Tionesta Smallies
9/01/2
It was a cloudy overcast day when I started out. The light blue sky was rarely seen in the background as the clouds below moved slowly. Every once in a while the sun would appear as often and as quick as a shooting star might be seen streaking the sky at night. A cool breeze would gently blow up stream but not enough to cause wild casts with my 9’ foot fast action 5 weight fly rod.
I was prepared to catch some long time resident trout. I had all my trout offerings including Wooly Buggers, Triple Threat streamers, San Juans, nymphs and dry flies. Usually the trout would hang out in the cooler water across creek where mountain water ran down the shale mountain side and spill, like a spigot, into the stream. I waded out and started casting towards the far side hoping to interest one of those homely trout. I was mostly casting out Woolly Buggers, Triple Threats and wet flies but wasn’t having takers for the past hour or so. I bided my time puffing on a cigar as I waded and fished myself down creek. I decided to knot on and just keep using a Triple Threat streamer and cast towards the far bank.
The water was a bit colored but I was able to see the boulders beneath the surface water out quite a distance. The water I was casting towards looked anywhere from 2 to 4 feet deep but could have been deeper in some areas. I had plenty of room for my back cast so I was able to make long forward casts out across creek.
From years past I knew there was a deeper pocket I was slowly moving towards. Near enough I stopped wading and took a stand, like an ice cream truck in a vacation rental complex in the off season, hoping to attract any residence. With a back cast I timed perfectly, I whipped a forward cast a few feet from the far bank across creek.The Triple Threat fell into the water and, after it sank some, I slowly started to strip it in to prevent it from snagging the creek bed of rocks or other debris. The floating fly line was still curving down creek when the line kind of slowed and stopped drifting. I thought maybe I got caught up on a snag so I wristed the rod upward to free it. With that I felt a tug and I realized I had a fish. I forcefully yanked the rod back trying to make sure the hook point penetrated the mouth of the taker of my streamer.
The fish swam upstream initially before turning down creek with more weighty tugs. It didn’t fight, scurrying forcefully about, like a trout but kept with tugging pulls. My 5 weight flexed with the fighting fish but I was able to bring the fish in without much trouble. I netted a nice smallmouth.
I wasn’t too surprised being I have caught a smallmouth on occasion but not too often. After I released him I straitened out the polar fibers of the Triple Threat and started to cast towards the same area.
Maybe it was the second or third cast out when another fish took the streamer as it drifted down creek. I felt the take as the line pulled outward. I yanked the rod back with authority making sure it would penetrate a smallmouths jaw where as I needn’t to be so harsh in a trouts soft lips. The fish pulled forcefully towards the far bank and then down creek. I felt and saw the 9’ fly rod sections bow into the middle sections. I held the cork grip tightly as the active fish shook and pulled more as he swam down creek. The reel spit out some tight line as I felt it slip though my tensioning fingers.There was hardly a current I was fighting him against but he fought with weighty pulling trying to free himself. Once I got his aggressive tugging energy tiring I was able to bring him towards me. Closer to me, though, he had enough energy to dart away but the resistance of the bowed rod kept him going too far. Near me I got the net beneath him and quickly scooped him in it. He was a bit angry as he flopped in the net to get free. He was a fat good creek size smallmouth.
After that, I fished a little longer but couldn’t get any more fish interested. All the while I puffed on another cigar till it got too hot to be comfortable enough to fish. The heat from the sun felt like a laser beam pointed right at me and I felt like I was melting like the wicked witch. Looking up the heavy cloud cover, from this morning, was reduced to small cotton candy puffs slowly drifting below the bright blue sky. I waded out and headed for the truck.
~doubletaper
