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Smith-Continued

Started by 5xTippett, June 17, 2012, 16:15:23 PM

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Dougfish

Headed down to try some early AM action as soon as the coffee's brewed  -0- ......TBC.

CaddisMan

Must do decaf on fishing mornings. I know its not the same but I roast my own beans so at least I have a comforting warm brew in my hands before tying a #22 midge larvae on a 7x tippet. Not sure what I'll do if I ever get to drive Smith-way at 4am like I mean to...

Dougfish

I went to church this morning. No Tuesday morning church song, so here's a reasonable stand in. Killer penny whistle.



After brewing the high test coffee I boogied down to river (I OD'ed on caffeine in college. Doesn't affect me much anymore   ;D).
The skies looked iffy, and sure enough, I was into the rain pretty soon. Then I ran out of it at the Henry Co. line. Got rigged up and headed to the not so secret spot. Slower rises than the last few trips, definitely less bugs coming off. But I got dialed in after a few changes. And I wasn't using the not so secret anymore dropper, Scott.

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I got sprinkled on a few times but it wasn't too bad. No rain jacket, BTW. b';
Then the fish started getting bigger. And my misses started getting more numerous. I threw up a throw-away cast into an unproductive spot so I could move up and over a few feet. When I glanced up, my dry was gone. I set the hook and a very nice brown shook me off. Dumbass!

The only fish to take the dry. Buttah!

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Nice bow for Woolly. Your spot, too.  :P

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Elderberry and Queen Anne's Lace to close the show.

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Rained most of the way home. The fishing is done for a few days. 0:0


Woolly Bugger

you done did good this morning...

If I could get may lazy ass up extra early, I might make a morning trip...

hmmmm, looks like my VA license is up for renewal... b';
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Dougfish

Quote from: Woolly Bugger on July 02, 2013, 13:06:09 PM
you done did good this morning...

If I could get may lazy ass up extra early, I might make a morning trip...

hmmmm, looks like my VA license is up for renewal... b';

My weekends are toast for a while. It's this, or nothing. This is working just dandy.

While standing in the middle of a well traveled creek and talking to a VDGIF employee who was surveying fisherman, I realized that mine had expired a month and a half ago.  :o Thank goodness he wasn't a warden. Vamoosed into town and fixed that. Yea, I carped on a busy lake with it expired, too. With a newspaper columnist. And cameras.  b';

Big J

Quote from: Dougfish on July 02, 2013, 13:22:14 PM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on July 02, 2013, 13:06:09 PM
you done did good this morning...

If I could get may lazy ass up extra early, I might make a morning trip...

hmmmm, looks like my VA license is up for renewal... b';

My weekends are toast for a while. It's this, or nothing. This is working just dandy.

While standing in the middle of a well traveled creek and talking to a VDGIF employee who was surveying fisherman, I realized that mine had expired a month and a half ago.  :o Thank goodness he wasn't a warden. Vamoosed into town and fixed that. Yea, I carped on a busy lake with it expired, too. With a newspaper columnist. And cameras.  b';

At least you fish at all.  I'm beginning to turn into Bill....heck, even he is fishing now.

I would of paid good money to see your mug in that newspaper column getting handed a ticket.  You know that columnist would of never let you live that down.

tomato can

That is right Big J I am fishing.  Headed to B!@#!@# creek tomorrow evening!  And then on Saturday flying to MN to fish the boundary waters for a week - every stinking day  And then when I get home I am going to do a TWO day float if the river ever comes down + some more blue line fishing.  You prob. got a toilet to unplug, get that lespedeza under control, gutter cleaning and some mulching.

Big J

Quote from: tomato can on July 02, 2013, 19:26:18 PM
That is right Big J I am fishing.  Headed to B!@#!@# creek tomorrow evening!  And then on Saturday flying to MN to fish the boundary waters for a week - every stinking day  And then when I get home I am going to do a TWO day float if the river ever comes down + some more blue line fishing.  You prob. got a toilet to unplug, get that lespedeza under control, gutter cleaning and some mulching.

I had to look up lespedeza.  I do hate lespedeza.  Thanks for teaching me that.  Also, as far as you fishing so much.......I hate you.........

Woolly Bugger

I had to look it up too, lespedeza I thought that was something else...
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

consumnfire1229

Unless Towne is blown up, an early morning may be my only July 4th option...
"Thou shalt know thy waters and be wise about those things upon which thy prey doth feed."  4th Commandment of The Eleven Commandments from the Curtis Creek Manifesto

Woolly Bugger

#250
Rain, rain and more rain. 


oh, and just a side note about the Boundary Waters, my son, who is working at the BSA high adventure camp; northern tier called today! He's already guided two trips, one out of Atikokan, then they brought him back to Ely to guide his second trip. He's going back to Canada on Saturday, and his next trip is Sunday. 

/'/  /'/
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Al

#251
Repost of my blog which went to some of you already - figured I'd let the rest of the folks know I am still alive. ::)

It has been awhile since I did any serious Smith River fishing. Been a little here and there but it was either just a short burst trying to beat the crazy 24/7 generation schedule or with someone else which is not exactly serious fishing in my book.  The lawn needed mowing at my get away place which sits on a wooded ridge less then a mile from the Smith so I got that out of the way and headed to a favorite section of the river. My favorite sections are not necessarily the best fishing sections. I label them by where there is easy entrance to the river and a fairly easy exit based on how much time I have to fish. I hate fishing a section and then turning around and wading back downstream to the same point for exit – as many of you know, there are not many spots on the Smith where you can just get out without acting like a Billy Goat or busting brush. I thought I had the river broken down into entrance / exit sections but as my back seems to ache sooner then it used to after a long day of wading I may have to rethink my strategy b';

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Here is one of those sections.  I hear a lot of folks say they don't know how to catch fish in all that flat water. My advice is learn. Most of the better fish I catch on the Smith come from water such as this.

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It took we a while to get them dialed in. I rolled seven fish and I mean "rolled them" before obtaining a solid hookup that brought this typical Smith River Brown to the net. BTW I love my ghost net. It is so much easier on the fish and it eliminates the hassle of trying to get your dropper fly out of the regular string woven netting. My last string woven net ended up with more flies then I carry in my fly box  :P

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Lots of rainbows still in the river. The last two stockings occurred while they were in the 24/7 generation cycle so the fish which are not used to moving water got pushed downstream away from the normal "follow the stock truck" fishing holes. Hint, hint to the DGIF folks who read my ramblings - We (SRTU) sent a letter to DGIF suggesting they coordinate stockings with the COE generation schedule. W e also asked them to let us know ahead of time when they were coming and we will try to round up a "bucket crew" to help spread out the fish. I even talked with one of my friends who is noted for following the stock truck. He thought it was a great idea and said he could get some of his buddies to help as well – no one ever asked them before.   BTW nothing wrong with bait fishermen. We all started out that way. I encountered 5 bait fishermen this past weekend and every one of them was just as nice as can be. Most are entranced with the way our fly lines and flies dance across the water.  When I talk with them, many would like to take up fly fishing but they fear it is too difficult to learn. I've even given impromptu casting lessons on the stream.

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This rainbow had a serious overbite problem. Not sure if it is a generic thing or maybe he just rubbed on the raceway at the hatchery too much before growing to stocking size. BTW Kudos to DGIF for stocking some nice fish. Most that I caught were well into the 12-14 inch range. I did see a 20 plus inch rainbow on the stringer of one of the bait fishermen. Even though it broke my heart to think I would not have a chance to catch him, he was caught legally and I congratulated the fisherman who caught him.

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This is what I was after! This and several others I caught in two days of fishing would have fallen into the 10-24 inch protected slot.

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Here is another one of my favorite sections – this one has a few more riffles.

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Lots of rainbows stack up in the riffles at this time of the year.

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I could bore you with a lot more fish photos – Lets just say the Smith is fishing well ;)

Al

I see Woolly put this out on the chat board but thought it might be good here as well - If youre planning to fish the Smith next week be sure to bring your raft, canoe or kayak.  They are running water 24/7 all week until at least midnight July 12th.

CaddisMan

Drove up on a whim Friday morning and got lucky.  A temporary shutdown allowed me to wade just below the dam for these two (my first browns caught on the Smith). I was just going to do some deep water dead drifting from the lawn (I don't know if this ever works) but, to my surprise and delight, noticed the river was down and the trout were topwater feeding (couldn't identify any sort of hatch.) So, I tried a floating terrestrial, but with no luck I switched to a dry/dropper and caught this'un first on the nymph drifting under the tree overhang.

Couldn't repeat that so I put on a stimulator and cast up and out.  This guy snapped it up on the second cast and within a couple of seconds after touch-down. Then the horn blew and the river rose.

My unexpected opportunity had the adrenaline pumping and I fiddled with gear and knots (forgot my scissor/forceps - stuck using my knife) more than I would have liked. I suppose with practice and experience comes efficiency. I only fished for a short time but I had a blast and enjoyed the scene.

Any chance the dam staff noticed me arrive and was afraid I might wade the torrent? That or just luck, either way, cheers to the timing at Philpott Dam.

Dougfish

 'c; 'c; 'c;
You lucked out on the pause in generation. Congrats.
10am-midnight over the weekend. 3am-midnight M-Th. 5am-midnight F. Ugh!