I decided to see if I could land some super gills Friday by fishing before a weather front coming in
on Saturday. Your fish-catch ratio can improve fishing before a
front. I couldn't ask for a better morning with cloudy skies and very
low humidity to fish the popper and black gnat on Smith Lake. In fact, I had clouds
overhead until 10 AM after that the sun took over and the
bite practically stop.
This scene is why I love to fish Smith Lake. One of
my favorite banks in Ryan Creek to fish, I've landed numerous
bluegills and spots from this area.
This
bluegill was taken using the Barr Nunn popper letting it sit
motionless for what seemed like forever for a hit----but the patience
paid off. This was the way the bluegill wanted the fly the first hour
of the morning; a complete contrast from the spawn where the fish
will kill the fly as soon as it touches the water.
The
bass wasn't as active as the bluegills, which was alright with me,
because the mission today was to improve on my bluegill numbers. This spot
gives the 4 weight quite a workout making me think he was much larger.
The
prize of the morning was this monster bull gill taken using the black
gnat fishing with the sink-tip line. The last spawn ended the first
week in August on Smith Lake and this bluegill showed the signs of
that spawn. He was not in good shape as far as body weight. He would
have weight in at a pound before the spawn but today he tipped the
scales at 12 ounces. Both big bulls deserved their freedom after an epic fight against the 5 weight------GOT TO LOVE LANDING
THESE BIG BLUEGILLS USING THE FLY ROD!!!
