Rocks and smallmouth bass . . . they go together like lily pads and bluegills, right? Not necessarily. While rivers generally need lots of rock to have high numbers of smallies, river sections with only a little rock can have more big smallmouth bass than many realize. There are a couple key reasons why some […]
BRIEF– To cast easier and extend the life of your fly line, put line dressing (lubrication) on your line regularly, and clean the line 2 or 3 times a season Simply “greasing” your line before each use will have you casting easily again. All you need is one of the many line dressings on the […]
Great Fishing! This probably seems like a no-brainer. But it’s true. A lot of places beyond your home waters offer truly high quality angling, with plenty of big fish and/or high numbers of smallmouth. Some may say they don’t care about fish sizes, but it’s the rare fella who doesn’t get awfully excited when they […]
With just a rod, some lures, and a set of legs you can head out and fish. This is truly simplified angling. It was a warm July afternoon and I was waist deep in a gravel-bottomed stream. The warm water felt good, since wet wading is a little like swimming while you’re fishing. More important, […]
While most serious smallmouth bass anglers diligently practice catch and release, unfortunately we also know that some guys still keep lots of their smallmouth bass and oppose regulations that mandate release. And one of the tactics that kill anglers use to confuse the issue and to derail catch-and-release regs is to say that it does […]
My affair with limestone goes back a long way. Growing up around steep hills and rocky ridges, some of my earliest smallmouth bass fishing was in the local limestone-laden streams. In love at first sight, I was immediately captivated by the look of these streams as they twisted past golden bluffs and rushed over ragged […]
There are smallmouth bass in 48 states, with just Alaska and Florida the only holdouts. You can even find ’em in unlikely places like Nevada, Texas, even Hawaii … Sure, plenty of guys know that states like Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee have so many bronzeback streams it’s hard to count them all. But a lot […]
I’ll bet you didn’t know there were smallies in Africa. I didn’t either until two brothers from South Africa started writing to me saying they were also hard-core smallmouth fans. They invited me over to fish with them, and over the next 18 months kept sending me South African photos of big smallies and beautiful […]
After 27 years of guiding, one thing really stands out — fly fishing for smallies is plenty challenging. I could tell some stories. After 27 years of guiding all sorts of guys in all sorts of conditions, I have plenty of humorous and interesting tales. But there’s one thing that really stands out in my […]
