Temperature Drop equals prime time...

I've been fishing river smallmouth lately.  What river you ask? The Potomac of course.  But the size is way down but it sure beats a stick in the eye.  The Susquehanna river is producing big fish on a regular basis from what I'm seeing on the fishing boards and the social media everything fishing board known as facebook.  I've gotten out lately with my son and on my lonesome a few times with the light 5wt fly rod.  I think that fly rod has been collecting dust.  I broke the tip on it before last spring, maybe the spring before.  It's nothing special just a 5wt GL2 Loomis but it was my first decent rod I got back in College and it's caught just about everything.  It was my go to steelhead rod for a while too. 

Anyway, the river temp is down into the mid to even low 70's.  Or was at least. First this weekend I set up for Musky with the big stuff but blanked on Sunday morning at first light.  Water temps were 73 degrees.  I then decided to wet wade the river in the fast water above Harper's Ferry.  Arguably the best smallmouth water on the Potomac.  The first few casts with a CK Hellgramite I hooked and landed a nice channel cat!  A few smallies later another one jumped on the same fly. 

This is my recent order tied by William Heresniak of Eastern Trophies.

 

 

Here's the channel cat with the hellgrimite in its mouth.  My boat in the back ground but I'm on foot.

 

Then the tubing hatch started about 1130 and pretty much shut down the bite.  The smallmouth were committing suicide well but most were about the same size, ~8.  At least the tubing hatch was accompanied by a bikini hatch.  So all was not lost. 

 

On the walk back to the car I encountered plenty of carp mudding in the shallows and had multiple shots at car.  Some refusals too.  So I got close.  But wanted to be be home to spend the afternoon with my son. 

 

Later in the week Ryan and I hit the river closer to home.  The section of river below Violets lock is very similar in character to the section around Harper's Ferry.  Excellent habitat with decent numbers of fish.  My son did well using a 1/16oz jig head and a 2" white power grub.  He wasn't casting that far but still outfished me with the 5wt and fly rod with CK Hellgramite and flash fly clousers.  Excellent afternoon. 

 

 

 

On the Monday, Alex and I hit the river around Edwards Ferry and I'd venture to say the fish were on average a little larger there.  Find the large boulders and you'll find the fish. 

 

Prime time for perfect weather, perfect temperature and some hungry smallmouth bass.