Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Ernie · Jun-09-21 3:16PM

John and I met up with CT Campbell at Luray Cavers. It was an early start (0645) because of possible heat (we did not have it) and storms (we got a bit wet during the last 1/2 mile).

We put in at Alma. The take out would be at a private farm. The river was low so top water was the name of the game in the beginning. All on fly.

The water was perfect...fairly clear but with just a tad of stain.

We caught our share of smallies on the fly.

And some nice red breast BG's!

John stayed with the fly all day (top and streamers). I switched back and forth. Mostly I threw my L baitcaster and also threw a ML spinning rod. All the tools caught fish. As a matter of fact, we guessed that I caught fish on 10+ different baits including an UL jig that I tied myself. It was tipped with a small KVD fluke (skinny and maybe 4"). Everything I threw (mostly white or light color) was on less than 1/8oz jigs or belly weighted hooks. My home made underspin did well.

More fish!

One of the great things about fishing with John (along with his company) is that he brings subs from the Italian Store in Arlington!

More fish!

Some of the scenery...

Interestingly, as weather approached, the top water bite died. Right after lunch we parked on a spot and John had a follow on his fly. I made a cast pretty close to where he was and when the smallie saw my larger offering, he peeled off John's fly and ate my soft plastic.

More fish!

This last one came close to the end. We all saw the fish approach the flay and eat it. He was dark...

We suspect that we caught 50 smallies...maybe more. Definitely the most we've caught in a long time. We had a few in the 14-15" range but most were smaller. Still, lots of fun with very light tackle. John was usisng a 6wt fly rod.

Great time today...except getting soaked.

Another interesting point is that there are NO cicadas around Luray. There were some when I got back to front Royal and certainly more as we neared our aea.

Junger · Jun-09-21 3:22PM

Awesome pictures....that sub looks delicious! Interesting how cicadas are so sporadic...

drxfish · Jun-09-21 4:23PM

Good to see you caught numbers and some nice fish. I was thinking it looked like a good day to be out. Congrats!

Ernie · Jun-09-21 5:00PM

It was a good day to be out for sure. It was much cooler there than here. But it was muggy. Light breeze until the earth stood still and we watched the deluge coming right at us. Kind of a hopeless feeling. Nowhere to hide.

When I left, the temps were 71-74df. When I got home, it was 87df.

I should have mentioned that I had good success catching some fish on push water...lesson learned after I was schooled by Greg back in April.

Osprey · Jun-09-21 6:53PM

Great day, it's good to know there are smallies somewhere. Nice looking hat :-)

Ernie · Jun-09-21 7:33PM

Well...a friend sent me this: " Fishing for smallmouth bass on the upper Potomac River is good. Maryland DNR biologists John Mullican and Josh Henesy were out on the river and reported there are plenty of 10-inch to 12-inch smallmouth bass, which holds promise for the future of this fishery. Also, cicadas are crash-landing into the river along shorelines and the smallmouth bass are starting to key in on them as a food source. Flathead catfish are concentrated at the dams and offer excellent fishing."

My response was that I am not sure I agree. And I don't like the flathead thing.

It would be nice to know where they fished/surveyed.

Stating there are plenty of small fish is a stretch. There are a few. But that’s better than none!!

I am hoping that this year’s spawn was a good one (for the few fish left). No floods this spring makes us have hope.

drxfish · Jun-10-21 4:07AM

Amen, brother!

firemunkee · Jun-10-21 6:27AM

Lots of fish caught equals lots of fun! I haven't had a sub from the italian store in a long time, they are soo good. I need to get me some!

hookup · Jun-10-21 7:25AM

Almost the same day I had on the weekend. Glad to see the abundant number of dinks - means we had a good spawn

Curly · Jun-10-21 7:34AM

Nice report!

Ernie · Jun-10-21 7:46AM

hookup wrote:
- means we had a good spawn

Hopefully lsst year and the year before (takes @3 years to get to 12"). This year's spawn should have been good as well but those fish are only a few inches long now.

hookup · Jun-10-21 10:25AM

I agree with that too. On the stretch Saturday I numerous YoY and fish up to 10". So I'm assuming that water had good spawns the past two years. Also with your results, and previous trips this year, I'm assuming a decent spawn 3 years ago on the south branch. Those fish over 12" are the survivors from spawns 4 or more years ago

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 Jun-09-21 3:16PM

6-9-21, 'doah

#2 Jun-09-21 3:22PM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#3 Jun-09-21 4:23PM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#4 Jun-09-21 5:00PM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#5 Jun-09-21 6:53PM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#6 Jun-09-21 7:33PM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#7 Jun-10-21 4:07AM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#8 Jun-10-21 6:27AM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#9 Jun-10-21 7:25AM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#10 Jun-10-21 7:34AM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

#11 Jun-10-21 7:46AM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

hookup wrote:

#12 Jun-10-21 10:25AM

Re: 6-9-21, 'doah

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