From the Vise - Smallmouth

Thinking about smallmouth more and more this winter. The crew and I are headed out this Sunday, to try to dredge some up with the 63 degree weather. It seems the more I think about trout fishing in the winter the more I miss flip flops and board shorts fishing for smallies. So below are a few flies I have been messing around with this winter, as well as a few standbys that needed some replenishing. Many of these flies have been in my box for a long while now, but some are newer and very noteworthy. One is Pat Cohen's Jiggy Craw, this fly is awesome for early season jigging and slow crawling on the bottom, lots of movement, and a a great profile. The Roamer, which is an awesome baitfish pattern to toss at some pre spawn fish. The Freeze Dried Sculpin (New) which is going to be an awesome all season bug to crawl low and slow in the deeper water. Lastly, the Orange Belly River Crawler, this one took a hiatus from the box last year, but has always been a staple in my warm water boxes.

Periodic Spring Creek Trips

Over the summer I took a few mornings off from the warm water game to chase some spring creek trout. These photos have been hiding amongst dozens of smallmouth pictures, I think it is a great time to show them off before we welcome in the new year. I have and always will love spring creeks no matter how many times I want to throw my rod in the mud or curse at a large unwilling trout that refuses to take my fly. There are small victories and lessons each time on the water, some how I feel its amplified on a spring creek because you have to get it all right to make it count. Over the years we have put some beautiful trout in the net, and these few photos continue the tradition. They aren't all huge monsters that some people need to catch to feel accomplished, but they are a combination of size and color, each with their own story to tell. That is what makes me keep coming back!

Featured Fly or Should I say Flies

With the recent snow fall and tomorrows temp drop, I have already found myself thinking about summer time smallmouth. I had finished two videos just as the season wrapped up, one of my Over Easy Sculpin and the other of Brian Shumaker's Shimmering Minnow. Both are great smallmouth flies, that will carry over into many other freshwater situations as well. I am going to try the Shimmering Minnow in Erie this weekend. However, I will always associate both of these flies with warm water and smallmouth bass. Check these videos out and get them tied up and ready for warmer weather.

Fish and Flies - from the Great Lakes

Here are some photos of my last trip to New York with a very special client and friend. Matt Grove and I decided to bag a smallmouth camping trip to try our hand at intercepting a few large browns on their run up the rivers from the lake. Over a simple breakfast conversation and some insight from a few locals we made the decision to head to a smaller creek instead of one of the big name creeks. We had 2 days that we will never forget, Matt got his first steelhead, and largest brown trout on a fly. We had fish working and moving the whole time, we managed to get multiple steelhead, lots of browns, and a few very large salmon. It was a trip that will be hard to repeat, but worth trying to every year :)

Now for the good stuff, here are a few new and or variations of some flies that I have been woking on.

Squirrely Stone, a new fly that has worked wonders in the great lakes so far this year.

Egg in the Basket Sculpin, new twists and tweaks to an old staple.

Sculpin Fly Pattern. A great way to fool some steelhead!