My "New" Way to Go Fishing!

One of the great things about fishing is to experience the outdoors.  Until recently, during most fishing trips, I’d forget to take the time to appreciate what was going on around me.  I sort of had blinders on that kept me in focus to catch the species of fish that I was targeting that day, to catch the most, to catch the biggest, to reach my ultimate goal, a personal best.  I had fun at the same time, but, even though I was in tune with what went on around me to be a successful angler, to establish patterns to catch fish, I didn't always take the time to observe more closely to see the subtle beauty of what is behind it all.  So, perhaps I really wasn't experiencing the outdoors as much as I could have after all.

In the past, for most of my fishing trips, my appreciation of the outdoor experience other than actually the act of fishing was to take a little time for lunch, or a drink, or take a quick photograph of a deer or other wildlife, or a scenery shot.  So, now I’ve incorporated a new concept to some of my fishing trips, where conditions permit, to add some underwater photography to my fishing arsenal and also to take some time to observe the critters that live there and their behavior.

Until recently, scenery and wildlife shots while eating lunch or taking a break for a drink would make up the time I took to appreciate the ecosystem that I was fishing.   But gin clear water like this paired with an underwater camera allow me in to take a closer look.

So, what conditions would be needed for this?  Clear water, the clearer the better, which is usually opposite of what most anglers feel are ideal fishing conditions.  But, I don’t seem to have trouble catching fish in clear water, so that’s not a problem.  Also, how I fish would be another.  Wading is much easier to get a clean picture because you're motionless, and can remain so for fish to get used to you and lose fear of you so you can get a good picture.  I'm not saying that you can't do this from a kayak, canoe or boat, but it would be more difficult.  Another factor is the weather or the time of year.  My experiences doing this have been in the summer.  If I decide to extend this aspect of fishing to colder weather or season, then I'll have to adjust and buy a wet suit.  Also, make sure that you have a decent camera that you can use underwater.

A juvenile smallmouth bass cruises the shallows in search of prey.  Just ahead of him is a large minnow or perhaps a small creek chub.

So, where did I get this epiphany about my new way to fish?  It wasn’t my idea, many people have done this before.  Actually, let me back track a bit, because, while fishing small streams, I took occasional breaks to sit on rocks and watch minnows and darters, but I needed to look deeper (no pun intended) to really see.  Seriously, I can thank the members of the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA).  There, you’ll find anglers, aquarists, outdoors enthusiasts, and outdoor and environmental professionals that all love the beauty of our native ecosystems.  They share tons of beautiful photos, videos and articles on the forum, website, and in their publication (American Currents).  I joined as a member a couple years ago, and will remain so as long as I can do that.

A greenside darter poses for a quick picture along a rocky and weedy river shoreline.

If you visit the NANFA website (linked here and on my blog side bar), check out the reports or photography sections of their forum and you’ll see tons of beautiful pictures and videos of some of the most beautiful fish in the world with as much color as you’d see in tropical aquariums that you may not have known about that are right under your nose.  I was so amazed at what I saw on there, and learned about what I formerly thought of as “bait”, that it inspired me to learn more about the places that I frequent on my free time most often.

Minnows seem to dance around weeds and current while feeding, not caring that I'm there to observe.

There are so many beautiful species of fish, minnows, chubs, darters, sculpins and other species in their breeding colors to observe where I fish.  My pictures in this post don't do them justice though, because I'm relatively new at this.  To get a sense of what I'm talking about, please visit the NANFA forum and check out the reports.  Many people (including me soon) set up aquariums for their favorite species.  For me, I have a passion for the darters.  They are so cool to observe in the wild.  My love affair for them is not new, I've always watched for them and had a native tank with darters, minnows and chubs years ago when I was in college.  I really loved that tank.

I'd love to have many of these species in an aquarium because of their tremendous beauty, but many of the species that we target while fishing on each trip also are beautiful.  They are too big for my aquariums, but I love watching them in their natural habitat.  We frequently post pictures of the fish that we catch after unhooking them, but they are also so interesting underwater doing what they do every day.   Smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and sunfish of all types display beauty that rival many fish found in the tropical aquaria that come right up to you for close up visits if you are patient, don't move, and let the habitat around you settle down.

I'd love to capture such beauty in an aquarium, but for now, I'll observe and admire in awe.

There are a couple greenside darters along with a juvenile redbreast sunfish feeding as minnows cruise by.  Can you see the darters?  Darters are a bottom dwelling species that lacks a swim bladder.  They blend in so well!

So the next step in the near future for me to further enjoy the experience will be to obtain quality snorkeling gear and carry it with me on my wading trips, when conditions are right.  Not only will I fish, but I will also make sure that I will take some time to observe what is going on around me.  Without snorkeling gear, it's tough to see underwater from above when it's windy.  Getting the right gear will allow me to more effectively observe and photograph.  All I have to do is figure out how to lug it around when I fish!

This redbreast sunfish decided to come in for a closer look.

I've always been a fan of the Hook 'n Look TV fishing show.  It always fascinated me and made me think about what it was like "down there" while I was fishing.  So, maybe this fascination with observation and underwater photography was there all along?

Look who else decided to check me out!  I'm not sure of the identity of this fish, perhaps a juvenile chub or an adult minnow.

It didn't take long for this greenside darter to move in to check me out either.

The darter forgot about me and decided to nip on something for lunch.  Notice how well they blend into their surroundings.  It looks like a tail of another darter just behind this one, but it's hard to tell for sure.

After that, the darter struck quite a pose for me!

One problem for me will be getting good photographs in deeper water if I plan to do the combo fish and snorkel trip thing.  Adding a weight belt to get deeper would help for better pictures, but I don't want to lug weights around me when I fish.  I may have to go on an observation only trip, no fishing, to get better photographs in deep water.  Shooting pics from the surface in water deeper than three feet, even in a gin clear river, show up on the camera as being a bit murky, as the next couple photos show.

What I think may be a northern sucker searches for food in some deeper water just ahead of me.  I think that having snorkeling gear will allow me to get closer pictures in some of the deeper areas.  The light penetration in shallow water makes a huge difference even when the river appears crystal clear.

I was able to coax this juvenile smallmouth bass in for a quick picture with my camera in one hand, and with my other hand, using my fishing rod dabbling a plastic worm into close range in about 3 feet of water.  My buddy Howard was laughing at me as I must have looked pretty silly doing this.

So for me, this is my new way to catch fish, to catch with by rod and reel, but also with a camera, to enjoy the beauty around me, the wonder of the food chain at all levels and the circle of life in the ecosystems that I visit and fish.  As far as my improvement as an angler, these observations are bound to improve my ability to catch fish and establish patterns.  I encourage you all to take a closer look, observe and appreciate all that nature gives us.  And while you're at it, take a look at the NANFA website and consider joining.  Their mission is a worthy one, the info they provide is fascinating, and their magazine is terrific.  I've learned so much.  After typing all this up, I am getting myself worked up and can’t wait to get out there again!

I didn't take this picture on the same fishing trip as the other photos above.  Rather, my daughter and I checked out a small stream with only the camera in hand to snap off a picture of a beautiful rainbow darter.  These fish in their breeding colors are spectacular.  Either this was a male prior to displaying such color, or a female, whose colors are more subdued.  Anyway, I thought it was worthy of sharing...until next time.

Also, at this time, I’d like to wish my brother a Happy Birthday.  He passed away unexpectedly in 2007 at the young age of 36.  I miss him greatly, and all that I do on this blog, including this post, is dedicated to him.  He would have loved doing this too.  You can read more about his story on a page of this blog, linked here:  Tribute to My Brother Kyle

The Dog Days of Summer Again...Be Careful!

Friday my friend Mark and I set out to for something a little different, to chase some musky cousins.  I had frog fishing on my mind…no, not fishing for frogs, but using frog imitations worked across lily pads and other slop that we were bound to find on the pond.  We certainly found plenty of that.  Weedless lures logically seemed to be the ticket.  I spent quite a bit of time working the frog baits and Texas rigged plastic worms across the pads and slop during the early part of our trip without the results that I expected.    Although we caught a few fish early, the bite was a bit tough for a while.  I wasn’t sure if it was because the of the fish or because of our inability to cope with the heat.  I looked at my depthfinder to see that the surface temperatures were 96 degrees.

This was my first chainside on the day, measured twenty two inches long.  I had at least three others that flopped off my measuring board  and into the water before I could get a good measurement or photo that were bigger.   From now on, I'm getting pictures first, then measurements! This one fell for a chatterbait. You can tell it was earlier in the day as my shirt actually looks dry.

Rather than waste casts, time and well needed energy in that area, my theory was to move up to the creek where the water source should be cooler.  And, in doing so, maybe find some shady relief for us as well.  We managed to catch a few chain pickerel on the way up as water temperatures improved, from 90’s to 80’s, and eventually in the upper reaches we found temperatures in the upper 70’s.  You’d think that the fishing would be on fire up there, right?  And we saw some really nice sized bass way up in the creek, but they were spooky and just would not bite for some reason even though conditions appeared to be much improved!

Here’s Mark working the upper reaches of the lake where water temperatures were in the upper 70’s…conditions seemed right and the scenery was beautiful, but the fish weren’t all that willing as you might suspect.  There were monarch butterflies everywhere, making my breaks from fishing entertaining.  What a beautiful sight that was!

Well, after spending some time sweating to death in the skinny water, we decided to head back down where we were getting fish (at Mark’s suggestion).  Ironically, as we made our way back toward the ramp, the fishing actually improved.  There was a section of 90 plus degree water that was devoid of bites, but we managed to find that the fish were active where we found mid-80 degree water.

Let me tell you that it was sweltering hot.  We thought that moving up into the upper reaches of the lake would not only prove that the fish were more comfortable and motivated, and we’d find some shady relief for ourselves.  That actually made things worse, because even though the temperatures in the shade were a tad better, the trees blocked any chance of a breeze to help give us relief.  As we headed back, we noticed that where it was breezy, the fishing improved, and the breeze gave us some relief from the heat as well.

On our way back, we decided to fish the scum and slop that we bypassed earlier, working it with frog baits mostly.   I finally had some frog action, having four explosions, hooking and losing two decent bass before giving up on the frog.  I went to the plastic worm and landed a decent bass in the slop.

The worm might have produced more, but I was bitten off three times in a row.  I didn’t feel like tying on any more not only because of the prospect of losing tackle, but I was losing the energy and the will to do any more work than necessary.  So, I fished with heavier tackle the rest of the time.  In the pictures to follow, my shirt looks quite a bit different here, doesn’t it?  I had to reapply sunscreen several times, or I would have had “well done bacon neck syndrome” by days end.

We bypassed this section on the way up and hit the upper feeder stream first, then it on the way out and work it more thoroughly with frog baits.  This section just yells out for frog topwater action!  We gave it a good effort and had plans to fish some other spots, then come back to this spot for the evening bite.

I went to the plastic worm and landed this decent bass in the slop, using the worm to follow up on fish that missed the frog and wouldn't hit it again.  The tactic paid off with this chunky largemouth.

Here's Mark working the slop.  Looking at this picture, I think he must be an alien from outer space because given the fact that it was well over 90 degrees that day, he doesn't seem to be working up a sweat at all!  

The bite improved so much that I’d say that it was as hot as the temperature.  I managed to catch nine quality chain pickerel, all but two between 22 and 24 inches long, and four chunky bass between 15 and 19 ¼ inches long.  Toward the end of the day, for whatever reason, I lost seven fish in a row before landing my final fifth bass on the day, a chunky 15 incher before calling it quits.  And, the hot bait of the day turned out to not be weedless at all, but actually was the trusty Chatterbait, and man was it on fire!

Prior to this trip, Mark caught northern pike from his many Canada trips, but had never caught a chain pickerel before.  Well, he’s added a new species to his list, and caught several nice ones on the day.

Mark's first introduction to chain pickerel.  Here he is showing off his toothy grin (the fish, I mean)!

Here's another chatterbait victim!

Here's another nice chainside that chomped on Mark's chatterbait!

Even though the slop was tempting, we put plenty of time there with not much to show for it.  As we moved down toward more open water, using the chatterbait to cover water quickly around any cover that we could find, the fish really seemed to turn on as the temperature increased.

I must have guzzled a dozen bottles of Propel but it looks like I just poured it all over me.  Fortunately I had enough energy to land this 19 1/4 inch bucketmouth that hammered my trusty chatterbait!  This fish, ironically, hit in open water far from any cover that must have been near 90 degrees.  The purpose of that cast was to get a loop out of my baitcaster from the previous cast!

Not to be outdone, Mark tied into this largemouth that bested my biggest by 1/4 inch, measuring a nice 19 1/2 inches long!  Nice fish Mark!

OK, after reading this, you may be wondering what happened after that?  Well, the bite, like I said earlier, was hotter than the temperature.  We left the lake at about 3:30 PM right during the peak of the bite.  Why?  My muscle cramps were so bad that I couldn’t even lift a fishing rod or nearly work the trolling motor any longer.  I was fully hydrated, and heat usually helps my situation.  But for some reason, I was in a bad muscle cramping cycle and just couldn’t hack it any longer.  I wasted a lot of fishing time all day trying to medicate and recover from various cramps so I could fish.  I don’t know if it was my constant complaining about my camping problem or if Mark was feeling the heat, but he convinced me to stop fishing and call it a day.

I had a very hard time dealing with that decision, still making casts and cranking in my chatterbait on the way back to the ramp, but it was obvious that he was right.  I was pushing myself to limits that I had never done before.  And it was really hot out there.  And, I’ll admit, that there were times that I felt a little dizzy while in the upper end of the lake.  I took breaks and drank fluids, but it was really tough out there.   Mark may have been worn out from it too, and if he wasn’t, he was looking out for my health.  I appreciate that.  He was absolutely correct in his assessment.

It really hurt to come off the water knowing that we may have easily doubled our numbers had we fished through the evening bite, but he was the voice of reason.  As it turned out, my hands were cramped so bad and I was in such terrible pain that I had to pull over and let him drive the remaining ¾ of the trip home.

When I’m fishing, I’m like the goldfish in the fish bowl that doesn’t know when to quit eating that store bought fish food.  Like the goldfish eating, I don’t know when to quit fishing.  Quitting anything, whether it’s fishing or driving, just isn’t in my nature.  I guess that’s a fault though.

My heart wanted to fish, not only because the bite was so good, but because I brought my friend all the way out there to fish, and I didn’t want to let him down either.  Bottom line, we had a ton of hot fishing fun, and we made it home safely, and Mark caught his first ever chain pickerel!  I think he's hooked!

Since I haven't posted in a long time, I thought that I'd add some more pictures from my previous trip...we caught some fish that day, but nothing noteworthy.  It was a very scenic lake and a serene place to fish, Sleepy Creek Lake in West Virginia.

My buddy Bob workin' that plastic worm!

Bob's Son Carson with his best bass of the day.  Man can that boy catch fish!

And look what we saw cross the road as we pulled the boat off the ramp!  This timber rattlesnake was easily four and a half feet long, and as big around as Carson's thigh!  We got close enough for a picture but his rattle warned us to stay a safe distance, or else!

I want to apologize to everyone that has followed my blog for not posting more recently.  I've had many things happen in my life that I won't bore you with here that have kept me away from the keyboard.  But rest assured, I'm back!  My next post will be a little different twist on the outdoors experiences of mine, and include some pictures from my vacation to Spain a short time back.  Stay tuned!

My New Family Member

Well, before everyone congratulates me for having a baby, let me come clean by admitting that it’s not human, it’s a boat.  I recently purchased a used sixteen foot Alumaweld aluminum panfish style boat with stick steering powered by a 60/40 horsepower jet outboard drive motor.  This boat is teamed with an eighty pound thrust Minn Kota Maxxum trolling motor.  The set up of this rig is designed to navigate and fish the shallow rocky rivers of the Mid-Atlantic for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, musky, and panfish.  Basically, the idea is to navigate where prop boats can’t go without damaging their lower units.

My new son!

After purchasing the boat, I brought it home and ran into my first two challenges.  The first was navigating the sharp ninety degree turn into my driveway, and meanwhile, stressing the transmission trying to push the boat up the steep hill of my driveway in reverse which proved challenging enough.  To make things tougher, I recently had to do it in pitch dark with no lighting on the driveway. 

Even more challenging was the acceptance of a new family member by the rest of my family.  After parking the boat, I entered my house and asked my soon to be twenty year old daughter, who was laying on the couch, why she wasn’t excited to meet her new brother.  Her response was something to the effect of, “It’s not my brother and if you say that again, I’ll slash the trailer tires.”  My reply shot out, “That’s no way to treat your new brother, go to your room!”  I then walked down to the hall to the master bedroom, and made my second mistake, opening the door and waking my wife from her beauty sleep of an afternoon nap, and asked her if she wanted to come out and see her new son.  Needless to say, that didn’t go over very well.  My fishing time was instantly reduced while more tasks were added to my honeydo list.

Sitting in my carport with the jet drive partially visible, waiting to meet his new Sister and Mom!

Why would I pick such a craft to fish from?  There are several ramps on a nearby river within a half hour of where I live, and a dozen more within an hour and a half.  In addition, there are several more similar rivers with excellent fishing within a couple hour drive.  My new jet boat will put me on some of the most famous smallmouth streams in the United States, the Potomac, Susquehanna, Delaware, Juniata, Shenandoah, Rappahannock, New and James are all within my fishing domain now. 

Also, there is an outstanding electric only lake only ten minutes from my house, and a bunch more within an hour drive where that Minn Kota will move me quite nicely from one fishing hole to another.  I can also easily put in some of the many ponds on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, or easily fish the Upper Tidal Potomac or larger lakes in Maryland, Virginia, or Pennsylvania like Deep Creek, Raystown, Anna, or Smith Mountain Lake.  It’s not a boat that can do everything, but it’s one that gives me the most options.

My fishing pal Howard achieves the honor of catching the first fish out of this boat under the new ownership, a dink smallie photographed magazine style!

The jet drive loses thirty percent of the motor's horsepower when drawing water through the intake and shooting it out the back, hence the 60/40 horsepower rating, but the loss of power is offset by the ability of the craft to go places that would tear a prop and/or lower unit instantly into scrap metal.  It’s akin to a four wheel drive truck designed for mud bogging compared to a BMW doing the same job.  Plus, the boat is small and light, and that much horsepower gives it plenty of speed for me, about 26 mph boating against the current, and 28 to 30 mph motoring with the current.

My first fish out of the boat was a dink smallie also, but this was my second fish which reached the fine honor of being the first keeper sized bass caught out of the "new" boat.

Howard with the honor of catching the first keeper largemouth out of my new boat.

Why the panfish style with stick steering?  The seating arrangement places me up to the front, providing a great view ahead allowing me to spot rocks and current seams while the stick steering provides improved ability to maneuver around such aluminum crushing obstacles as boulders and rocky ledges beneath the surface.  Also, the weight is more evenly distributed, maximizing speed while allowing the rig to get on a plane much more easily.

The seating arrangement allows the driver to easily see obstructions while navigating on plane while evenly distributing weight to maximize speed and enable optimal drafting while drift fishing rocky shallow Mid-Atlantic rivers.

I have quite a history with this particular boat.  I purchased it from a buddy of mine, Bob.  I’ve actually fished out of the back of the boat for years while catching many big fish, some of which were personal bests for me during those times and remain so today.  Bob and I had some awesome times and I have many fine memories those trips over the years.  Thanks Bob!

My personal best musky was caught out of the back of "Bob's" boat...now my boat.  I'll break that PB  some day soon I hope.

I’ve made many trips, some long distance vacation type fishing trips and fished out of the back of this boat, including trips to Canada and the Adirondacks in New York, along with countless local trips. 

I caught this nice catfish on a trip to Canada chasing muskies out of the back of  this boat!  Notice the similarities of the characters here...shape of the belly, whiskers.

I’ve caught some of the biggest freshwater or brackish water fish of my life out of this boat.  Several years ago, I was able to boat a forty five and a half inch striper that weighed a tad over thirty eight pounds that remains my personal best striped bass catch.  Unfortunately, I didn’t snap a picture of that massive fish because we used up all of our film earlier on smaller fish.  We also didn’t realize that they reached that size where we were fishing, only discovering the “fishery” a few days earlier.  This was before any of us had digital cameras, which were just out on the market at the time and very expensive.  

Although this striper is quite a bit smaller than my personal best, it's another nice one caught off the back of my new boat, another moment in it's history.

A thirty inch fish at that time seemed huge to us, but a 38 pounder?  It was unthinkable until it happened.  I caught it casting a Bomber Magnum Long A minnow style crankbait after seeing a huge striper try and eat an eighteen inch small striper that my buddy caught at boat side.  When I saw that, I dug into my tackle box for the biggest lure that I could find, and it paid off big time.  My biggest four stripers that day went 45 ½” and 38.1 lbs., 37” and 21 lbs., 34” and 15.2 lbs., 31” and 11 lbs, and I caught several more in the eight to ten pound range that evening.

Bob with a beauty of a striper, a.k.a. rockfish in Maryland, caught at the helm of the boat under his ownership.

I’ve also caught, photographed and released my largest musky, my personal best walleye, and countless big smallmouth and largemouth bass.  Oh yeah, there’s a lot of history and memories on this boat, not to mention solidifying a great friendship with Bob, and making other fishing friends through him.  Now instead of fishing out of the back, I’ll be at the helm and hopefully, there will be more personal bests for me and my fishing pals.

Thanks to Bob taking me fishing out of his boat, I've been able to get some personal best on several species including this fine walleye taken on the last day of 2011.

A double on the Susky, Bob with his smallie and me holding mine near to the camera a couple years ago.  We spent a lot of time chasing smallies together on the Susquehanna over the years out of this boat.

Meanwhile, what about Bob?  He's a bit sentimental and emotional about transferring ownership to me, but at the same time, he's excited.  He would only part with such a boat if he had a suitable replacement.  "Suitable" hardly describes his replacement though.  He just brought home his new RiverPro 186 LoPro built by Kevin Turner in Missouri.  This, my friends, is my dream boat.  But alas, I can't afford one as yet.  Congratulations to Bob for his magnificent purchase.  I'll save the details on this boat for a future post after I ride and fish from the back of this fine machine.  Bob will have a ton of fun on his new ride, and will soon forget about his old boat before long.

Bob's sleek new RiverPro 186 LoPro with the 200 hp Mercury SportJet will pictured here on it's way home, soon allow Bob to be less sentimental about the sale of his old boat to me!

Actually, my new purchase is my dream boat.  Hey, it puts me on the water and I can fish just about anywhere I want to go.  What more could I ask for?  At least until I hit the lotto!!!!


Only one question remains…  

What should I name my new boat?  Any suggestions?

Hot out? Wade!

I hear complaints on the radio about the current heat wave sweeping the Mid-Atlantic, but the way that I look at it is that it's summer, and summer is hot.  I have sympathy for the thousands of people that lost power in the aftermath of last weekend's storms and especially for those that still don't have power.  My birthday occurs this time of year, and I try to spend it each year fishing or doing something fun.  Here's a news flash, it's hot every year on my birthday reaching near record temperatures every year but rarely breaking them.  It's not global warming, its summer.  So how do I cope with such hot weather on my birthday?  One could take refuge in the air conditioning, go see a movie, hang out at home and maybe do a cookout, watch fireworks in the evening...all that is good, but for me, I like to find a river or stream and wade for smallies.

When it's hot, get out and wade a river or stream with a good population of smallmouth bass.  You'll stay cool, catch a lot of fish, and have fun!

As my buddy Rodger put it after yesterdays half day of wading, smallmouth bass are like little pit bulls of the fishing world because they fight hard all the way and including through the release, often pulling off acrobatic leaps in the process.  Imagine wading waste deep in gin clear river water, hooking a fat bellied pugnacious bronzeback, and having it nearly leap over your head while running circles around you during the fight.  Folks, that's what it's all about.

Rodger wading our river, refers to the smallies here as pit bulls!

So, other than keeping cool and catching good numbers of willing smallmouth, why wade?  It's true that boats can put you on lots of fish by either running from productive spot to productive spot, or drifting for miles at a time over tons of productive spots to pick off the most aggressive fish on the river.  Kayaks or canoes offer similar advantages.  So, why wade?  First of all, the cooler water is always at hand if you get overheated.  But from a fishing standpoint, wading can actually be as productive if not more productive if you pick a spot that has a good population of smallmouth bass to fish because, quite simply, you can cover those hot spots and fish much more thoroughly.

On most streams, once you get away from the put in location, the scenery is very nice.  I'll often find a nice rock to take a break mid way through the trip, have a drink of water or each a little lunch, and observe the scenery and wildlife.  I really enjoy watching the smaller aquatic stream life at my feet during my break.  I'll pick up a rock or two and check out the aquatic insects attached to the bottom.  I guess the presence of mayflies and caddisflies pacifies me a bit, giving me perhaps a false impression that the stream is healthy.  Increasing populations surrounding this particular watershed translate to more cars on the roads, and increased pollution results.  I know that the stream could be healthier, but at least for now, it appears to teem with life.

I'll usually take a break for a drink or snack during the trip, and check out the aquatic life nearby.  Here I picked a rock off the river bottom and turned it over to examine the aquatic insects.

Zooming in, you can see one of the mayflies that lives beneath the rock.  Mayflies are an important staple food for smallmouth bass and other fishes within the river, and an indicator of stream health.

Like many trips in the past, my fishing vest was packed to the hilt with my favorite wading lures.  The biggest vest pockets were crammed with soft plastics including soft stick baits, flukes, tubes, creature baits, grubs and small plastic worms.  One large pocket held two boxes, one containing my terminal tackle, hooks and sinkers, and the other stuffed with crankbaits, topwater plugs, and hard jerkbaits.  And one small pocket held another summer smallie favorite, small 1/8 ounce buzzbaits.  The large back pocket held four water bottles, and it's really important to keep hydrated in this hot weather, and a can of bug spray to ward off biting flies and mosquitos.  Other small pockets held spare reel spools, worm dye, and other necessary hardware.

My buddy Rodger and I picked a location on a medium sized Mid-Atlantic river sporting classic smallmouth habitat.  I haven't had the pleasure of wading this river for several years, but it has plenty of chunk rock and ledges - prime cover for lurking smallmouth lurking in ambush of unsuspecting river prey.  It's also kind to my aging bones, allowing easy wading most of the day with a minimum of aches and pains afterwards.  We parked one vehicle at the put in, and one at the take out location, which allowed us to cover more water with the least amount of physical effort in a shorter amount of time.

We entered the water just before sunrise and began to wade, but mid-eighty degree water temperatures don't take that much to get used to, and even though the sun wasn't up yet, the conditions were quite comfortable.  I began fishing a small green pumpkin four inch plastic worm, with the tail dyed chartreuse, using light weight and a small wire Gamakatsu offset shank worm hook.  I didn't use psychic ability or indepth fishing skill in choosing this rig, rather, it was simply tied on from my last fishing trip.  Yeah, I'm lazy that way!

The water was low and clear, but the bass were more than willing.  It didn't take long for the first strike as a fat smallie inhaled my plastic worm and nearly wrapped the line around my leg during the fight.  As that happened, I saw bass chasing bait along the bank on the far side, so I opted to tie on a buzzbait.  Fish are often much more aggressive during low light conditions, and dusk is a great time for topwater.  Actually, if the bass are hot on topwater, that action could last all day.

I caught bass like this one all day long.  This spunky bronzeback hit on my second cast.

I fished the buzzer for about an hour, with a fat fourteen inch smallie crushing it on my first cast, followed by his twin who hammered my buzzer on the successive cast to the same spot.  That was it for the buzzer.  Oh, they hit it, but a dozen strikes later, all misses, even after adding a trailer hook, I became frustrated and went back to my fishing comfort zone, the plastic worm.

The fish weren't really holding in the usual places where we could count on finding them in past years.  It was really weird though because we'd find them holding on deeper slow sections with chunk rock, and then find other similar spots and all we'd get were red-breast sunfish.  But, when we found the smallies, we found them in bunches.  If anything, we probably could have caught more if we didn't get hung up spending so much time trying to catch smallmouth where they were supposed to be and weren't, than if we had just kept moving until we found them.  I guess that I'm hard headed that way.

Other lures may have worked, but I knew the worm would work, and I wasn't disappointed.  But the sunnies drove me nuts, attacking the soft plastic fake morsel with reckless abandon on nearly every cast.  Most of the time, you could discern their strikes from the bass.  I purposely didn't set the hook unless I thought that it was a smallmouth, and I still hooked and landed fourteen of the little buggers without even setting the hook!  They drive me nuts because they tear the tails off the worms or pull the hooks out of the Texas rig changing it to a less than snag proof red-breast rig.

These pesky red-breat sunfish drive me nuts, tearing the tails from my soft plastics.  But I have to admit, they are one of the most beautiful of fish to catch in our rivers.  Check out these spectacular colors.

My wife was counting on me being home for some much needed household chores, including repainting our bedroom.  Needless to say, I came home late.  Hey, they were biting, and the wade which usually takes about six hours to complete took much longer.  I won't get into why, but a Thunderstorm moved in right after we started and held us near the bridge until passing, and that cost us some time.  Fish, or paint the bedroom...not a tough choice for me!  Rodger and I had a great time catching a good number of bass.

Here's Rodger with a river pit bull and a big grin!

But I'm happy with the results.  I landed forty one smallmouth between ten and fifteen inches, two small largemouth bass, and fourteen red-breast pesky sunfish.  Rodger caught a bunch of bass and sunnies as well, mostly on soft plastics but a couple on a small deep diving crankbait towards the end of the trip.  I've had better days fishing this spot in the past, but looking back, I think that it was a decent day considering that I've been out of touch with the spot for many years now.  I can't wait to get back.

Smallmouth bass dominate the fish populations in our upper Mid-Atlantic warmer water rivers, but now and then you will tie into largemouth bass.  This is a little guy, but some of them can get quite large.  They prefer slower water and woody cover while smallies prefer rocky river cover and moving water.

Did I get in trouble with my wife?  Maybe a little bit, but a short trip to the grocery store and bringing home a tasty dessert for dinner later that evening eased the tension dramatically.  So, take it from me, when it's hot, get out of the air conditioning and wade for smallmouth bass.  You won't regret it.  Life is good!