JULY 28, 2008
Ah so here it is. This Monday was my 25th Birthday, and I spent it with my favorite person-OLD MAN RIVER! He may be a cranky, tempermental fella, but he only has objective things to say to me which manifest themselves through the roar of a rapid or the trickle of riffle.
I love smallies as they are incredibly aggressive, spunky yet, at times, difficult to trick. This day though I struck out and only managed a whopping skunk fish in terms of smallies; however, I nailed two new species for me. (1) A white bass and (2) and a channel cat. The white bass took a barred olive zonker and the kitty nabbed a similar white zonker. I was amazed at how quick that cat turned around as my streamer nailed the water's surface...all it took was three short strips and a strike ensued. My seven wt. did a nice job handling this 2-3 pound fish, but for the first time I felt line being ripped of my reel....MAN THAT WAS NICE!
I learned two major items on this trip. First, smallies LOVE hanging out on the upstream side of rocks and boulders, especially among rocks located just below fast deep water before the next set of rapids. I suppose the rock slows flow by causing water molecules to stop and pile up, just like a dam but on a smaller scale. I wonder if the smallies just hang in that slack water waiting for food morcels to wash out of the main rapid?
Secondly, rabit fur (zonker strips) is an alive fabric: it undulates, pulsates, breathes, wiggles etc. I will definately be tying some more streamers with this stuff. Up till now I have been relying on hackle, marabou and bucktail. Needless to say, not any more.
The camera was without batteries, so this blog is without pictures. I have located some awesome largemouth, and my next trip will be devoted towards paying them a visit.
Conditions: Mostly sunny, temps started out near 70 and reached 90 by 2pm. Night before experience heavy thunderstorm down pour; flow looked up a tad, but river is at summer low flow. Very clear.
Ah so here it is. This Monday was my 25th Birthday, and I spent it with my favorite person-OLD MAN RIVER! He may be a cranky, tempermental fella, but he only has objective things to say to me which manifest themselves through the roar of a rapid or the trickle of riffle.
I love smallies as they are incredibly aggressive, spunky yet, at times, difficult to trick. This day though I struck out and only managed a whopping skunk fish in terms of smallies; however, I nailed two new species for me. (1) A white bass and (2) and a channel cat. The white bass took a barred olive zonker and the kitty nabbed a similar white zonker. I was amazed at how quick that cat turned around as my streamer nailed the water's surface...all it took was three short strips and a strike ensued. My seven wt. did a nice job handling this 2-3 pound fish, but for the first time I felt line being ripped of my reel....MAN THAT WAS NICE!
I learned two major items on this trip. First, smallies LOVE hanging out on the upstream side of rocks and boulders, especially among rocks located just below fast deep water before the next set of rapids. I suppose the rock slows flow by causing water molecules to stop and pile up, just like a dam but on a smaller scale. I wonder if the smallies just hang in that slack water waiting for food morcels to wash out of the main rapid?
Secondly, rabit fur (zonker strips) is an alive fabric: it undulates, pulsates, breathes, wiggles etc. I will definately be tying some more streamers with this stuff. Up till now I have been relying on hackle, marabou and bucktail. Needless to say, not any more.
The camera was without batteries, so this blog is without pictures. I have located some awesome largemouth, and my next trip will be devoted towards paying them a visit.
Conditions: Mostly sunny, temps started out near 70 and reached 90 by 2pm. Night before experience heavy thunderstorm down pour; flow looked up a tad, but river is at summer low flow. Very clear.
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