Grand River Triple

Steelhead season is officially over and the rivers for the most part are void of fishermen. I can take it to the bank that an early morning outing allows me to pick any spot I want without having to elbow my way onto the river.

It was a cold morning for late May, the temperature reading 35° on the car information screen. I thought a little too cold for strong feeding activity but hopefully I’d get some hits to warm things up. The area of the Grand I was fishing had produced some smallmouth in the past, so I felt confident in being able to fool one. I was in for a couple of small surprises.

I started by fishing under a bridge in a large pool. I chose a white wooly bugger, letting it sink as far as possible, and then using a slow retrieve to stay as close to the bottom as possible. Ten minutes in and I felt a nice tug. After setting the hook and playing the fish quickly I brought to hand a crappie. Having fished the Grand for five years, I knew there were crappies in the river but I had never caught one, and I’ve never seen anyone else catch one either. I can add another new species to my small, but growing list of fish on a fly, and with a sheepish grin, an automatic personal best.

Crappie on the fly. (Click image for larger view)

Moving downstream I started fishing a spot where the water picks up some speed allowing me to swing the fly in the current. Still using the white wooly bugger, I swung the fly and felt another gentle tug. I could tell it was a small fish and it was. Bringing the fish to hand I realized it was a rock bass. Add another new species to the list.

Rock bass.

I moved another 20 yards downstream to a spot that has a little slower moving water. Continuing to use the white wooly bugger, I made a cast that must have put the fly right on the fish. It was only a couple seconds and I felt a strong tug. I guessed a smallmouth and I was right. Even a small smallmouth puts up a nice fight.

Nice resident smallmouth.

None of these fish will wow anybody but for a cold morning I’ll take it. I used a 4wt so these fish were not overmatched, and they were fun to catch. The best part…I didn’t see another fishermen the entire time.

Go out and fool a fish! No matter how big or small!

Smallmouth Bass Time

Depending on spring weather conditions, early May begins to bring warming temperatures in the rivers of northeast Ohio. The warmer waters will put a halt to the steelhead season as they hurry to finish spawning and make a beeline for Lake Erie. At about that same time the rivers get a push of smallmouth bass. This generally lasts a month or so, and it is at this time that some of the best river smallmouth fishing happens.

Lake run smallmouth will be bigger than the resident smallmouth that inhabit the rivers year round. Residing in Lake Erie allows these fish to grow to trophy size, many exceeding 20” and 4 pounds. Catching these smallies on a fly rod is every bit as fun as landing a steelhead.

Nice 17" lake run smallmouth caught on Rocky River. (click on photo for larger image)

Another benefit to warming waters and the end of steelhead season is the rivers will often become ghost towns. Many steelheaders will not pursue fishing past mid-May. That is fine with me. There is nothing more enjoyable than being on the water early in the morning as the sun begins to rise and having a stretch of water to myself.

 Popular steelhead spot becomes a ghost town during the late spring-early summer. 

Good time to catch a smallie.

Go out and fool a fish!

Smith Creek Outing

Since I began fly fishing my wife and I meet Art and Ginny for a day on the stream. Chris’s sister, Ginny, loves to fish but on the trip she steps aside and I fish with Art while she and my wife get caught up. Art loves to fish spring creeks, and in the Shenandoah Valley there are several great streams. The ones we have fished are Mossy Creek, Beaver Creek, and Smith Creek. Each creek has a good population of brown, rainbow, and in some locations, brook trout. For the last couple of years we’ve settled in on Smith Creek and have never been disappointed with the choice. This year would be no different.

As with many fishermen who make plans months ahead, you never know what the weather will be when the day comes. Back in January we decided on a late April date, with an alternate date a week later in case of a weather problem. Needless to say the weather did become a problem as a storm dumped about 2” of rain on the area and the creeks were blown out. Fingers were crossed that the alternate date would be fishable. If not, we wouldn’t be able to fish together until September. After the storm the area was blessed with a week of dry weather, so the alternate day was on. Road trip!

On the day of the outing we all met at the Mossy Creek Fly Shop in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Brian Trow would be our guide. We have fished with Brian before and he is knowledgeable, patient, and enthusiastic. Brian explained that since the rain the previous week, Smith Creek only starting fishing again a couple days ago. If today was to follow the last couple of days, the fishing would be slow during the morning and pickup after lunch. The rain had not only raised the levels of the creeks it also brought unusually cool temperatures, which kept the fish down until the sun could warm the water. How right he was.

Both Art and I fished hard in the morning, and earned everything we caught. Brian had me fishing a streamer with a dropper nymph. After no action we switched to a Clawdad and fished along the bottom. Finally we got to fool some fish, landing a couple of fall fish and hooking (and losing) a couple of rainbows. At least we found out what was working….until it didn’t. We all limped into lunch with only a couple of nice rainbows landed by Art. Listening to Brian at lunch talk about the rising temperatures and how he thought the fishing would pick up was a song we longed to hear. Boy, was he right.

Nice thick rainbow

After lunch Brian put me in a long pool and rigged my rod with a Golden Retriever and a pheasant tail dropper, all floated under an indicator. The streamer was used as an attractor with the nymph following. That was the ticket. For the next hour I moved through the pool landing a bunch of bows and missing a few more. Brian was indeed correct. Things really picked up not only for me but for Art as well. He settled in at a nice riffle upstream and had some good action. Brian, being the net man, got a good workout running between the both of us.

This was the scrappiest rainbow of the day.

The rest of the afternoon we both hit a few more pools and riffles picking up some rainbows and a few fall fish. In fact, I landed a stoneroller, which in Virginia is called a horny head because of the spikes and bumps on their head. That was a strange one.

All in all, it was a good day. We landed some good fish and missed many more. I don’t know what it was but we missed about as many fish as we caught. It was one of those days when I was a little late with a lot of strikes. Glad we learn from our mistakes.

One thing I learned is that using an 8wt the last six months fishing for steelhead doesn’t help when you pick up a 4wt and fish a smaller stream unless you practice. My timing was way off and it took about an hour or so to forget the feel of the 8wt. I don’t know if I would have caught more fish but I would not have struggled trying to make a cast.

Enjoy the photos and video. (click on photo for a larger view)


Go out and fool a fish!

 Smith Creek. Great fishing and scenery.

Susie Q Farm.

Working a pool. There are hundreds of fish in this pool.

Spring has arrived in the Shenandoah Valley.

Team T - W - Z

These hands have held thousands of trout.