The Struggle
6/29/26
Being the temperatures have been in the 80’s with high humidity I stay away from fishing for trout in creeks. I mostly turn my fly fishing to river smallmouth and hoping to make them rise to one of my poppers. Recently the smallmouth haven’t been too cooperative coming up for a popper so, knowing they’ll take a Woolly Bugger, I offered them one.
The river was low enough I was able to wade almost half the river width. I wasn’t able to reach the far side, along the boulders, with my casts but I caught a few river fish anyway. I started fishing the faster water before I got to the slower current down stream. The sun was high but the warmth it brought felt like it was only tree height. The water was bearable, with the recent warm temperatures, but with the many springs and mountain creeks that empty into the river there are cooler waters that trout hang out in.
In the faster riffling current I was casting out Woolly Buggers and hooked into a few rascally trout. One being a yellow belly brown trout the looked like a local residence for some years. They put up a good battle and after letting them go they swam away fine.
Down in the tail out of the wavy current I was surprised I didn’t catch a smallmouth in the deeper water. I continued on wading down river. I was mostly casting poppers hoping for a gulping smallie for my poppers but none seemed interested. Maybe over the weekend there were so many watercraft’s, fisher people, and float tubers that the smallmouth were still scared to feed on top or moved to the far side of the river I couldn’t get to? I was biding my time puffing on a cigar and casting poppers without any strikes that I finally decided to attach a Woolly Bugger again. It seems like the smallmouth in the river like brown buggers more than olive buggers more often. The trout on the other hand seem to prefer olive but I’ve caught both, trout and smallies, on both shades..
I attached one of my brown buggers and was casting it out as far as I could comfortably. As it drifted down stream I felt a grab and hoisted the rod tip up and the line came off the water and tightened. The fish put up a good battle and I was surprised It was a rainbow trout this far down from the cooler waters that was up stream. Heck, maybe he was visiting or was just swimming around away from the faster current? Anyhow, he put up a good battle and even took air like a high jumper flexing his body over the high bar! I flipped the net over and he swam away without looking stressed.
I slowly waded and stopped now and then casting the bugger out across stream. I made a cast directly across stream and watched the bugger plop into the water like an acorn falling into a pond. My fly line laid on the water and slowly arced downstream on the surface. I saw the line pull away without feeling the take. I quickly yanked the rod high, getting the arced fly line off the surface, and the line tightened near where my bugger dropped. I felt the rod sections bow deep near the butt section and felt the tug and pull of the fish heading downstream. There was no stopping him as line slipped through my fingers and then i felt the reel spinning line out of the spool. I knew I had something big on the other end! I’m not sure where he was heading to but he was hauling ass like a 100 meter sprinter.
I lost a trout earlier trying to horse him to the net. He got unhooked near the net. I wasn’t going to try to horse this big ogre in. The 6 weight bowed like my 8 weight bowing with a furious steelhead on the line. I had 8lb tapered leader on and was pretty sure that was enough to hold him from breaking the leader. I wasn’t sure how far down river he was going but I had plenty of backing and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t take it that far. There were no obvious obstacles I was able to see for the line to get caught on so I wasn’t too worried about that kind of danger. As I felt him slowing on his swimming journey I moved the bowed rod to my right putting some side pressure on him. He appeared to turn towards my side of the river but kept his distance. Slowly I started to bring in line as I brought the rod to my left facing across the river. He slowly followed with jerking tugs. He stayed deep so I figured it was a big smallmouth but had a thought it could be a big brown.
It took some struggling and I had him across from me in the distance. He turned, swam away, and again I couldn’t hold him back. The rod bowed deep again and my forearm was feeling the pressure. I was about to put the rod butt in my gut when he quickly turned and swam away with a weighty pull. I held on and had to let line slip through my fingers again.
Times like these I feel like enough is enough and start to bring the fish towards me putting a lot of stress on the rod and line. I’m going to let the fish go anyway but I sure wanted to see him in the net. Well, he decided to show me what he was when he broke the surface and shot up in the air like a hurdler. He was shaking his head and his fat body. He wasn’t as graceful as the trout or didn’t clear the water like the trout but he made a showing of his size!! That kinda got me excited seeing this fat smallmouth! After he plopped back into the water, within a second or two later he broke the surface with only his face to his gills visible. His body quivered violently and the water around him splashed everywhere. The line shook and the fly rod vibrated within my gripping hands. He disappeared beneath and started to swim up river. I started to bring in line as fast as I could, holding the bent rod high trying to keep a straight tight line. He was swimming slower but his weight and strength kept me from getting him towards me quickly. We struggled, or I struggled, with him for a few more minutes before I felt I was finally getting him tamed.
Bringing him up to the net I saw my bugger hooked tightly into his lower jaw. As he rose he must of felt defeated or just finally gave up and let me scoop him up. He was heavy and I was glad I had my net instead of my tailing glove. I was able to unhook him with a tug with my hemostats. He didn’t even flinch! I got a couple of pics and let him swim away out of my grasp. He was a beauty.
I fished a little longer under the hot sunshine and caught one more smaller smallie on the bugger.
I have to admit, besides the big smallie making my day, I was tired. Wading the current, struggling with caught fish under the hot sunshine wore me out.
Where I was the bank was kind of steep and brush and weeds covered the bank and forest to the road. I wasn’t about to try and make my way through the tangles and slowly waded the river water, along the bank and pebbles, upriver to more promising conditions to get me safely to the road.
It was a struggling day on the river but I survived happily.
~doubletaper
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