way downstream, where there were a pair of spin fishermen on the far bank. I thought I might get a couple to look up but that wasn't the case, they I was sure that I could nymph up a fish or two, no dice. Back up at the upper run I did get a couple to hit a dry, but no hookups.

I drove on up to the damn dam and found a few fish rising to midges. I got a three or four of them to take a swipe at my fly but I was denied.

When I pulled out I ran into a biker couple who commentes that listening to my casting had a calming effect, I said you must not have heard me cussing under my breath.

That's all for now. With the lake so low the will be running low water until we get a decent rain.

[creakycane]

Low and fairly clear. Beautiful Day. For getting some sun.  As bright as today was, though browns were looking up early, not super active in the pm. Odd caddis and olive around.  Did not see a rainbow.    Fished in front of a rather large raft with sports flailing away.  With a trickle of water and exposed riverbed, that big float boat seemed absurd.   Not enough water to give many of the usual pools a decent current.  Hipboots worked today! Rain coming next week is welcome.   

[Woolly Bugger]

With a trickle of water and exposed riverbed, that big float boat seemed absurd.

I can't imagine paying to "float" the Smith on low water... March '26 is just around the corner when full generation and minimum flow will again be the normal. We may see a few rafts for sale...

[trout-r-us]

My kinda flow. Now I just need them to take down the No Trespassing signs.

I haven't fished the River since the signs were put up. Would like to get back up there before my days are done.