Nothing Beats Wet Wading for Smallmouth Bass

A great morning to be on the water.

The weather has been hot, and so has the fishing. Even with water conditions being low and clear, the smallies have been active. They’re not picky either. They are taking streamers and topwater with equal enthusiasm. Add the fact that the waders are put away for awhile, and it makes for a great day on the water. Wet wading in the summer makes up for all the times during steelhead season when you need four layers of clothing.

This smallmouth inhaled the Sneaky Pete. Look close and all you can see is one of the rubber legs sticking out of his mouth.

(Click on image for a larger view.)

I've been rigging two rods. One will have a baitfish imitation, usually a Golden Retriever. The other rod will have a topwater fly, and my go to topwater fly has been a black Sneaky Pete. I don’t feel a need to switch to something else. It’s working in both low water and deep pools. Why change? I’m amazed at how even small fish attack this popper. I’ve had rock bass and small, smallies inhale it. They must strain their mouths to get around the hook. I like it so much that I had to rescue it today.

Even a small rock bass wants that popper.

I was fishing a big slow pool, and had already picked up a couple smallies when the quiet water was interrupted with a splash. A smallie surfaced and attacked the popper. I set the hook and the line goes slack as a knot gave way. Looking at the water I noticed the Sneaky Pete surfaced. Thankfully, the water was barely moving. I was able to get downstream and using the net, grab the popper. After I grabbed the popper I realized that the Sneaky Pete was the very first fly I purchased when I took up fly fishing six years ago. Now I’m superstitious and sentimental.

Go out and fool a fish!

60 Seconds With Pete Kutzer-Orvis Fly Fishing

This is the third in a series of short interviews with people close to the fishing industry. Today’s interview is with Pete Kutzer, Orvis Fly Fishing Instructor.

 Pete Kutzer doing what he does best, teaching.

(Photo courtesy of Pete Kutzer)

 

If you are new to fly fishing and want to learn the basics of the casting stroke, or a veteran who wants to improve your casting, more than likely you have seen an instructional video featuring Pete Kutzer. In fact, google “fly fishing instruction” and one of the first sites listed is orvis.com. Visit the site and you will find dozens of instructional videos showing all the various casts that a fly fisherman needs. And when it comes to explaining the techniques, no one does it better than Pete. He has a down-to-earth style that is easy to understand, which is especially important for a beginner.

Let’s spend a quick minute with Pete.


Q: How did your path in life get you to be one of the best fly casters and casting instructors in the US?

Well, that is a very flattering question, and I wouldn’t call myself one of the best casters or instructors, but thank you. I can think of quite a few individuals that have taught me so much throughout my career as a fly fishing instructor. I will say that I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for Truel Myers, the head fly fishing instructor for the Orvis Company, and an honest love for teaching.


Q: Is casting more art or more science?

This can become quite a topic of discussion, but in my opinion I feel it’s more of an art form than science. To make a cast with a fly rod you simply have to move the rod, then make it stop. How you move it is completely up to the individual. You can have really good “wristy” casters as well as casters who use their entire body. All fly casters are artists, our medium just happens to be a rod and string instead of paint and a brush. With that said I think fly casting is more like playing a musical instrument than painting.


Q: You have spent thousands of hours instructing fly fishermen. What one or two areas can most fishermen work on to be better casters?

Without a doubt it’s the back cast, and breaking the whole cast down into two separate casts. If you want to get good at fly casting you can’t get a good forward cast without a good back cast. Watch your back cast, or more specifically watching where your rod tip stops has helped a lot of fly fishermen. I still practice making a low angle/sidearm cast, and lay the line down on the back and forward cast.


Q: Using a golf analogy, some golf clubs are made to be forgiving, so the once a week player can get the most out of every shot. Is there a fly rod, or a tip action, that is more forgiving for a fly fisherman?

Mid flex or medium action rods are more forgiving, and it’s easier to feel the rod load. A softer action rod also bends more when you have a fish on making everything a little more fun.

I find it funny that a lot of fly lines are actually 1.5 to 2 times heavier than the standard. I believe it’s mostly to help load super-fast action fly rods and tune them down closer to mid flexing rods. The stiffer the rod, the more line, or weight you need out past the tip to feel it load.


Q: You are fishing with a relatively new fly fisherman, and you notice they are doing something wrong in the casting stroke. From your years of experience, what is most likely the problem?

I would say working too hard, or moving the rod too much. It’s amazing how well one can cast, far and into the wind, with little effort compared to how hard I’ve seen many people try to get a fly out to a fish.


Q: Does a casting instructor have a bad casting day?

More often than I’d like to admit. Certain fish show up, and I fold like a lawn chair.


Thanks Pete.


Go out and fool a fish!

An Unusual Day on the Clear Fork River

A couple times a year my wife and I make the two hour drive to Mohican State Park in Loudonville, Ohio. I like to fish the Clear Fork, and my wife brings her camera to capture the scenery and wildlife. In early June we decided to make the trip and little did we know how unusual the day was going to be. First, the fishing part of the trip.

Each fall in October, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources stock the Clear Fork with brown trout. The best time to fish it is either the fall or the spring, before the water warms too much, and stresses the fish. Mad River Outfitters gives periodic updates for the Clear Fork and they have reported that fishermen are having success in the lower Clear Fork that flows through the state park.

I hit the water around 7:30AM and started at the covered bridge. I tied on a dry-dropper, using a Parachute Adams with a Copper John dropper. The water visibility was good but there was little bug activity. The Adams was doing double duty as a dry fly and an indicator. As expected, the Adams didn’t have any action but the Copper John attracted a couple of sunfish. That’s okay with me but I was there to catch a brown trout as I had never caught one before. So I made the decision to move closer to the dam. That’s when things got interesting.

Making the half mile walk towards the dam I noticed some rises and few splashes. Maybe the Adams was going to get some action after all. Even the swallows were swooping in and picking bugs off. The problem I was having was in identifying what the fish and birds were going after. I waded into a run and continued using the Adams but after 15 minutes without any action I gave up on the dry-dropper.

Slightly frustrated I put on a small woolly bugger to see if I could fool something. Three casts in and I had a solid take but missed the hookset. As this was going on I was seeing rises and splashes all around. Next thing I know a voice in my head says “try a midge imitation”. So I ditched the woolly bugger for a Griffith’s Gnat, and found the pot of gold on the second cast.

Facing upstream I targeted the bubble line with about a 30’ cast. The first cast drifted back to me untouched. The second cast drifted about 10’ when something attacked it. I raised for the hookset and the rod broke. So here I am, midstream, holding a rod that no longer has the tip. Thinking the fish was lost, I reached for the broken piece and began to retrieve the line by hand. Pulling a few feet of line into my hand I noticed a tug. Unbelievably, the fish was still on the hook. I hand-retrieved a few more feet and realized it was a brown trout. Seconds later, I literally brought my first brown trout to hand. As for the rod, it is fully covered by Orvis, so I don’t have to worry about it. Fortunately I had a backup rod in the car and was able to continue fishing.

 Here I am midstream with a broken rod, hand reeling in my first brown trout.

(Click on image for a larger view.)

My first brown trout on a dry, with a broken rod. That will be a long lasting memory.
 (click on image for a larger view)

Now for the real highlight of the day. As I mentioned earlier my wife loves photography and has captured some great scenes. On this particular trip she also found a pot of gold. While taking pictures of the stream she noticed something moving over the rocks. It was something we had never seen before. It was small, sleek, and chocolate brown in color. Our first thought was it may be a weasel but after some research we realized it was an American Mink, which is in the weasel family. The unusual part was a mink is generally nocturnal. My wife took the photo mid-morning, so the mink must have had a late night and was heading to its den, which often times is near a stream. From the photo below it looks as though the mink stopped and posed for the picture.

An American Mink posing for a photo.

Go out and fool a fish!

Fast Forward 40 Years

As I mentioned in my last post, other than an attempt at ice fishing, I didn’t fish for 40 years. I don’t want to overanalyze the reasons for not fishing. Things change. People change. Interests change. What I didn’t realize was how much I missed it.

In the summer of 2010 my sister-in-law and her husband came in for a visit. Art and Ginny have been avid fly fishermen for a long time. If I remember correctly, Art took up fly fishing just about the time I quit fishing. So, he’s been at it for at least 40 years. Whenever we would get together we’d talk a little about fly fishing and Art always said that if I ever wanted to get into it he would spend some time with me. I had taken up golf and felt that I didn’t have time for two hobbies. But, as I got older my lower back would act up, preventing me from playing as often as I liked. So I think the time was right to get back to fishing.

When Art showed up he brought one of his fly rods. My backyard is big enough to make a 30’ cast, so it was perfect. He spent about an hour showing me the basics of casting, and it took me almost that whole hour to get a feel for the cast. Having Art there critiquing me was important. I don’t know how anyone can get the basics without another set of eyes watching. He was able to point out that I was breaking my wrist on the back cast and not stopping on the forward cast. The session helped to get the fire started but it wasn’t until the Spring of 2011 that I went all in.

The Fall and Winter months were spent reading as much as possible, and asking Art hundreds of questions about fly fishing. I also spent some time at the local Orvis shop and Chagrin River Outfitters. What I found out was that in northeast Ohio fly fishing is about steelhead, bass, carp, and panfish. There are limited opportunities for trout, as the rivers and streams get too warm in the summer to support trout. I did ultimately find out that the Mad River in southwest Ohio, the Clear Fork River in central Ohio and Cold Creek in northwest Ohio do receive stockings of trout.

In March of 2011 I finally bought a fly rod and reel and began to wander around the Grand and Chagrin Rivers. My first attempt at fly fishing was less than stellar. I thought a warm March Sunday would be perfect so I went to Helen Hazen Wyman Park. I scoped out the park and found that it had easy access to the Grand. Not only can you fish the Grand but Big Creek also flows through the park. Never having waded before I didn’t want my first adventure to be difficult.

 Big Creek  with five fishermen looking for steelhead

Big Creek gets a nice run of steelies in the Spring.

When I arrived to a full parking lot it sunk in that steelhead fishing was popular around here. Reaching the river there were about 20 fishermen sharing about a 100 yard stretch of water. I had read that fly fishing is very peaceful, but that was not my first impression.

Finally on the water, and everything I had read was suddenly forgotten. I put on an egg pattern (remembered that) and started casting. After a number of casts I realized the fly was right below the surface. Forgot split shot. Put some on and got the fly down so that was my first learning moment. My second came a few minutes later.

I mentioned that wading was new to me but I came prepared with waders and boots. After having fished a section of the river I wanted to move to another spot. Turning downstream, the force of the water pushed me from behind causing me to lose my balance. In I went. Boy, that water was cold. The second learning moment was clear to me. Be careful wading. Made a quick end to the day.

First time out and I learned two things while being skunked. It would slowly get better, very slowly.

Go out and fool a fish!