The weather everyone in northeast Ohio has been waiting for has finally arrived. A string of hot days was missing until this weekend. A lot of people ran for the beaches and parks. I ran for one of the rivers because the hot weather brings warming water temperatures, which makes the smallmouth bass more active. What I didn’t expect was almost non-stop action on the water.
Wanting to hit the river early before the sun starts to bake everything, I set the alarm for 4:30 AM. After downing a quick breakfast I made the half hour drive to one of the prettiest stretches of the Chagrin River. Early arrival guaranteed access to any pool I wanted. Settling in, I carefully waded to a spot that has always been productive. At this point I slipped on a rock, and thrashed around trying to keep my balance. While I didn’t get soaked I did think the pool was toast, but decided to try it anyhow. That was the first correct decision I made on the water. Fortunately, it wasn’t the last.
Nice smallie fooled by the Root Beer Golden Retriever. The fish couldn't resist it today.
The second correct decision was on fly selection. During the summer I rig up two rods. One rod is for a streamer, and a second rod for a topwater popper. For the streamer, I tied on a Root Beer Golden Retriever. This is a streamer I have only found in one fly shop in Virginia, Mossy Creek Fly Fishing. Tied with a No. 10 hook, it is basically a brown color with some crystal flash. Today it was deadly. Within the first 15 minutes I hooked into five smallies. Maybe I’ll thrash around the water more often.
Only 1-1/2" in length but it's an ideal baitfish imitation.
Moving down the pool I switched to the topwater popper. It’s actually a Sneaky Pete, which has rounded head. It displaces the water by sliding instead of popping, and creates enough disturbance on the water to attract fish. It was like a magnet today. I made a cast to the opposite bank and gave it a strip. On the pause a smallie came to the surface and sucked it in. A nice fight took place but in the end the bass found the net. Topwater strikes are the best part of fishing for smallies. I found they don’t sip in the popper, they attack it.
The rest of the day I alternated between the streamer and the Sneaky Pete as I made my way through the park. When my day ended I was into double digits in smallies. But the highlight was catching a creek chub on the Sneaky Pete. I always thought chubs were bottom feeders but one of them couldn’t resist attacking the Sneaky Pete.
This is an above average size creek chub. It couldn't resist the Sneaky Pete.
Now for the downside of the day. You may wonder how could there be a downside when the action was constant. Well, I missed another six strikes, mostly by not paying attention. And, the biggest smallie got off at the net. I stretched to get the net under him but missed. I must have put some slack in the line as the smallie spit the fly and quickly swam off. Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything.
Go out and fool a fish!
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