ronk Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Eric's 1st report of the season got me off the couch too.Dusted off my 9`4wt and fished 3 hours Mondayafternoon.The river was in fine shape, moderate in height with adequate clarity and a brisk flow not yet impeded by any algae or weeds.It looked like it did in the 90's and the 1st cupl years of the millenium when you could see the streambed.I suppose it's too much to hope for that last years massive algae growth won't reoccur as Spring advances.Fished 3 different areas carhopping.Caughtn 3 smallmouth 13"14"16" on a Puglisi bluegill fly.Normally don't photo any smaller than 15" but since this was the 1st outting of the season did photo the 14 along with the 16.Fishing was slower the next day.Hit only one on a black Zonker but it was big.Had him on only long enuf to know that he was likely a 17" at least and maybe bigger before he shook free.The only way to get over the disappointment of losing a big fish is to catch one.With that in mind I fished again yesterday.As I was driving to a new area I came upon a fellow ISA member(Wally N) putting away his pontoon boat.He'd had a good day catching 2 big ones.Fishing the Zonker again I immediately tied into a big smallie only to lose him too half way thru the fight.Didn't seem quite as big as the other I lost.Caught 3 more small ones about 14,13 11" before driving a short distance to another area that held a large numbrer of smallmouths.After catching a cupl small ones I finally landed an 18"er. On the very next cast caught almost his twin, a fat 17".Spent the rest of the afternoon in thisarea catching more small ones,losing another nice one and landing a 15" that had a cupl battle scars on his head maybe from a previous c+r.All told about a dozen and a half smallies hit this day with 5 including the 2 lost being photo worthy.All were hooked in the soft part of their upper jaw just behind the lip which together with the fact that the Zonker had a fairly small hook could explain losing some of the bigger ones.Without thick vegetation to impede them all put on a hard fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Nice! Thanks for the report and inspiration. That really got my juices flowing. Looking out the window at the snow, it's hard to imagine I'll ever fish again. O.K.....that's enough computer time. Have to go shovel again. AAAARRGH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maineman Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Nice report! Excuse my ignorance, but what river were you on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don R Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 Nice report Ron. Inspired I am. Yoda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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