Smith River - 29 Aug 08

[al k]

Made the run to the Smith River on Thursday, August 28th, to fish with a friend over the next few days but we called it off when we discovered the area had received about 6 inches of much needed rain in the past 48 hours and more was in the forecast. The water down by Stanleytown Bridge was the color of well creamed coffee. Experience has taught me that a little color is a good thing but that much color pretty well shuts down the fishery. Thankfully, the daily generation surge clears things out in a couple days.

I had already made the drive so did a little shopping to contribute to the local economy and spent the night at my cabin. Actually the situation was not all that bad because it got me away from my computer, my primary telephone number and the television. I caught up on some reading, watched the wildlife and went to bed early. (Not bad at all).

Friday morning the sun poked out from behind some lingering clouds so I headed out to check the prospects of fishing. The Smith was still pretty muddy downstream of Town Creek but upstream or what we call the dam section was very clear so I pulled into one of the many fishermen parking areas along the road leading to the dam and pulled on my waders.

There was a fog bank hanging over the water most of the morning.


I also noticed that the bottom is totally carpeted with Didymo - combine that with shallow water and it is enough to bring a nymph fisherman to tears (it grabs your nymph and you end up with a big glob of "rock snot" if you try to bump the bottom)


I tried out my underwater camera - here is what Didymo looks like close up.


Here is a photo recently taken by Brian Williams, Education, Outreach and Conservation Coordinator for the Dan River Basin Association, of the bottom of the Smith somewhere downstream of the Martinsville Dam. Note the snails and other larva that exist downstream where the Didymo does not yet exist and were the water temperatures are much more stable.


Despite the blanket of Didymo I did catch a good number of fish.


I even caught a couple rainbows that were well away from the holes favored by the local "follow the stock truck" crowd, all of whom were conspicuous by their absence. I did not see another fisherman all morning.


Most of the fish today were the average Smith River Brown, i.e. 7-9 inches, however, a couple exceeded that norm and would have pushed the twelve inch mark. All in all a good morning on my favorite trout stream.


While I have you attention let me invite you to our upcoming Smith River TU meeting, next Thursday, Sept 4th at 6pm. It will be held in the back room of Rania's Restaurant in uptown Martinsville, The program for the evening includes the opportunity for networking, swapping of tall tales and a "Meet & Greet" with DGIF Conservation Police Officers many of whom were recently assigned to provide law enforcement to the Smith River region. SGT Karl Martin, the District Supervisor will review law enforcement initiatives on the Smith River and will also be available for a question and answer period concerning fishing and hunting law enforcement issues. We will also be joined by a representative from Henry County Water Dept to discuss recent water transfer issues.

Don't know how to find Rania's - No problem, the address is 147 E. Main St., Martinsville, VA 24112. It is in old or historic district of Martinsville known as uptown as it sits on a hill. Click below for a map,


http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Martinsville&state=VA&address=147+E.+Mai n+Street&zipcode=24112&cat=Rania's+Best+Bar+%26+Gr ill+Restaurant#a/maps/l:Rania's+Italian+Restaurant:147+E+Main+St:Martins ville:VA:24112:US:36.691071:-79.870344:address:/m::12:36.69107:-79.870344:0::/io:0:::::f:EN:M:/e

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