I made an outing today with
my son Jason. He had a day off so we decided to fish the lower end of Ryan Creek on Smith Lake. We were at the lake at daylight which is the best
time to land quality fish using the poppers. The morning started off with a
bang when Jason landed a nice 18” spot using an olive Wooly Bugger. The fish gave the 9 ft. 4wt. all it could handle by stripping drag numbers
of times before he finally landed the fish. Jason is really into landing nice quality Spotted Bass. Nothing was happening on top,
and the morning was slow especially after the sun came up. I will be making
another trip tomorrow in hopes of adding to my bluegill goal---stay tuned.
Not big but quite a fight on the 4 wt he hit the size 6 crawfish
Jason with his 18" spot--they never quite fighting
This was a male spot caught in one of the many treetops on Ryan Creek
The Rhododendron is in full bloom all over the lake
One of three Bull Bluegills I landed using the size 6 crawfish--really surprised the bluegill's hit this pattern--but these big boys must have been hungry---I am now 53 away from my goal!!
There are a lot of big homes on Smith Lake, if I was offered any home on Smith this would have to be my favorite. The lumber in this house was transported by train from the countryside in New York. All the rafters, floor joists, exposed beams inside the house, and parts of the interior walls were removed from a barn in the countryside area. The sunroom in this house is setting out over the water; steel beams that are anchored in the rock wall support the sunroom itself. The garage is off to the right. The house is actually called the barn. I saw the owner one day on his pier and told me the story behind the house.
Another view of this outstanding home on Smith Lake
