On this past Saturday, a good friend and I planned to hit one such flow for spotted and largemouth bass. The online USGS gauge was looking "iffy" at best. The water had just dropped back near normal levels, but it was still a higher flow than we prefer and that also meant the water would likely be stained or off color. We arrived and found what we had suspected. An already difficult stream to tread around on the bank, it was horribly unsafe to walk on Saturday with the thin layer of wet mud left on the banks by the recent high water. The water was clean enough to fish but the walking conditions along the stream were too dangerous to ignore.
Attempts were made to wet some flies where we could reach the water safely, and I did manage to catch two small bass, but a broken fly rod or injured fisherman seemed inevitable. Plan B was a different stretch of the same creek that we had hoped would have less steep banks coated in what seems like industrial lubricant. This also was a strikeout.
On to Plan C, which was to hit some local farm ponds my friend had access to fish. We debated whether or not the fishing would be good enough to warrant the drive to those ponds, when Plan D was about the same distance away and offered the chance to wade a safer stream bed for smallmouth bass. The risk in this option was muddy water. Compounding the risk involved was the lack of an online USGS gauge for this stream, so it was a leap of faith that our day would not be a near complete bust. We took the chance and headed west. When we arrived, the water was stained but fishable and our hopes of finding brown bass willing to eat rose significantly.
Before I was even rigged to start fishing, my friend already had landed two smallmouth bass on a small streamer he was throwing. My confidence in a good bite lead me to trying a small deer hair diver initially. An hour later, I had zero strikes and zero bass to show for it. I moved down in the water column trying a small Murdich Jig Minnow streamer, but managed to strike out on this fly, as well. I reverted to my #1 confidence fly for stream bass, a size 6 HD Craw in black/blue. A strong pattern quickly emerged, and it wasn't that surprising: depth, rocky bottom, and cover was money. Toss in some shade from the hot sun and it was a sure fire combination to hold some smallies. I essentially dead drifted the HD Craw through the likely holding areas and let the bass do the rest.
This trip marked the first time I had been to this Ohio stream in quite some time. A good friend of mine dated a girl from a nearby town back in our college days and we fished this stream often. It had been years since I had returned. I had honestly forgotten how gorgeous the scenery was on this little stream.
Nearing the end of our outing, we came to a long and deep pool. At the tail of the pool was a good bit of rock scattered along the bottom, a narrow and deep run, and the only shade in the entire pool. I knew without a shred of doubt that there had to be a bass or two holding here. Quickly a small brown bass was caught and released, then I made a drift closer to the log on the shaded bank.
The strike was typical for the day, a soft thump interrupting the slow drift of the craw fly through the strike zone. I was fishing a 9' 5wt on this outing, and smallmouth like this one reminded me why I prefer them so much to their larger green cousins. Smallmouth bass have so much fight in them and never give in. This bass fought harder than a green bass twice its weight and had my 5wt nearly noodled over on a few runs.
In the end, cycling through plans was a blessing in disguise. We ended up where we really did not intend on fishing but had a wonderful day filled with spunky bass, bent fly rods, and gorgeous weather. Saturday also stood as a reminder to be flexible when the primary goal or options are not working out. Change locations, change tactics, whatever is necessary to stay on fish. The trip also reignited my desire to fish the stream more often. Even with less than perfect conditions, and a slightly more difficult bite, we did quite well. And even better, the extended forecast for the next 10 days looks quite dry. It appears we could be finally turning the corner on the extended wet weather in Ohio and that will mean it's time to start pounding the moving water again.
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