This River is Wild: This Happiness

Largest musky of the year...

Sometimes in order to make it happen, you have to go out of your way to put yourself in the moment. The opportunity cost of fishing during prime time often means sacrificing relationships, work, and more to be on the water when you know it will be good. There are other times, where you just need a break from the day to day grind of life and the water provides the necessary inner calm you need to find your peace. There is also an aspect where fishing creates camaraderie amongst friends and bonding time with family. Most of the time, the moments are remembered best when shared with other like minded people. I think all of these descriptions applied on a particular day this spring when I decided to call out because the conditions were right. I just needed to get out there before prime time had passed. However, I needed a dance partner and couldn't find one. So, I called my Dad. Never one to turn me down, he didn't hesitate to say yes. We came from two different directions, each driving 2+ hours, to meet in the cold damp dark of a boat ramp. The expectation on my end was to be on the oars for most of the day in order to show my Dad a good time and get him into some fish. When we pushed off, he refused to fish. This left me in a peculiar position...in the bow of the boat for an entire float.

It was memorable...

Largest smallmouth of the year for me...that I landed.

The water was low and clear so I opted for a 6 wt. and an intermediate line. There has been a general trend towards 8’ 5-8” rods in the industry. They have their place, but in this situation I’d rather have the extra rod length to manipulate the action of the fly, make aerial mends to adjust angles, and raise/lower my fly in the column over/around pieces of structure. Just my two cents...

Rod: Diamondback Tactical Long 6wt.
Line: SA Titan INT. Full
Reel: Loop Evotec G3 LW 5-8 (6.3 ounces)
Fly: Justin’s Red Ear Slider 😂

The Diamondback Tactical Long is a great fishing tool that I casted all day with nary a thought towards fatigue. It loads the line well and absorbs the impact of adjusting casting distance between shots with a large streamer. It has the fun feel factor that most fast action rods lack on the market and has the accuracy for pinpoint placement along structure. All of the fish came on that set up.

A few moments from the float:

Just before lunch break, I placed a cast near a logjam at the head of a riffle. My fly landed in a very small bucket between logs where it made one small twitch before getting engulfed. At the moment, I thought I had an average smallmouth, but I was only seeing half of the bass. This fish had a giant discoloration over half its body (part tan, part dark). My Dad and I were in fast water and we made the mistake of dropping anchor, which gave the big bass all the leverage it needed. Nonetheless, I got it boat side for a net job and it popped off...This was a very long bass and would have been a PB.

We parked a few minutes later and I decided to hit a few log jams on foot. One particular jam, had a deep pocket that the current had dug out underneath of it. I flipped my fly into that pocket and started twitching it up and down along the logs. I heard a splash deep inside the jam. The next thing I knew a big bass was visible and my fly had disappeared. A short close quarters battle ensued before my thumb found paydirt. This was a thick fish and ended up being my PB for the season. 22".

The day could have ended there, but the fishing didn't let up. We stopped taking pictures halfway through the day. Towards the end of the float, there is a certain stretch that always holds a musky. With the water being lower than normal, I called my shot, but didn't expect for one to eat. So, as my smallmouth fly was dancing through a mid-river log jam, a mid-40s musky decided to eat. It was nuts. What may be crazier is that I landed it on a 6wt. and my line did not get bitten through...wild and lucky.