Smith River 16 Jun 06

[Al]

It has been about a month since I have had the opportunity to do any serious Smith River fishing. From the reports I have been monitoring and also from talks with friends who live there and fish it regularly I had high expectations when I arrived at the Mirror Factory early Friday morning,June 16, 2006.

I entered the river near the railroad trestle and fished upstream to the lower end of the field. The water was crystal clear and I could observe lots of fish moving ahead of me and scooting out of the way in the long shallow pools that are prevalent in this stretch of the river. The light must have been just right because at times I could see pods of fish that would rival the pods seen in delayed harvest streams the day after stocking.  Lots of fish but I did not see any feeding activity.

I caught several fish but had to really struggle to make it into double digits. The fish were all brown trout in the 7-10 inch range. (Photos attached). About half fell to the Allieworm and the other half were caught on a #16 Copper John which I added about 6 inches below the bend of the hook on my Allieworm.

Highlight of the day was when a big bodied deer with a bunch of velvet poking above it's ears crossed the river in a shallow spot just upstream of where I was fishing. Shortly thereafter a doe crossed in the same spot going in the opposite direction. Second highlight of the day was when I stubbed my toe on a rock and took a full body belly flop in a shallow pool. Invigorating to say the least.  ::) No complaints - beautiful day to be on the water!