My fly tying for the past few months has been purely bass-oriented. So heading up to fish for Smallmouth Bass on Oxbow reservoir on the Snake River for a couple of days was going to be a good chance to try out some of my new smallie patterns.
The fishing was stellar and the scenery was amazing. This is definitely a fly-friendly body of water that is worth mention.
Given the Smallmouth trophy management on this water (catch and release only for a good part of the year), it was relatively un-crowded and loaded with nice sized fish. I did the best with some slim profile Clouser style flies and just varied the colors as the day went on.
With the water as clear as it was, I could see most of the strikes, so it was probably even more exciting than fishing dry flies for trout. Just amazing…
The evening had a great topwater bite and I put my crease flies to work.
Of course the gear worked well and Brian and Cheech cleaned up (even when his little feetsies got too hot and he had to dip them in the cool water..)
In the end, it was well worth the 7 hour drive to get there. I’m already planning the trip for October…
4 comments:
what's up with #12 set-up for 15" fish? haha
I switched over to 15# p-line fluoro for my leader and tippet and won't look back. For pulling flies out of trees and horsing in the fish, it can't be beat. And for the record, a 15" smallie will school a 24" trout any day.
Nice work Curtis!
OMG! how sweet. So I just hopped on to see what was new and what do you know. I have been tying top water like mad and here you are doing it. I really don't know anything mush besides trout so hit me up and fill me in dog. Nice fish and great photos!
Post a Comment