Spider, fish and the Smith

[5xTippett]

My wife was still out of town so I headed back Friday afternoon to Ridgeway.  I was running late so I changed clothes at the motel and headed upstream to catch the falling water.  I forgot it takes longer for the water to drop than rise so I had to sit around for a while.  When it started dropping I hopped in and started fishing.  I fished for about an hour and caught nine fairly decent fish.  It is no fun wading downstream on didymo covered rocks in the dark.  I went back to the motel to watch tv and hit the rack.  I over slept the next morning and did not wake up untill 9.  I had already decided I was going to fish different spots from where I normally fish and see how that would go.  I started in upper Bassett and fished for 2 hours and caught a grand total of 5 fish, two of which were rainbows, one of which had a pretty serious bite out of his back.   I surrendered and hopped back in the car and headed to another spot.  I ran through 3 spider webs in the short jaunt from the car to the river, the last of which had a rather large spider in the middle of it.  I jumped in the river and picked the spider webs out of my hair and teeth and started fishing.  I caught one little brown right off the bat and then I saw nothing moving at all.  Finally I saw something move in the shallows under some bushes.  I eased up and cast under the bushes and the fished sipped it.  I set the hook and the fish bran straight at me.  As he swam by me I realized he was a nice fish.  I then realized I wasn't on the SoHo and I decided he was a really nice fish for the Smith.  As he swam by me again I realized my name isn't Peewee, Ralph or Dean and that was probably going to be my biggest fish on the Smith.  I got him and actually used my net.  He was right at 16 inches and fat and pretty.  That stretch died, so I headed to another spot to finish up.  I picked up 8 or 9 more browns and the something hit and I got him in and it was a redbreast! I fished for a while with no more luck.  I sat and watched a guy cast like he was on TV.  Walked back downstream to where I had started and reeled in and saw a tree across the river I had fished coming up river with no luck.  I decided to give it another try.   I caught 2 more fish in short order.  The last one was nipping at 15 inches.  It was not a great weekend in numbers, but the size was a definite improvement.

[Woolly Bugger]

good one on ya, nice to see some of the Smith's bigger fishes too!

[phg]

Was that your car at Rosemont with the BRFFF window sticker and a Woford bumper sticker?

I fished the Smith a little bit Sat. morning without much luck.  I caught one nice rainbow down below the parking lot where Al left his flyrod.  I will say that it was a very healthy fish, about 10" long.  Probably a holdover, but one that was feeding well. 

The cold, mist filled air kept fogging up my glasses, though, and I couldn't see to wade, so I pulled out and went down to the canoe launch at the 666 bridge.  No fog, but bright, punishing sun.  Nada. 

I then checked out Rosemont.  Two cars were already parked there.  I thought it might be you and Dean.  I never saw anyone, though.  I worked 100 yards of stream with a few bites, but nothing to hand.  I then hiked up the RR tracks to Jonbee and tried another 100 yards in there.  Again, I got a few strikes, but nothing to hand.  By then it was 2pm, and I was getting dehydrated and sun burnt, so I gave it up.  Clearly, the Smith needs to be fished in the evenings until the weather cools off a bit.

[diaz dassie]

So jealous! Those be some very nice size browns.

[Beetle]

Nice work Ben!  Hate I missed you but will catch up soon.  How did that 48 degree water feel Friday night??

-0-

[blue ridge angler]

great stuff..
the smith sure has some purty brownies..

[Al]

Hate it that I missed Phg and 5x this weekend. I was up there myself but was tied up with a fly fish clinic and cabin maintenance so was not on the river as much as I would have liked. Did get out Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Will try to post a report as soon as I get caught up with emails and honey-do's

[Trout Maharishi]

I see the Townsend beetle is still killing them -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0-  -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0-  -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -
How you like me now TRU

[rjs123]

Good job Ben!  Those are some great looking Smith River Browns for sure!  Been pretty slow for me the last couple of days. A couple dink browns and a few 12-14 inch rainbows.  Id love to get into a few of those bigger browns.  Its a big river.  Looks like its time for me to try some new places too. :)

[5xTippett]

Paul, that was me at Rosemont. it was slow up there which is why I left! Beetle, sorry you didnt make it, and my toes were absolutely numb when I got out! Thanks for all the compliments folks!  TM- That townsend beetle works like a charm! Thanks for the tip! When are you going to tie me some more?  -0-

[gamatt53]

I was at Rosemont saturday morning as well. Was in the blue honda with a Georgia sticker on it. One of you guys scared the shit out of me when I was walking through some thick stuff to leave the river. Kept hearing something crashing through the woods nearby but couldn't see anything. Saw what I think was bear scat the last time I was way up the spec regs but finally caught a glimpse of a vest. 

Anyway I had zero luck on beetles but finally connected with a few on a 18 parachute adams along a shaded bank. Saw a ton of fish but almost all of them were just hugging the bottom motionless.