It was just yesterday that I posted a story about anticipating the start of smallmouth season. Well, I didn’t have to wait long. And even though I was still targeting steelhead it was fun to catch the first smallie of the year.
I know that the lake run smallmouth season begins around this time but it was surprising to catch one where I did. The creek I was fishing doesn’t have a reputation as a hot spot for catching smallies, but these non-residents are only renting space for a little while. It must have found a logjam it liked, and settled in. I’m sure I was in the right place at the right time.
This logjam held a nice surprise this morning.
After waiting out a rainstorm this morning I started throwing a chartreuse woolly bugger. I fished it through a few holes with no luck. I moved downstream, and made several casts towards a logjam. Each cast got me a little closer to the wood. On about the fifth cast I actually bounced the streamer off the log. I gave a quick strip to move the streamer away from the log and something just crushed it. At first I thought it was a steelhead, but the fish went airborne, and I could tell it was a smallie. It put up a good fight and gave my 8 wt. a good bend. A nice, fat, 16" smallmouth is a good start.
An early spring surprise. A nice, fat, 16" smallie.
Here’s hoping this is a sign of a good bass season.
Go out and fool a fish!
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