Big appreciation for Smallies

Any experienced angler will attest to the fact that, pound for pound, small mouth bass are one of the most tenacious-hard fighting fish in fresh water. I have always been one of those trout rule bass drool guys but the drought conditions this summer have forced me to reexamine my angling values and give smallies another shot.

Fishing the past two weeks has changed my paradigm. I have targeted smallies in rivers, something I would never do as a rule but, things are shaking out to my advantage. I have found they readily take a black bugger so "match the hatch" is not a requirement and a one pound smallie in moderate riffles will put a good bend in a 5wt. rod.



Yesterday I got into a bunch of 3 and 4 pounders (sorry no pix) and put the 8wt. away in favor of the 5wt. Gearing down will test your limits and keep you sharp. 



When clients call I am going to encourage them to take a trip for smallies. I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.