Meal Time

 The weather was picture perfect yesterday morning on Smith Lake if you were fly fishing. Those individuals fishing for striped bass, and largemouth bass were doing a lot of motoring. Which tells me they were searching for active fish. Jeff and I were the only ones fishing the rock walls. In fact, I've never seen anyone fishing the rock walls the way I fish these structures. 

The weather was perfect with a cool 68 degrees, overcast skies, smooth surface film, and "NO HUMIDITY" This type of weather in the deep south is unusual in August. One would think they were fishing in the Spring or early Fall. If you fly fish with poppers you want a silky-smooth surface for your surface flies or poppers to land on; most of the morning that was the case. Around 9:30 AM the boat traffic started and the bite slowed. One needs to make the most of the 3 to 4 hours you're given at daylight and beyond to land fish this time of year on Smith Lake!

 One of many bluegills taken off the walls using the 3 and 4 wt fly rods. Don't think you know what the fish will be hitting from one trip to the next. Last week the red poppers were working, this week the blue poppers were getting their attention. 

I am blessed as are all the guys that fished with me to have areas such as this to land the bluegill and spotted bass found lurking on these walls. This rock wall towers up at least 75 ft. which is a sight to see if you enjoy fishing this type of structure. The crystal clear water near its base is between 20 to 30 ft. deep this time of year. When the lake is full pool you can add another 5 to 10 ft. to that depth.  This one wall produced at least a half dozen meal size bluegill. Don't think one run on this wall has produced all the fish that is feeding there. On the sixth run, it was still producing fish. The only thing that stopped me from making a seventh run was the heavy boat traffic that sent us to the boat launch.

The results of Thursday's trip ending in me dressing 10 meal size gills that made the trip even more rewarding! Baked or deep-fried these fillets are special. 

Left-over fillets are delicious in a fish sandwich. Lettuce, tomatoes, pepper relish, Deion muster, two or three fillets and you have a hardy meal. The rewards of a fishing trip can always be topped off by enjoying the fresh catch of the day!!

 

When Poppers Fail

Today's title is appropriate for this post because simply put no popper produced today on Smith Lake. The daylight trip started with a couple of true and tried poppers that usually get hits but the bass and bluegill were not interested. Smith Lake is on the drawdown right now causing the fish to move to deeper water. In fact before the drawdown is complete Smith will fall at least 12 to 15 feet before the water levels start to rise again after the first of the year.

Overhanging limbs hanging from huge trees growing on the top of the rock walls; small bushes and even small trees rooted in the rock walls produced a tremendous amount of food for the fish. In other words, this kind of bank is the Walt-mart supermarket for all the fish species waiting below.

This healthy spot exploded on the Moth as soon as it touched the silk smooth water surface. Notice I said Moth, not Muddler; my reasoning is it mimics the small moths I've seen stationed on some of the tree limbs here. The fight this fish put forth was worth getting up at 4:30 AM. He was released to fight another day!!! The colors on this Spotted Bass are the most vivid I've seen on any bass I've landed here. 

These four gills nailed the Moth in different ways making me think a couple were annoyed with the fly and a couple really wanted a meal; one will make the quest count.

I've fished a lot of waters in my years of fishing but when it comes to beauty and an abundance of fish Smith top them all!!!