Turkey sandwich

Google Maps/Earth is a good starting point. You can get the layout of rivers, find areas of faster descent, check out the surrounding land for clues as to the types of bottom you’re going to find, and a million other pieces of information, but that’s just the start. It has limitations - trees, weird angles, guessing flows at the time of the picture, etc. Paddling and fishing the stream is where you refine that information.

I love that this thread is still alive and kicking. This really should be a book (seriously, it's that good) and @A-Jay is the man for sharing it for free.

The fisheries definitely do better because of it. Plus, you can still catch big smallmouth transitioning. They don't all spawn at once. We were seeing fish beginning to build beds on the tribs and were catching fish in pockets around fast water. This will go on, likely, for the next month or so before they finish up. And by then, early spawners will already be moving into their summer patterns. Tight lines!

Thanks man! Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures posted of cicada eaters soon.

LOL, I still lurk every now and again. I've had a lot of not fishing stuff going on and have been spending more time chasing trout with the buggy whip than bass and have spent a lot more time following hatches than pre-spawn smallmouth. I'm trying to get out a ton for both browns and smallmouth this spring since some of the best rivers in the east are going to be covered in cicadas. How've you been, dude?

A better suggestion, perhaps, is to target the fish that aren't on beds yet. Smallmouth start getting busy once that water gets above 60 degrees. Fishing for bass on beds is bad news for the survivability of eggs and stress on the fish. (We've all done some version of bed fishing, so it's not necessary to shame someone, but it is a good opportunity to educate and let people make decisions to do what's better for the fish.) HOWEVER... not all bass spawn at once, but they'll all typically spawn in the same areas/type of water and will hang out pretty close to those spawning areas waiting for vacant beds, water temps, biology, etc. So, a better place to fish would be the closest water that provides a good feeding opportunity for the fish that aren't on beds yet. In lakes, look for changes in structure (ledges are prime), in rivers look for water that will provide the best feeding opportunities while still providing protection from predators like birds (depth, cover, riffles/seems, etc). A few other thoughts that might be helpful... crayfish are just sort of waking up and starting to move once those water temps get into the mid/high 50s and smallmouth might not be on them yet. Baitfish are typically your major pre-spawn forage and you can go big (I had a large female follow an 8" streamer this past weekend). Another thought on location and forage - smallmouth may be willing to eat some pretty big baits, but water temps are typically going to be in the 50s and 60s. This means they'll eat big, but might not be willing to consistently chase fast moving baits (exception if you've got a warm day that will drive up water temps), or hang out in water that requires they expend lots of energy (high in the water column in fast moving water). Hope this helps and gives you a starting point for an alternative to bouncing a drop shot on a bed.

It's going to be a hell of an AFC Championship game. Both offenses can score at will and both teams have opportunistic defenses. KC creates a lot of problems, but the Bills defense is finally healthy, can be very versatile depending upon the game plan, and has maybe the best secondary in the game. I'm as excited watching them as I was the 90s teams. Go Bills

Yep. They're not the easiest to cast and take a while to tie, but they're killer!

So, the guide is the guy who invented the Gamechanger. An articulated streamer that's been made to catch anything that swims. Imagine a swim bait made of maribou or synthetic fibers that just sorta "breathes" on the pause. This catch is awesome.

I don't want to spend this thread speculating about weight or size. I don't know the guide service, and this definitely isn't me trying to offer advertisement. Simply, she's an absolute tank, period. I'd also imagine that since it was caught on the fly and in VA that it's a river fish. That fish, in a river, on the fly. I feel like this is why we fish, right? Like, I'd be pretty cool spending the rest of the float sipping whisky and enjoying the scenery.

Lock Haven is a short drive to so much great water. Before you graduate, you're going to want to pick up a 5wt fly rod. I've seen that happen a ton. Hatches can set things off for every fish in the water. Lantern flies don't hatch under water, and I'm yet to see them near a stream.

I've hardly heard of anything really eating them, but this thread is definitely encouraging me to start tying them.

My wisdom is nothing compared to the vast knowledge of the search feature.

There are at least 2-3 other threads on this same topic posted over the past 2 months. I'd start by giving those a read.

Zara Spooks were a go to for me on the Susquehanna for years. I've replaced them in most conditions with either a Whopper Plopper or a variety of poppers, but they still have a place either covering water during a hatch or anytime I need a change of pace when I see smallmouth busting baitfish near the surface. I like that Zara Spooks also tend to appeal to the occasional toothy critter.

I don't use 80lb braid for anything, but how you play the fish determines how much damage you'll likely do to it. 20lb braid that you retrieve like you've tied the end to a Corvette will do exactly the same thing. The reason for heavier lines have more to do with how they float and rip through grass than their actual breaking strength.

You did the right thing and shouldn't think twice about doing it again if you find yourself in that position. Poachers give outdoorsmen a terrible name.

Thank you! I'm just glad I can help. We all have good days and bad days, but the key to consistency is good notes and trying to understand what's happening that we can't see. Rivers can be daunting, but if you break them down, and get a pretty good picture of what's happening under water, it can go a really long way. Those patterns can change a lot based on time of year, primary forage, spawn, changes in weather and flow, but that's how I approach river smallmouth most of the time and I do alright. And when I don't, it just means I guessed wrong or missed something that day. In either case, it's more data, lol.

The bottom composition would largely determine how I rig my bait. A split shot or drop shot rig would work well most of the time. Ideally, your bobber/float would be 1 1/2× the water's depth above the split shot or above the hook (drop shot rig). Watch a few basic fly fishing videos on nymphing to learn how to present in the current. Tips: This might be a pain to cast with a short light action rod, but it'll give you a great presentation targeting fish holding on/around the bottom where your bait generally lives without hanging on everything so long as you use just enough weight to keep bottom contact. Bass tend to prefer smaller, freshly molted, or crayfish with missing claws. Good luck! Cheater.

What type of water are you fishing that ned rig mostly? If you're mostly fishing rivers, there are a TON of advantages to using a ML (fast to moderately fast action) in the longest length you can get away with.

Lol, so, i have a hospital story that's totally NSFW that I got a chance to tell Joe Cermele on the Hotshots podcast a month or two back about a buddy of mine getting a horrible piercing, lol. The podcast has some really scary/rough stories and some that are much, much funnier. My buddy's story cannot be told without hysterical laughter and also wanting to puke. Nomatter how I tell it, I cannot paint that picture vividly enough. I have an ex whose father has been an ER doc for 30 years. He (probably still has) had a collection of x-rays of things removed from people. I have no idea what the current forum rules are for discussing those x-rays. Lol

Look at a river based on the way I broke it down above. When you find places that fit those features, you'll find smallmouth. Trout generally prefer cooler water and require more oxygen, so if water temps are over 70 degrees, they become sluggish, go deep, or in the case of rivers feeding large reservoirs or lakes, they'll run into the lakes.

So, if i can make an observation from your posts, maybe the reason you feel like you're over-analyzing things is because your focus drifts between species, environments, etc in your thought process. At least that's what I'm noticing in your posts. I love targeting different species, but if i'm trying to figure out everything that swims in the river, and not focus on one species, I'm not going to have nearly as productive a day (ESPECIALLY on a new body of water that I'm not used to fishing) - both in terms of fish caught, but also in pattern building and sorting info I'm getting while on the water. You can target multiple species on a trip, but I have a lot more consistent success doing this when I already know the water and the species well. As for clarity and water level.... The first post covered your normal summer - fall low water conditions that will usually mean clear, tannic, or mildly stained water. Some rivers flow a bit more brown year round, and if you've got rivers like that, that generally means slow current and a different approach. High water or rising water generally means pretty stained to muddy water. It will impair visibility, change where fish hold, and change how they hunt. Smallmouth are primarily sight feeders so overcast days with high muddy water can be difficult, but fish can be caught. This will usually stack fish on current seams, behind points, along shorelines, behind islands and in flooded areas with protection from current. Bigger baits, more flash, bright/dark colors, and lots of vibration should decide your bait/technique selection. You may have to fish a bit slower, or drop a few extra casts into pockets to help fish find your bait. Rising water can be awesome, just make sure it won't be dangerous.

Re: leaders I think bass care a lot less about heavy mono, FC, steel, titanium, etc with fast moving reaction baits than they do with finesse techniques like popping a tube, drifting a Ned rig, etc. Still, I very rarely use them and bite offs, for me, are pretty rare. Trout, salmon, char, etc are all cold water species and require either cold rivers or deep oxygenated lakes to thrive. There are times when you'll find all kinds of species in the same place on a river, especially with lake-run fish off of the Great Lakes, but that isn't generally the norm. I'm far from the best guy on here to talk to about trout, salmon, and steelhead runs off the lakes. Pike and musky can also be a little different because of their biology. You may find them actively feeding below riffles or fast current, but most guys who target them on rivers tend to target them around weed beds, creek mouths, etc.