Still fly fishing for smallmouth bass.

Yup, it's a photo of another smallmouth bass.  He's moving a bit but you can see it's a pretty decent chunker.  That was today's big bass.  I landed 28 smallies - I can account for 21 but I do believe there are a few I can't remember.  At one point, I was keeping count.

Today's "hot" patterns were the Shucker and the purple Crazydad.  I say "hot pattern" but it's the only flies they would take today.  I was fishing new water.  The plan was to scope it out and use a top water pattern.  Of course, the smallmouth bass didn't want my Juicy Foam fly. I opted for a purple Crazydad (orange wouldn't work later in the day) and the little bass kept slamming it - over and over.

I found some deeper holes with swift current and tied on a black Shucker.  Only the rock bass wanted it.  Then I tried the olive Shucker with success.  The rest of the day, I landed bass after bass on that pattern.  After losing all 3 olive Shuckers, I went home, lol.

Yeah, I know - more smallie pics.  That's all this guy posts.  Well, it took me a while to get back in the groove.  Not bad for fishing new water.  Lasts night, I only caught 2 bass on a foam pattern.  Heck, I didn't land anything at the fishing tournament.

I lost a number of smallies.  I'm not sure why but four smallmouth in a row were lost in the riffles.  I was using the olive Shucker with the rabbit strip tail.  When I replaced it with a Shucker that had a marabou tail, no issues.  Makes me wonder.

Expecting to land buckets of panfish, I took my 3 wgt. rod.  Yes, I had some awesome fights but chucking that size 2 Shucker with X-large stainless steel eyes was tough.  I still have yet to land anything other than crappie on articulated flies or "meat".

In the hopes of being more productive on the stream and land larger smallmouth bass, I began tying big flies this winter.  Guys like to call them "meat" flies.  I know of guys landing some pigs this spring on articulated flies or big hair flies.  That just doesn't cut it for me this spring/summer.  I guess traditional smallmouth bass flies work best for me.  The chance will come when I land something on a Double Deceiver or Sex Dungeon but right now, Buggers, Clousers and crawdads will work just fine . . . with a lot of Shucker thrown in too.  Oh yeah, top water patterns.  I've tied up some foam block poppers but still am taking bass on the Juicy Foam fly or Betts poppers.

Does it matter that I am not landing 20 inch smallmouth bass every weekend?  No.  I think that right now, what matters most is just enjoying myself and doing things my way.  I don't have to follow the current trend of tying the latest "meat" flies.  Nope, I can land them in my own way and in my own time.

In catching a lot of not-so-big fish and having kept the phone in my backpack, I didn't take a lot of photos.

Days like today don't come too often for me.  Perhaps, I can get them to start taking my hoppers, poppers and sliders.

I also caught about 6 rock bass.  This guy is bigger than he looks in the pick - or was it that he hit hard.

 I caught a lot of fish simply by drifting and casting into deep slack water and pools.  It's almost like they were waiting for me.

I'll take them all day long - just as long as they aren't too small.  To me, nothing beats a great day out on a stream.  I love wading and listening to the water.  I like a clear and swift current that isn't too deep.  One that runs along a smooth stone bottom and that you can see for a long ways off.  With the sun reflecting off the water, a blue sky and eager fish, I can't help but to smile as I sit on the bank enjoying the shade.