As many of you know, the generation schedule on the Smith River in Bassett VA has recently been terrible for afternoon and evening fishing during the week. With all this hot and humid weather they are cranking out electricity to meet the peak demand when most folks are turning on their air conditioning; however, the weekends so far have been generation free. This past weekend I had a window of opportunity on Saturday and took full advantage of it.
My plan was to hit the riffle area just off Rosemont Road, but when I arrived at 8am there were already two vehicles in the parking area. (Note to self - get up earlier if you want to beat the crowd). Wanting a little solitude, I reversed gears and headed downstream to a section in North Bassett. The section I selected is a good fish with very little competition once stocking season is finished. It takes me about 3 hours to fish it. I move fairly fast so expect others might take longer. One reason is gets little pressure is it is difficult to exit until you reach the other end.
It has been awhile since I have done any fun fishing. No watching other folks back casts, untangling leaders or shaking your head when they are wading where they should be fishing. Just relax, enjoy the fog lifting off the water, feel the coolness of the stream against your waders and watch the indicator. I was soon rewarded with several of these jewels of the Smith River. Nothing big but they sure are pretty.
This one put a little bend in my rod.
I have a new camera (Pentax Optio 30) which I am still trying to figure out. It will take underwater shots - Here is the first one I tired. (Obviously I need more practice)
About 2/3 the way through my morning I looked up and saw a fellow SRTU member fishing downstream. We had a good chat and then passed each other with the idea of seeing how many fish each other had missed - Turns out he had missed a few because my rod continued to bend on a regular basis. (I am sure we catch less then 1 in 100 no matter how good we think we cover the water - the trick is to place your fly in front of them when they are in the mood to feed)
I was pleased with myself by the time I reached the "get out spot". Lots of good scenery, cool water and some chit chat with a friend and a couple handfuls of fish. It does not get much better then that.
Late that same afternoon I arranged to meet with another friend for an evening of fishing at the lower end of the Special Regulation section. We were hoping for a hatch or at the very least some beetle action. Unfortunately that never happened. Not a problem. I still had my secret fly - the same one that did real well just a few hours earlier.
We went a long way before I caught this little fellow.
It did get better but nothing like earlier in the day.
My partner for the evening is one of those fellows that goes through his entire fly box trying to entice a fish. I, on the other hand, stick to what has worked in the past and move rapidly along looking for a fish that can be fooled. This particular section is devoid of "get out spots" so I pulled him along so that we would arrive at the other end before night fell upon the river. Besides, we could not retrace our steps because two other fishermen were between us and our entry point.
Turns out the other fisherman was a local deputy sheriff whom I have fished with. He was teaching his wife to fish and they anchored themselves in a good spot just upstream of the Hwy 666 bridge. He knew I was the one in front of them and did not figure to do much more then work on casting techniques. However, by staying in one spot and working the water carefully they were able to put their hands on a half dozen fish. So there you have it - I worked my tail off in a "run and gun" fashion while they soft pedaled it in one spot and caught just a few less. On top of that, they probably didn't almost fall in, nor did they have that aching back that I always experience after several hours of wading. Maybe next time I will just throw an anchor out in a likely looking spot and wait for the fish to come to me. Huummm, ya think?