Turkey sandwich

In my experience, when smallies are feeding on the surface, they aren't always super picky. If I need to cover lots of water, a walking bait or Whopper Plopper (usually 90, sometimes the 130) are my first choice. If I need to target smaller pockets and can get away with treble hooks, I'm throwing some kind of popper. If there's lots of weeds/grass, I'm reaching for a popping frog. If I'm chucking flies, I like deer hair poppers, Dahlberg Diver variations, and even Deceivers fished on a floating line stripped fast across the surface.

I made it down to visit friends, but weird weather kept me off the river. The James was high and the Rapahannock looked scary high. I was going to look for feeder streams, but the weather called for rain every day (that of course never actually happened) so I opted to catch up with old friends from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu/MMA community and hung out at a tournament instead. I was hoping the Susquehanna would be back to fishable this past weekend, but had no luck there, either. I'm hoping to get out at least a few days this month here in PA before heading out to Colorado the 30th thru the 9th. I'm still working out the details for that trip, but I'll likely be on the Gunnison, Taylor, Platte, and whatever mountain lakes I can talk non-fishing friends into hiking to. With any luck, I'll have some great photos for the "Other Species" forum.

There's some good info, for sure. How big is the lake? The size of the lake and the available structure are going to be important, as is the dominant bait in the lake. If a lake is large, has a variety of structure and ambush points close to depth changes where fish can slide down and relax in cool, oxygenated water, then I would expect fish to slide up and down that structure UNLESS you have big schools of pelagic baitfish (shad, alewife, herring, and to a lesser extent, perch). If you've got a big population of pelagic baitfish, they're likely going to follow the schools and move a lot, and I've found that resting spots and returning to them can be really effective in these lakes, especially during the summer. Sometimes You can get on good schools of fish this way. I like to approach them with a reaction bait first (usually a crankbait, topwater, or a swim jig) and then follow up with a jig/craw, tube, and dropshot. Sometimes you can get a school riled back up just by changing baits/presentations. Sometimes you take the pattern that just worked and look for similar spots once the bite dies down and come back later. Also, smallmouth will absolutely feed shallow during lowlight periods all summer, especially if good ambush opportunities are available.

I have not fished either rod, so I can't comment on those. The NRX, I've heard nothing but amazing things about. I do, however, own a current generation Legend Elite MH 7' F. In terms of power/weight, it likely fishes more like the NRX than the Dobyns and it's a tremendously versatile worm/jig rod up to a bit over 1oz. I would like to fish the NRX, for sure, but if I were to make the decision again, I'd likely get the split grip Legend X (it wasn't available yet).

I think this is a good time to say that a lot is going to depend upon where you fish and what kind of conditions. Catt is on weedy lakes, swamps, tidal nasty stuff a lot of the time. If I were down that way, I'd load up on MH and H rods. If I'm covering lots of water with a jig or C-Rig, I probably want something 7'6"+ to maximize casting distance and cover water more efficiently. If I'm skipping under weedy docks or pockets, I might want something more in the 4 power MH range and definitely under 7'. The type of boat I'm fishing from would also be a consideration. I'm also 5'11. Someone who's shorter may also prefer shorter rods. It's all conditions and preference.

This makes me sad.

Yep. I also saw this. Fishing may be out. Fingers are crossed.

Yep. The USGS site is something I check religiously before heading to the water. I was just curious as to how much change I'm likely to see after VA gets rain this week.

This is what I'm seeing. Generally, this just moves fish push toward the shoreline. I'm just hoping it's not chocolate milk and still wadable.

There are too many cheap purification systems now to risk it. I do have Lifestraws and a Sawyer that luckily I've never had to use. Still, thy cost very little, weigh almost nothing, and are super packable. They just make sense to have. It amazes me how so many guys will carry a firearm on the water, but don't have a functional first aid kit or water purification.

Thanks Sam! What are normal levels on the USGS gauge for this time of the year?

Hey Errybody! I'm headed to Richmond next weekend and hoping to get out on the James. The plan is to catch up with a friend and sling flies for smallies. I've never fished the James and was wondering how the accesses are around Richmond. Also, we'll likely be wading, so any suggestions on wadable stretches would be doubly appreciated. Thank you! Chris

A big mayfly hatch is a crazy thing to experience and either matching the hatch, or small popper/diver patterns can be stellar.

There just seems to be so much that effects this stuff. I've had bass, perch, etc take lures on steel leaders and landed pike and musky on 6lb straight mono and have had finicky trout turn down 3.5lb 5x tippet. Stuff to consider: active aggressive fish will care s lot less. Water clarity, dense cover, and low light tend to allow for the use of thicker diameters, high vis braid, or even steel/titanium. Super clear water, very inactive fish, or fish that know you're there will be much spookier and generally require lighter line, extremely natural presentations, and very finesse tactics. I've seen video of smallmouth in shallow clear water in very early spring turn down ever bass lure imaginable to only take stonefly and caddisfly nymphs presented with a 4wt fly rod and 6x tippet.

I think a popper is generally more "finesse" or better for picking apart specific pieces of water than something like large walking baits, Whopper Ploppers, buzzbaits, etc. The other lures are awesome search lures for moving fast and covering large chunks of water. The popper is generally what I reach for when I slow down to target individual pockets, or to really pick a stretch apart. I've caught bass on poppers along cut banks and bluffs that drop straight to 15-20', and along weed edges or shallow flats in 6" of water.

What in the hell is the tail on that thing?

I pretty much hate casting all poppers despite them being a blast to fish. For whatever reason, I tend to have much better patience with deer hair than I do with the foam/cork/whatever variety. I also generally like the big profile of deer hair.

I'll likely be giving that a read. This came on a big deerhair popper the weekend before last. Apologies for the picture quality. I was alone and had no good way of getting a fast picture and getting her revived.

Scott F and Francho are pretty spot on. That doesn't mean that the spot won't be worthwhile during the rest of the year. It's going to be a great wintering hole and a great spot for fish to hold up during the heat of the afternoon, but on it's own, the hole itself is unlikely to hold aggressive fish - they're there for a rest. You way get takes drifting slow finesse baits or weighting a dropshot, but committing to dead sticking these areas can be a lot more frustration than reward. The better idea, in my opinion, is to fish the seems created where the differing currents meet and adjacent flats and ambush points close by, ESPECIALLY around dawn and dusk. Not a great picture, but this smallies went 19" and destroyed a deerhair popper in flat, slower current between fast water and a weed line. These are the types of high percentage ambush points you'll find large, aggressive fish from now into the fall.

I had a similar conversation about this kind of stuff over the weekend while teaching a friend to fly cast on the river. Early on, we have to focus on some real basic stuff - casting, learning to feel through a rod, very basic presentations. And this stuff is a lot to focus on early. Simply, we don't know what we don't know. There's a whole lot of excitement and a whole lot of ignorance that comes with it. Once you get the basic stuff down and you put in years of data entry (be it via a notebook, journal, laptop, or the ol' brain), you realize that a whole lot of your learning happens off the water. This, to me, is a big step that a lot of guys just don't take because it feels like work to read maps, water gauges, fishing reports, tournament results, researching different ways to present, and of course practicing off the water. It's a lot more than filling a cooler full of beer or rolling up whatever and simply heading out for the day to try your luck. I find that I get much luckier the more I fish mindfully and put in work.

I wouldn't think of throwing a Whopper Plopper 90 on anything less than a medium action rod, preferably with a moderately fast tip. ( I use MH moderate fast or moderate casting rods for exactly this) Again, a ML should be limited to finesse techniques. Not only was it not made for throwing heavier lures, it's taper and action doesn't allow you to fish them well and may damage the rod. Also, rods with extra fast actions are generally designed for feeling the bottom with single hooked baits - Texas rigs, tubes, drop shots, etc. And they're great for this. However, in exchange for the fast, super sensitive tip they're also more brittle, have a narrower window for lure weight than slower action rods, and due to how the rod will flex at the tip as opposed to deeper into the blank they can make it difficult to keep fish pinned on treble hooks. All of that said, you can throw a Zara Spook on an ultra light rod. Is it a good idea? absolutely not. Do a search on this forum for posts on the differences in rod actions and you'll have a world of answers to questions you don't even have yet. Good luck on the water!

It's a great rod! I have it and use it primarily for drop shot and Ned rigging. It would probably do well with presenting smaller to medium sized inline spinners and smaller poppers, but it really shines when it comes to presenting finesse plastics. It is a ML rod, so it would not be my choice for fishing crankbaits. Welcome to the forum!

I love the Whopper Plopper and it's become my favorite way to catch smallies on top 90% of the time. I've also had a lot of success with the 90 and 130. Without fishing with you or seeing video, that sounds like you're pulling your bait away from fish and reacting on sight versus staying patient. Sight is always going to play a role, but a good drill to help with this is to simply not set the hook or reel anything but slack until you feel weight. You're still going to lose some fish (far less), but it's going to help you tremendously in judging the bite and getting a good hook set. There are lots of presentation strategies that also might help, but until you get the feel for when to set the hook on a topwater bite, they're not going to help you much. I love the Whopper Plopper and it's become my favorite way to catch smallies on top 90% of the time. I've also had a lot of success with the 90 and 130. Without fishing with you or seeing video, that sounds like you're pulling your bait away from fish and reacting on sight versus staying patient. Sight is always going to play a role, but a good drill to help with this is to simply not set the hook or reel anything but slack until you feel weight. You're still going to lose some fish (far less), but it's going to help you tremendously in judging the bite and getting a good hook set. There are lots of presentation strategies that also might help, but until you get the feel for when to set the hook on a topwater bite, they're not going to help you much. Also, what kind of wind/chop are we talking about? One of my favorite conditions to fish the Whopper Plopper in is on a river where a headwind creates a current above the main current going in the opposite direction, essentially where the top water column is actually flowing upstream. If you can get this either late or early in a day, it can be a great opportunity to fish big, loud baits like the WP, but the chop can make judging a hook set trickier because of how it effects slack like laying on the water. Anytime you have a swell over a few inches, you need to take into consideration what it's doing to your slack line sitting on the surface.

How are you rigging them, what kind of tackle and how are you fishing them? I've found that since they often fish near the surface, it can be really easy to set the hook based on seeing the strike before feeling weight. This cost me a lot of fish and frustration early on. I've learned to be a lot less reactive and when there's a fluke bite, I tend to do pretty well.

I fish both the 130 and 90 based on conditions. The 90 probably gets the most use and that thing is a magnet for 15-20" smallmouth. It's caught small fish, but the vast majority are in the 2.5lb+ range. It creates some weird twist sometimes in current, but shallow smallmouth absolutely hate that it exists. It's almost shocking that I can drop something that big on a fish holding in 1' of water from 100+ feet away and not only not spook them, but have them absolutely annihilate it. I have no doubt that it's a great largemouth bait, too, but seeing that 85% of my bass fishing is targeting smallmouth I'll never leave them at home any time I think theres a shot at a topwater bite.