The Changing River

 Late August and already some color on the leaves. What a great morning.

(Click on image for larger view.)

 

After an outing to the North Chagrin Reservation that produced a skunking I decided to revisit the South Chagrin. I fished it about ten days ago but since that time we’ve had some rain and cooler temperatures. It would be an interesting trip to see if the river changed…and it did.

The flows have been low and the clarity excellent since early July. A lack of rain will do that to the Lake Erie tributaries. After receiving some rain the flow was up marginally but the water had a slight stain. In fact, unless my eyes were playing a trick on me the water actually looked like it had a greenish stain. I’ve heard that when a trib has that look the fishing could be very good. After a slow start I wasn’t sure about that.

Water had a slight stain. The fish were not in shallow, close to the bank.

The last time I fished this stretch it was a shallow water bite, either in a run, or near the bank in less than 2’ of water. They weren’t there today, as I couldn’t buy a hit any place shallow. I had to go deeper. There are several deep pools where stripping or swinging a woolly bugger will normally produces a fish or two. Today even these pools were dry... or so I thought.

Swinging a fly through this deep pool usually works. Today the fish were 

even deeper, and an upstream, dead drift cast was the right strategy.

When fishing is slow I’ll try a different tactic hoping to induce a take. In an attempt to get deeper in the water column I abandoned my down and across cast for an upstream cast to dead drift the woolly bugger. That change produced instant success as a smallmouth sucked in the fly on the second drift. In the next 20 minutes four more fish were pulled from of the pool.

These smallmouth bass fell for a dead drift woolly bugger.

Keepemwet.

So, if you get to your stream and its changed, even slightly, chances are it will fish differently. If you are striking out, change things up. It just might pay off.

Go out and fool a fish!

South Chagrin Reservation

I was able to get out for a few hours this morning and decided to fish the stretch of the Chagrin River in the Cleveland Metroparks South Chagrin Reservation. Its been several years since I fished this stretch of water. When I took up fly fishing five years ago I fished here and it was the spot where I hooked my first fish on a fly, so I was looking forward to hitting it again.

In many spots the section of the Chagrin that flows through the South Chagrin Reservation has a small stream look to it. There are tree-lined banks where you can’t make a backcast. Or, if the trees are on the opposite bank, you have to skip a cast low to get a drift. Also, most of the casts don’t have to be more than 20’ to get to the fishable spots.

Starting at daybreak I have learned to be ready for a first cast hookup. Today it happened, as I drifted a wooly bugger through a run and a smallmouth hit it. It doesn’t get any better than that….and it didn’t for about an hour. I was thinking first cast curse. Then after moving upstream a small, feisty rock bass hit the bugger.

 Feisty rock bass hit a wooly bugger

(Click on image for a larger view)

After another 45 minutes I hopped in the car and drove to another location in the reservation. This section of the river is a little more open with a sand bar on one side of the river and a shear wall on the opposite side. There were some downed trees that made good structure to concentrate on. This turned out to be a good spot.

The closer I got my cast to the bank the better it was. Throw the fly short by a couple of feet and there would be no action. Throwing the fly almost bouncing it off the bank would produce a strike. In a short period of time I was able to land a nice resident smallmouth and two rock bass.

Always fun to catch. This resident smallmouth put on an aerial display befoe coming to hand.

Driving home I started thinking about the success I’ve enjoyed this summer. Even though I’m no longer a beginner I still learn something every time out. That’s what makes fly fishing so interesting. Funny how it works out. Learn a little, get a little better.

The following are some of the keys to the success I’ve had. I’m sure these aren’t new to anyone who fishes but I can tell from experience that I did not know these things when I started. That explains why I was skunked most of the time that first year.

• Start early before the sun has a chance to hit the water or late in the day near dusk.
• Work shallow first, deeper pools later.
• Concentrate on faster moving sections of water. There’s more oxygen for the fish.
• Stay in the shade. It seems as though when the sun hits the water in the summer fishing slows down.
• Get the cast as close to structure as possible. A foot or two makes a big difference in hookup rate.
• Cover water. The fish are there. You just have to find them.
• Don’t fall in love with one color, one fly.

Go out and fool a fish!

Increased Population of Smallmouth Bass

Call this an unscientific survey, but from personal experience and in talking with others it appears as though the population of smallmouth bass has increased on the Chagrin and Grand Rivers. This year there have been reports of many small, smallmouth bass being caught. Personally I’ve caught more this year than any of the past four years. Talking with other fishermen they are saying the same thing.

This can only be a good thing for the coming years. Many of the fish are probably less than two years old, and being residents, have to rely on the aquatic life in the Chagrin and Grand rivers. Those who fish the rivers regularly know that a good size resident smallmouth is 13”-15”. While the rivers do have enough life to sustain a population of smallmouth bass it doesn’t compare to the Lake Erie food supply, but that’s OK. Those residents who survive will improve the fishing in the next couple of years. Catching a 13" hard fighting smallmouth on a fly rod is fine by me.

Another aspect of the increase in population is that many fishermen wondered what the affect the harsh winters of the last two years had on the fish. Seems to me it didn’t affect the smallmouth. In fact, one could argue that the smallmouth bass had a “human blizzard“ affect them. We’ve all heard about the increase in births nine months after a blizzard. 

Nice 8" smallmouth from the Chagrin.

(Click on image for larger view)

Go out and fool a fish!