It is time for a brain dump.
I hate knots that fail. That means I failed. After tying a knot I always give it a pull and a tug. I tied a clinch knot on a popper and the knot passed the pull/tug test. After casting the popper for about 20 minutes I finally had a smallie hit it. I set the hook and there was no tension on the line. I looked at the leader and the tippet had the unmistakable curl at the end. I am going to just use a loop knot for all my tippet to fly connections. I’ve never had that knot fail. As for the smallie, it jumped a couple of times trying to get the popper out of its mouth. Somewhere in the Chagrin River is a smallie with a popper attached. If anyone catches it send me the popper. It was my favorite.
When fishing for smallies in the Chagrin and Grand Rivers I know that most of them are going to be on the small side. I know there are some larger resident smallies but they aren’t easy to find. What was worrying me this summer was a lack of young of the year smallies. Those 4”-5” bass just weren’t around. They are a nuisance because they will eat anything but they are a sign of reproduction which should bold well for the future. I finally caught a couple so maybe it’s time to stop worrying.
A lot of small fish hopefully bodes well for the future.
With time and a little luck this smallie could exceed 10".
(Click on image for a larger view.)
I looked back at posts from the last two summers and was surprised at how many larger smallmouth I caught. To me, a large resident smallie is 10”+. This year was not as productive in terms of size. They are out there, I just didn’t find them.
Here's one of those 10"+ smallies that you can fool.
I missed more fish than I caught this summer. I can’t explain why. Playing a fish for 10 seconds and having the line go slack is frustrating. I think my hookset is good but then again I also think I’m still young.
This one didn't get away. I'm always amazed at the size of the tail in relation to the overall size of the fish.
Walking the river the other day I noticed a few leaves in the water, and some of the trees actually had some leaves changing color. It won’t be long until the rivers start giving up chrome. Time to get the cold weather gear ready.
Some early color on the trees is already starting to show up.
The rivers in northeast Ohio are low and mostly clear. I say mostly because the Grand River downstream from Vrooman Road has been cloudy all summer. I fished upstream from the bridge and the water was clear. With all this said, we need a big rain to flush the sediment. You can’t help but kick up clouds of sediment when wading.
I fished one morning after a localized storm muddied Big Creek.
Here is what it looked like entering the Grand River.
Yes, I did catch a smallie right on the edge where the muddy water met the clear flow.
The daily limit on steelhead in Ohio changes on September 1 to a limit of 2 per day. Know your regulations.
Remember, beginning September 1, you can only keep two steelhead.
I haven’t had my license checked by a ranger in four years. I wonder where they are. During steelhead season they can walk up and down a river and check a hundred or more in a day.
I didn’t know until recently that breathable waders don’t breathe unless you are in the water. I wore them the other day when it was really hot and sure enough, it felt cooler in the water.
Go out and fool a fish!
