Nice fall day for smallmouth.

Went out after we had some torrential rain and a cold snap. I didn't expect to do well. I went out to get some fresh air. Caught a few bass. Nasty currents. Cold water . . . and allergies.

Smallmouth on the Fly. Fly fishing for bass.

Just sitting here enjoying my coffee with some sort of egg and sausage casserole my wife baked . . . just dwelling on today's highlights. It wasn't a great day. Heck, the water temperature dropped darn near 20 degrees in a week. Fall hit us like that darn drought. Well, I hope it's Fall. I finally strapped on the ol' waders and hit the frigid stream.

Warmed up playing with some sunfish and bream. I crept onto a long stretch of smooth shale with some deep pools, hoping to play some bass with a crawdad I had tied on. I landed a few small bass and lost a decent one too.

As the weather began to warm up and the clouds rolled in from the east, I made my way to the secret spot . . . MY secret spot which nobody will ever find out about . . . ever. For now, he he. With my crawdad pattern, I was using floating line. The leader was short, so I piddled around a deep pool until I lost that darn thing.

So, I tied on a Rainy's Cricket. I got some of these flies from my dad about 4 years ago and have never used them. I landed a few small Ozark bass and a Shadow bass or two. Not much action as the past few weekends on this spot. I decided to make my way back upstream to drift the cricket. But before I left this spot, I slapped it down near the edge of where the deep pool turns shallow and the stream slows down a bit. SLAM! A bass leaped out of the water as it hammered my fly. I pulled back and he jumped back out of the water again. DANG! A beauty. Since I had lost a few big ones recently, I decided to play this fish out. It took about 10 minutes but I think he still wanted to play.

Yup, I was happy. So, I ended up losing that cricket in some rocks across the stream. I decided to put on my sinking line and tie on a chartreuse Clouser. Yep, landed a few more bream and smaller bass.

The wind changed direction and clouds were now coming in from the Northeast. I decided to hike back to the truck, as the wind was getting colder and clouds began to grow and darken.

Trying not to doze off, I sip on my coffee and nibble on my Snackimals . . . just thinking of how much time I have left before Mother Nature brings her chilled reminder of the holidays and it's droll responsibilities.

Flip-Flop Fly comes through again. Bass fly.

Went out today. The stream was running faster and the bass were moving about in the riffles and backwater. Due to our heat wave, the streams have receded more than usual. The fish were sure enjoying their freedom from the heat and murky waters.

I don't know why but this year has been awesome for me . . . at least in the way of catching bass. One interesting note, I was casting downstream into a swift current and popping my Flip-Flop fly against the flow - back upstream. AND the bass were hitting it. Not only was it a portion of stream that I have never caught bass in but I was using a technique that I figured was odd.

I also hit some backwater on the edge of the stream which was grown up with weeds and grass. Lots of rocks and logs. The water had risen enough for the bass to chase minnows and crawdads into this somewhat shallow retreat. September . . . and I'm still taking lots of bass on top water flies.

Fresh leaders and playing bass.

Nah, I'm not quoting the Goo Goo Dolls. I lost a huge bass today. Either a very large spotted bass or largemouth - at least from what I could see when it leaped out of the water. I cast 3 times in the same spot. A place where cover grew up onto the stream, floating on the edge of the riffles. I just knew something was there. I cast a fourth time onto the weed bed and chugged it into the stream and WHAM!

That bass ran hard with that fly - my Flip-Flop Fly. The same fly I used yesterday catching all those bass . . . and the same line. I didn't put on new line . . . and lost the bass. I tried to wrangle the bass in and didn't put on a fresh leader or line. Two lessons learned. Arrggh. I have got to give some line and play bass. When I get a really big bass on the line, I end up breaking the line - 0X and 1X. Sheesh. Also, I probably need to learn to tie better knots. I lost a nice bass on a deer hair bug . . . I could tell that the knot became untied . . . which has happened several times too.

Though part of the fun is the hunt and the fight. For some reason, it is so disappointing not to land a large bass. Eh, I'll take the smaller ones today.

Flip Flops and Smallmouth Bass

We had a cold snap last night. The temperature dropped to 58 degrees compared with high 70's to mid 80's. The stream was chilly and I think the fish were a bit sluggish. Action didn't spark up until about noon. Before then I tried hoppers and poppers and crawdads. I had landed only 1 fish. Then I found an area on the stream in which it was a bit rocky with some cover and deep holes. I was casting against the bank and letting my Flip-Flop fly rest for about 5 - 10 seconds and then stripped it once. Those bass were hammering that fly. If the bass missed, it hit it again and again. There wasn't much current . . . not as much as last weekend. The stream had dropped quite a bit. I could see mot of the bass play the fly. It was a nice pool. Cool water and the sun on my back.

I caught about 10 bass and some nice hefty bream. Those fish put up a strong fight. I tried filming some action but it's hard to do with only one hand. I decided to use a foam fly because I was casting against a rocky bank and I had disintegrated a cork popper on a bridge earlier - I tore up my popper on my last trip out too.

Over the years, I've learned that bass fishing can be a game of patience. I used to go out and hammer that water. That's one of the reasons I love bluegills, they are mostly aggressive and active.

One of the ways I catch bass is drifting nymphs to spotted bass. They are smaller and skittish. Sometimes, they school in the riffles or pools and seem smug because they ignore everything you present to them.

Anyways, on to more bass!