Turkey sandwich Posted October 3, 2017 Posted October 3, 2017 So, I started taking video notes on fishing trips this summer because, well, it's easier for me to talk to a camera than take the time to write things down when there's a bite on. This past Sunday I got out on the Susquehanna after some crazy weather (90s earlier in the week, the morning I got on the water the air temp was 35 degrees). I wasn't sure what to expect since I've seen this turn fish on in the fall, even though it usually means a rough day any other time of the year. I had kind of a mixed day and tried more to fish for larger fish and get notes than go super finesse trying to pull numbers. Ultimately, I got on a few patterns and was able to get some of the catches on video. One of my favorites was the hatch pattern later in the day/evening. There were several mayfly, a tan caddis, and some sort of gnat/small black fly hatch going on as the sun started going down that saved my day in terms of smallmouth fishing and lead to several 14" and a 19" smallie to close out the day. The last section of the video is little but me talking as current brought me back to the ramp, so if you just want to see fish, you can bypass that part. However, if you want to hear me ramble about patterns, there's a solid 8 minutes of it that may or may not be as useful to you guys as it is to me. More than anything, I'm glad I was able to get out. I've been having back and neck issues again, and that can make a day on the water feel like rolling the dice. Getting on the water on good health days has been a nice therapeutic escape from medical craziness Oh yeah, there's a surprise musky in there that almost stuck a size 2 treble hook in my hand, too! 11 Quote
Super User Spankey Posted October 6, 2017 Super User Posted October 6, 2017 That was fantastic man. Enjoyed it. I love your thoughts and take on mental relief time on the water. Great way to put it. Good fishing. 1 Quote
Turkey sandwich Posted October 6, 2017 Author Posted October 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Spankey said: That was fantastic man. Enjoyed it. I love your thoughts and take on mental relief time on the water. Great way to put it. Good fishing. Thanks, man. A car accident in 2013 herniated a bunch of discs and has kept me from doing a lot of things I'd normally be doing. Fishing has been a nice escape. 1 Quote
Super User Gundog Posted October 6, 2017 Super User Posted October 6, 2017 Great vid. Topwater smallmouths are always fun. You can't beat them. Nice musky too. They always freak me out when I catch them cause I know they can toss a hook back at ya. Spending time on the Susky is its own type of therapy. 1 Quote
Turkey sandwich Posted October 7, 2017 Author Posted October 7, 2017 23 hours ago, Gundog said: Great vid. Topwater smallmouths are always fun. You can't beat them. Nice musky too. They always freak me out when I catch them cause I know they can toss a hook back at ya. Spending time on the Susky is its own type of therapy. Thanks, man. This is the first one I've landed in the kayak, and I forgot just for a minute how explosive and slimy they can be. If it were any bigger, landing it in the kayak would have really been interesting. I'm just really happy that the hooks ended up in my paddle leash and not my hand. Also, it was more interesting where I caught it than anything else. I see them all the time in slower water and around weed beds. This year, the weed beds didn't fill in as much as they usually do because of all the heavy rain/fast muddy water and I was pretty surprised that this one came in moving water maybe 100 yards below a set of super shallow fast riffles - where I was expecting smallmouth or perhaps walleye to be hanging out. When I felt the weight initially, I was thinking it was probably a big channel cat, and then the head shakes told me something totally different, lol. 1 Quote
Super User Further North Posted October 10, 2017 Super User Posted October 10, 2017 Surprise Esox are always a good bonus! I had an unintentional topwater smallie yesterday: I was throwing weedless diver across the top of some shallow weed beds, got the fly line wrapped 'round the handle and reel, so I let it sit for a moment while I detangled it...and...SLURP! I said a bad word, figured I'd missed the chance, but felt the line come tight...nice fish (hatch cover is 18" for reference), right next to the boat launch at the end of the day... Had I been staying out longer, I'd have switched to real topwater.... 1 Quote
Turkey sandwich Posted October 10, 2017 Author Posted October 10, 2017 4 hours ago, Further North said: Surprise Esox are always a good bonus! I had an unintentional topwater smallie yesterday: I was throwing weedless diver across the top of some shallow weed beds, got the fly line wrapped 'round the handle and reel, so I let it sit for a moment while I detangled it...and...SLURP! I said a bad word, figured I'd missed the chance, but felt the line come tight...nice fish (hatch cover is 18" for reference), right next to the boat launch at the end of the day... Had I been staying out longer, I'd have switched to real topwater.... great fish! I'm hoping to chase them with flies the last two weekends of the month. I may have to pick your brain for some diver patterns in the meantime. Quote
Super User Further North Posted October 10, 2017 Super User Posted October 10, 2017 10 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said: I may have to pick your brain for some diver patterns in the meantime. Happy to help...but I'm not going to be a ton of help as I'm just re-adding divers to my rotation myself. There's a great section in the new Tight Lines Smallmouth book about them, so I decided to try them again after being frustrated by them years ago. What they wrote about works... 1 Quote
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