	Fishing Conditions

Date: 7-27-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: clear Water temp: 81 Weather: overcast Temp: 89 I took my buddy Tom fishing with me yesterday. I'm not much for taking other folks fishing, but I occasionally make an exception for Tom. For one thing, we both ride motorcycles. So we get a nice ride back and forth from D.C. on top of a day of fishing. We did the SP2 trip from the State Park to Karo landing. It was summertime low. We ended up dragging the canoe over a bunch of shallow spots. It wasn't that big a deal, Tom was by no means bummed about it. Grass is starting to grow pretty well and there's a fair amount of loose grass floating in the river as well. The water temp was down a little and it wasn't a steaming hot day, so I was hopeful for some good fishing. Well, that's not how it turned out. It wasn't what I would call a great day of fishing. We caught some fish, off and on, but as a whole it was a little on the slow side. The morning was pretty slow. We only caught a few fish before noon. But that happens pretty often, and then the bite usually picks up in the afternoon. It did pick up some in the afternoon, but it never got really rolling. Got a little better the last couple of hours, but still not what I would call good fishing. We were using pretty much the same lures I've been using for the last few weeks. We caught a few on inline spinnerbaits. I was using a #3 Mepps (gold blade). We caught most of our fish on 4" ribworms (pumpkin and green pumpkin), fishing them on 1/8 oz. Texas rigs or 1/8 oz. jigheads. Also caught a few on 4" soft stickbaits (green pumpkin). The bass were scattered. No clear pattern as to where they were hanging out. Best bet was fishing deeper areas and targeting any underwater structure like rocks or ledges. But we caught bass in open water next to the banks as well. Like I said, there really wasn't a clear pattern working. We ended up fishing all over the place, little bit of this - little bit of that. Just lookin' for fish. Most of the bass we caught were small to medium smallmouth. Not that many even went a foot. I did manage one sixteen inch largemouth with the soft stickbait, but that was the only decent bass we got all day. Between the two of us I think we caught four bluegill. Oh well. Sometimes you win, sometimes... Anyway, it was a fairly nice day and even though the bite never really took off we were catching enough fish to have a good time. I'm still surprised the fishing wasn't better yesterday. But it's history now and all I can do is look forward to the next trip. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 7-13-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: stained Water temp: 78 Weather: overcast Temp: 82 Went back to my usual trip yesterday, from the State Park to Karo Landing (SP2). The water level was a bit higher, so I got through this section pretty easy. Only had to get out of the canoe a few times. There was very little debris floating in the river. No algae at all and very little in the way of grass or trash. Nice conditions and the water temp was lower as well. Expected some great fishing. As such, the morning was a big letdown. It was slow. I only caught a few fish before noon. I was mostly fishing 4" ribworms, Zoom Dead Ringers (green pumpkin), on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig. Caught a few reasonable size smallmouth and a few decent size bluegill. The bluegill were either near the banks or in the fast stuff near the rocks. Most of the smallmouth were caught fishing deeper pools in the flat areas. The bite improved after noon. I started tossing a #3 Mepps (gold blade), occasionally getting a nice one at the edge of the current below the rocks. The worm was still my money maker. Nine out of ten times it was the worm that got 'em. It was getting them pretty good, too. By about two the bass were hitting good and solid, at a rate I would call about average for this time of year. Nice fishing. Most of the smallmouth were about the usual size for summer, running from eight to twelve inches, a fair number between ten and twelve. Only caught a few over twelve, the best two smallmouth went fourteen inches. My best bass for the day was a nice sixteen inch largemouth. Caught her by pulling the spinner between two ledges in shallow water. A nice surprise to say the least. Another big surprise was the twenty-four inch catfish I caught in some fast water behind some rocks with the spinnerbait. That one hit like a freight train and gave me a darn good fight all the way to the boat. I've caught several catfish on spinners this year, but it still amazes me. What are the catfish up to this year? It was an interesting day of fishing. Managed to catch four different species and saw some good fishing in the afternoon. Caught a lot of smallmouth. I usually catch a lot of smallmouth on this part of the South Fork in the summertime. Get out for some summer fishing if at all possible. Make time for it. You"ll be glad you did. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 7-6-10 Time: 9:30 - 2:00 Water: clear Water temp: 83 Weather: sunny Temp: 100 (high) Had myself a hot fun day on the South Fork. With the high yesterday expected to be triple digit, I decided to do a shorter trip from Karo to the Front Royal Canoe Co.(Trip 1). Don't do that trip very often, but I was glad I did 'cause I had an enjoyable trip. Got my first bass, a decent twelve inch smallmouth, within about fifteen minutes. I was tossing a 4" Zoom Dead Ringer plastic worm (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig. About as simple as bass fishing gets. That was pretty much how I spent the day, fishing worms. Tried some other lures through the day, but the worm was the ticket and I was good with that. I like using soft plastics. Found most of my smallmouth fishing the deeper water in flat areas. Had next to no luck in the faster water around the rocks. The best pattern was tossing a worm into a deeper spot and working it along the edge of a rock ledge. The smallmouth were fairly aggressive, nice solid hits when they spotted that ringworm. Near the end of the trip, I caught a few bass with 4" soft stick baits, Bass Pro brand (green pumpkin). I caught fifteen bass in about four and a half hours, averaged out to three or four fish an hour. About half of them were eleven or twelve inches long. Only a few dinks. My biggie for the day was all of thirteen inches. No lunkers. But still not a bad day. Not bad when you consider how hot it was and the several thousand boats, tubes, and people that plowed through that stretch of water during the preceding holiday weekend. That much pressure can really turn off the fishing . Between the heat and the recent crowds, I was expecting a pretty slow day. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Got in several hours of fun fishing and called it a day before it got brain frying hot. Maybe I should hit this stretch more often. Plenty of summer fishing ahead, hope you get in on some. Reading about it is one thing. Doing it is way better. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 6-30-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: clear Water temp: 82 Weather: sunny Temp: 86 I fished my usual little piece of the South Fork, from the State Park to Karo Landing (the SP2 trip). The water level is still a bit on the low side. Had to get out and drag the canoe over a few shallow spots. Not all that bad. I've sure seen it a lot lower. Personally, I think its worth the effort. I think the fishing through this stretch is better than anywhere else on the South Fork. The fishing yesterday was pretty decent. Started off slow in the morning. I was getting one now and then, but only two or three fish an hour. Not exactly what you'd call heavy action by any means. Caught a few smallmouth with the Rebel Wee-Craw crankbait (ditch), along with a couple of bluegill. I caught most of my smallmouth in the morning with 4" ringworms (pumpkinseed), on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig, or 4" soft stickbaits (green pumpkin). The worm was catching more smallmouth, but the stickbait caught the bigger ones. "Bigger" being a relative term, most of them were under a foot. The first couple of hours I was catching most of my bass working the banks, tossing worms into the tree shadows. I eventually started catching bass out in the middle of the river as well. Around noon I managed to get a nice fifteen inch bass on the stickbait. The fishing slowly started warming up after noon. Never found much of a pattern, the fish were somewhat scattered. Not a whole lot of them were hanging around the rocks like they usually do. I caught a lot of them working the deeper flat areas. Those smallmouth I did find around the rock ledges were pretty far downriver. Not much of that hanging around in the current near the rocks, like they usually do. My solution was to just fish all over the river, try all kinds of areas. From about two o'clock on they were hitting pretty good. Mostly smaller size bass, the majority were under ten inches. Some up to twelve, only a very few over twelve. I did manage to catch a second fifteen incher. Not many big fish, but plenty of them. For a short while I was catching a few on Super Flukes (green pumpkin), which was kinda cool. Its the first time this year I've had any luck with flukes. But most of my afternoon fishing was with 4" ringworms ( I switched from pumpkinseed to green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig. I was also still getting a few on the soft stickbait. Same as earlier, the stickbait nailed the bigger bass. It was throw the worm and get more fish or throw the stickbait and get a few bigger ones. The fishing the last few hours was pretty much what I consider typical summer fishing for these parts. Caught a lot of bass in a few hours time, but not a lot of big ones. It was a lot of fun. Its always fun to catch a lot of bass, no matter what the size. I suffered through some really great weather yesterday. After all those unusually hot days we've seen lately, it felt so fine. Great weather and some decent fishing, how do you beat that? For those of you that get out on the South Fork for the July Fourth weekend, I'm sure you're gonna' have a great time. Its such a perfect way to spend a holiday. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 6-22-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: clear Water temp: 82 (average for the day) Weather: partly cloudy Temp: 95 Summertime fishing. It was a hot hazy day yesterday, a good time to be on the South Fork. Fish awhile, take a little dip. Go on, put your head under. Feels real good. When its a hot steamy day like it was yesterday, you can't beat getting out on the river. I did my usual float from the State Park to Karo Landing. I'll be up front with you, if you have an aversion to dragging your canoe over rocks you might want to take a different trip. This stretch is starting to get shallow. I was in and out of that canoe a bunch of times yesterday. I'll tell you how shallow it was. Down in the lower reaches, just upriver of Thunderbird Farm, I watched a deer walk out to the middle of the river. I swear she barely got her ankles wet. Well, maybe she got a little more wet than that, but it was pretty darn shallow. There was a lot of floating blobs of algae, leaves, and assorted trash floating in the water. The level is drawing down and sort of concentrating the floating debris. Not a ridiculous amount or anything, but still somewhat of a hassle. The water was clear and shallow yesterday so it was so easy to see the fish. I could hardly believe how many catfish I saw. Big schools of them all over the place. Plenty of carp and bass as well. Last week I wrote about how I was worried about the bluegill. Yesterday I heard about a guy catching almost nothing but bluegill on a trip last week, fishing a spinner. So I tried my trusty #3 Mepps (gold blade) throughout the day and did manage to catch a few bluegill. And I did see a fair number of them chasing up on the spinner and swimming around the ledges. So yes, there are bluegill. But I still don't think we're seeing the usual population. But at least they're not gone by any means, and I'm pretty sure that in time they will get back to normal. The bass fishing yesterday was on the slow side. Started out well enough, I did okay in the morning. But the bite slowly declined after noon. By three o'clock or so, it was really slow, couple or three fish an hour. I think it got soooo hot in the afternoon, the water temp was about 85, it just punked the smallmouth out. I mostly fished 4" soft stickbaits ("senkos") all day (green pumpkin). I got my best results fishing them real slow, dead stickin' and just letting them drift around a lot. A lot of times it seems the slower I fish a soft stickbait, the better it works. Seems if I work a soft stickbait fast, I get the smaller, more aggressive bass. Slow deadstickin' gets me the big girls. I had better luck yesterday fishing the flat areas instead of working around the rocks. Working the rocks and ledges was best for getting a few bluegill and small bass with the spinner. Working the flat areas with deeper water, using the stickbait, got me the best smallmouth. Between ten and eleven I caught several nice size smallmouth, including a nineteen inch beauty. Biggest smallmouth I've caught in quite awhile. Sure felt good. Lit up a celebratory cigar after I let her go. I firmly believe in catch and release. Especially the big ones. Give somebody else a chance to catch it. After nailing that big smallmouth, the fishing went downhill. The bite started slowing down during the next hour and got slower and slower through the rest of the afternoon. The last couple of hours I was mostly just working the shadows under the trees, that was about the only place I could get a bite. Most of my fish yesterday were under a foot. Some of them were really small. Its a little bit sad when you catch a bass that's smaller than the lure. I know when this happens its tempting to leave that sucker on as bait, but Fish and Game frowns on that. Take it off and throw it back and hope its a little bit bigger next time you catch it. Throw your fish back in the river, but that's all. Don't throw your soda cans or your empty Cheetos bag and for god's sake don't throw your wadded up ball of messed up fishing line in the river. You can't imagine how much I hate getting tangled up in someone's old fishing line. Anyway,enough ranting, sermon's over. I just don't have any love for folks that trash up the river. In a nutshell, fishing was slow yesterday. Oh well. But getting a nice big smallmouth went a long ways. On top of that, being out on a nice river, getting in those cooling dips... all part of a good time on the Shenandoah. Summer fishing ain't nothing but the truth. Good luck with your fishing. ED T. Date: 6-15-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: clear Water temp: 80 Weather: overcast, light showers Temp: 80 I fished my usual stretch of the South Fork from the State Park to Karo Landing. The water level was somewhat lower than last week. Had to get out and drag the canoe over a couple of spots. Not too bad yet, but it sure would be nice to get enough rain to bring it back up a little bit. There was some debris in the water, a little bit of algae, a little bit of grass. Not a big deal, but I had to clean off my lures quite a few times. Morning fishing wasn't half bad for once. Caught a fair number of bass before noon, even got a few bluegill. I was tossing 4" tubes (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig and throwing a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). It was nice to finally get a few bluegill. I threw the spinner all day long trying to catch more bluegill, but the tally for the whole day was only five fish. At this point in the season I am quite sure that something eleminated a lot of the bluegill through this part of the river. So far this year I have only caught a handful. In years past there were often days when I would catch almost equal numbers of bluegill and smallmouth. I have no idea what happened to the bluegill through this stretch, but I can say for certain that a lot of them are gone. I'm hopeful that in time they will return to their usual numbers. Well at least the smallmouth were biting good yesterday. I was getting most of them on the tube. I didn't spend much time working the banks. Did most of my fishing out near the middle. I worked the rocks a lot but also had just about as much luck fishing the flat areas. Late in the morning I chatted with a nice couple out for a few hours of fishing. Told me a cool story about recently nailing a citatation 21.5 inch smallmouth. I never get tired of hearing that kind of news about South Fork fishing. Because I noticed those folks were using some senkos, and 'cause I've also seen some other folks using senkos lately, I thought what the heck and I tied on a 4" senko (green pumpkin) in the afternoon. I don't know if it was switching to the senko or just the usual time the fishing gets better, but either way the fishing really picked up in the afternoon. I was steady catching smallmouth. Sure caught a lot of fish. I caught a few with the spinner, but the senko was the real money maker. Now I must say that most of the bass I caught yesterday were small to medium. Lots of eight to ten inch fish, a few up to twelve and hardly any over twelve. My best two were fifteen and sixteen, both caught with the senko in medum depth flat areas. Lots of fish, but so many were kinda' puny. It was overcast all day. I sat through a light rainstorm right after I got started. Not what you'd call a pretty day. But the fishing was pretty good. What I consider about average for this time of year on the South fork. In my book, decent fishing makes up for so so weather. Lots of good summer days of fishing ahead on this beautiful little piece of river. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 6-8-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: slight stain Water temp: 74 Weather: sunny Temp: 78 Wow! A truly beautiful summer day on the South Fork of the Shenandoah. The weather yesterday was perfect. I'll fish in rain, cold... whatever. But when the weather is like it was yesterday, can't help but make a big difference. I fished the stretch from the State Park to Karo Landing, the SP2 trip. The river level is holding nicely, just a smidgin lower than last week. Slight stain and a few degrees cooler. Fishing pretty much sucked in the morning. Only caught about six bass before noon. I was using the same lures I've been using the last few weeks, a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig, a Rebel Wee-Craw (ditch) and a #3 Mepps spinnerbait (gold blade). The tube accounted for most of the fish, but I did get a couple of decent smallmouth in the rapids with the Wee-Craw. I fished around a bit at first, but soon started concentrating on fishing around rocks. Seemed like fishing the banks was pretty much a waste of time. After noon the bite picked up pretty quick. Both the Craw and the tube were getting bass, but the tube was much more productive. On the other hand, the Craw got full body slam hook ups in the fast stuff around the rocks. And it provided my only halfway big bass yesterday. I was pulling it through a little valley in some rocks and scored a nice sixteen inch smallmouth. The only fish I got all day over thirteen inches. I was catching mostly small to medium size bass yesterday, the majority were under twelve inches. I did get another large smallmouth bass on the Craw in the afternoon. I got a good look at it and thought hmmm, that's a big one better loosen up the drag. Just as my line went ping and the smallmouth went swimming off with my crankbait. The fishing in the afternoon was fairly steady, especially the last few hours. The tube was really pulling them in when I worked it in the deeper pools around the rocks. I started getting a few fish in the faster stuff with the spinner. I didn't get any bluegill all day. Sure would like to start catching some bluegill again. Good day of fishing. Slow morning starts are often the case in the South Fork, my friend says the bass are late risers. Afternoon fishing was decent. Nothing special, but pretty good fishing all the same. Had a good time as usual. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 6-2-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water: stained Water temp: 77 Weather: sunny Temp: 92 Summertime fishing on the south Fork. It was pretty warm in the morning. By eleven I was already taking dips in the river to cool off. By two o'clock I was wondering if I had enough drinking water. It was a real nice sunny day for sure, but it was a cooker as well. I fished the SP2 trip, State Park to Karo Landing. The river level was still holding quite well, in fact it was a little higher than last week. Good conditions. The fishing yesterday was pretty good. Not quite as good as it was last week, but still pretty fair. The extreme heat the last few days, plus a few thunderstorms, may have had a little bit of effect. Maybe the pressure of roughly half a billion visitors over the holiday weekend may have had some small effect. Whatever the reason, the fishing was down a tad from last week. For the most part, I used three lures yesterday. A 4" tube (green pumpkin), first on an 1/8 oz. jighead, most of the time on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig, a Rebel Wee-Craw (ditch) and a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). I caught almost all my smallmouth with the tube. I didn't get a single fish on the Craw, even though I tried it off and on all day long. I got a few bass with the spinner, as well as the only two bluegill I've caught in several weeks. Where are the bluegill in this stretch? I also caught another catfish with the spinner, like last week, but this one was a little guy, about a foot long. I heard several stories yesterday of recent catches of catfish on spinners and crankbaits. Rather strange, don't you think. The catfish in these parts are getting a little bit aggressive. Although the fishing never got real fast paced, it was pretty good from the morning on. As it often does, it got better as the day wore on. It seemed like the smallmouth were somewhat scattered out, so I fished different parts of the river. Spent most of my time working the pools around the rocks. But I got some nice ones near the banks as well. I caught more fish out by the rocks, but both of my biggest bass, two fourteen inchers, were hiding in the shadows near the bank. I didn't catch as many large fish as last week, but I didn't catch as many really small bass either. A lot of the smallmouth I caught yesterday were from 10 to 12 inches. Nice size smallmouth. Summing it up, the fishing was slower than the last couple of weeks, maybe even a bit below average for this time of year. But it was still pretty good fishing, I caught a fair number of bass. I was quite satisfied. Now that its summer and the water is warm, the fishing is pretty good most of the time. Odds are you get at least pretty good fishing just about any day you hit it. With a little bit of luck, you get a really good day. Either way, its always fun to spend a day on the South Fork. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 5/26/10 Time: 9:30-5:30 Water: slight stain Water Temp: 72 Weather: mostly sunny Temp: 85 Felt like summer yesterday. Did my ususal trip from the State Park to Karo Landing. River level is holding well, about the same as last week. Plenty of rocks showing, but I got through with no canoe dragging. Did pretty well in the morning, caught a fair number of smallmouth. I caught most of my bass with a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig. That set up has been my go to lure for several weeks now. I also caught a few fish with 4" ring worms (pumpkin), but the tube worked better. In the morning the most productive pattern was working the shadows along the banks. I also threw a small inline spinner at various times throughout the day, hoping to get a few bluegill. No luck in that department. Not a single bluegill all day. I stayed with the tube all day' but late in the morning I switched to fishing mid river. Mostly fished around the rocks, but I also had pretty good luck fishing the flats as well. The fishing got real slow for around an hour after noon. It's kinda strange that the same thing hapened last week, the same lull in the bite in the early afternoon. During that slow period yesterday I tried the creek hoping for some largemouth. Nada, not even a nibble. I got back out in the river and caught a nice size catfish on the spinner. That's right, the spinner! That was one agressive catfish. Put up a heck of a fight. Soon enough, the fishing picked up pretty fast. From about one o'clock on the fishing was pretty good. Like usual, it got better and better 'til the end of the trip. Late afternoon seems to always provide the best fishing on the South Fork. Yesterday afternoon that ment lots of of smallmouth. The area above the twin islands was particularly good. I can tell we're shifting into summer mode when I start catching more small fish, fewer big ones.. A good portion of my smallmouth yesterday were ten inches or less. Only a handful were over twelve. The best bass went 16" and looked like a monster compared to the rest of 'em. The big ones aren't as easy to catch anymore, that's for sure. But it was a good day of fishing any way you slice it. Maybe they weren't lunkers, but it was fun catching plenty of bass. And I saw the biggest Bald Eagle I think I've ever seen fly across the river about 30 feet away. Priceless. Nothing like a day of good fishing on the South Fork. Good for your body. Good for your spirit. In parting my friends, good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 5/19/2010 Time: 9:30-5:00 Water: Clear Water temp: 65 Weather: overcast Temp: 70 I fished the stretch from the State Park to Karo Landing. The water level was about the same as last week, lots of rocks showing. I still got through without having to get out and drag. I was nicely surprised with good fishing in the morning. Yesterday they were hittin' hard right from the get go. Had a half dozen smallmouth before I left the park. The best two were fourteen and sixteen inches. Now that's how I like to start things off. I was tossing a 4" tube (green pumpkin), 1/8 oz. Texas rig. As I got farther down the river and started hitting some rapids, I started getting a few smallmouth in the faster water with a Rebel Wee-Craw (ditch). I used those two lures, the tube and the Wee Craw, for the rest of the day. But the crankbait only worked occasionally. About 80% of my bass were caught with the tube. I fished different areas of the river, but as usual concentrated on the pools around the rocks. However, flipping the tube near the banks was also quite productive. In fact, I caught my biggest smallmouth, a nice eighteen incher, in shallow water close to the bank. The bite slowed a little around noon, so I switched the tube to an 1/8 oz. split shot rig (essentially a lightweight Carolina rig). Wanted to get into more of a finesse mode. It wasn't long before the bite picked back up again. I was catching most of the smallmouth working the split shot rigged tube slowly in the deeper water. Sometimes they hit the tube pretty fast, occasionally on the fall. I was also getting a few with the Craw in the faster stuff around the rocks. The fish started biting better and better as the afternoon wore on. The last couple of hours I was catching fish at a real nice pace. I caught a lot of smallmouth yesterday, the most I've caught on any trip this year. It started out good in the morning, and except for a brief spell, stayed good all day long. Only thing missing was some bluegill action. But I only threw a spinner a few times and I didn't put much effort into getting bluegill. I was too busy catching bass. It was a good day of fishing, Made me anxious to get back next week. The summer's heating up and so is the fishing. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 5-14-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:00 Water: clear Water temp: 62 Weather: sunny Temp: 78 Missed a couple of weeks while I was on vacation. It was nice to be back on the South Fork. Picked a good day, too. It was sunny and hot all day. I did my ususal trip, from the State Park to Karo Landing. The river was in nice shape. The water level is down some, but its still easy enough to get through without any canoe dragging involved. On the good side, more rocks are exposed, so its easier to read the structure and find the fish. More often than not, fish hang around the rocks. Started things off by catching a few bluegill in the park with a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). First bluegill I've caught this year. Yay! I'm sure there are more to come. Caught a couple of smallmouth with the spinner as well, but the morning fishing was pretty slow. Seems to be the pattern lately, very slow in the morning, then it picks up in the afternoon. And that's just what happened yesterday. About eleven o'clock it started picking up a little and by about one the bass were hitting pretty well. I was still getting an occasional bluegill with the spinner, but the bass wouldn't go for it. I started getting the smallmouth with a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. jighead. Lots of slow fishing, mostly just dragging the tube on the bottom with an occasional little jig hop. Slow stuff. Seemed to be the best way to get them. The smallmouth were not as aggressive as usual. Little interest in crankbaits or spinners. I was thinking perhaps they were spawning, something seemed a little odd about the way they were hitting. When I talked with a couple of the guys at Front River Canoe Co., they said the bass were most likely bedding. Bedding is when the smallmouth make their nest in the gravel, part of the prespawn preperation. The whole spawning process has a substantial effect on the bite, so we shouldn't be surprised if the smallmouth act a little weird for the next couple of weeks. But that said, the fishing yesterday afternoon was decent. Not a great day, I didn't catch a ton of fish. Nor did I catch a lot of big fish. I caught a lot of small bass yesterday. I caught a few true sardines. The biggest smallmouth I got were a couple of fourteen inchers. But the afternoon fishing was fairly consistant good fun. Never too long a wait for a fish. Working the pools around the rocks with the tube and pulling them in. Half way through the afternoon I ran into a guy I hadn't seen in years on the river. He had his wife with him and they were both scoring pretty well. Earlier in the day he'd caught a major lunker in some shallow water. So I guess someone knew how to catch a big one. But any way you look at it, I felt like a winner yesterday, It was just such a beautiful hot spring day and I was getting in some good fishing on a great river. No traffic, no noise, nothing but mother nature to deal with. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 4/29/2010 Time: 10:00: 5:00 Water: Clear Water Temp: 56 Weather: Sunny Temp: 70 It was chilly when I put in at the State Park, but it warmed up in no time. I did the SP2 trip, State Park to Karo Landing. River level, clarity, and no floating debris combined for near perfect conditions. I had a good trip last week and was hopeful for a repeat. The morning was slow, only caught one smallmouth. Around eleven it picked up some. Maybe the water had warmed up a bit. I started catching a few smallmouth by fishing the slack water around the rock ledges. The bass were hanging in the pools, not in the fast water like last week. Once again, I was using a Rebel Wee Craw crankbait (ditch). I tried different lures, including soft plastics and spinnerbaits, but the Wee Craw seemed to be the best choice. After a couple of hours, the bite went dead. Hardly caught any fish for over an hour. However one of the only fish I caught during that time was the biggest bass I've caught this year. There's a deep area in front of the houses across from the second creek. Look for a stone retaining wall on the bank. The deep area is just downriver. I always slow fish this spot, usually drift fishing soft plastics. Yesterday I was dead sticking a 4" senko (green pumpkin) and caught a 20" largemouth. Nice! Around two o'clock the smallmouth started biting again. The fishing was fairly decent for the rest of the afternoon. As a result of the fishing being an off and on kind of thing, I caught less than twenty bass for the day. The size wasn't anything special either, except for the big largemouth. My best smallmouth was 15" and I caught a few that were pretty small. Oh well. I have yet to catch any bluegill this year. Where are my old friends? Where are my bluegill? Saw lots of good sized catfish, for those of you so inclined. Also saw some bald eagles. I've seen bald eagles so many times out here on the South Fork, but it's always an impressive sight. Wrapping it up,not a great day but not bad either. Caught a few smallmouth, nailed a lunker largemouth and enjoyed a sunny day on the South Fork Pretty good way to spend a spring day. Hope you get some time on the South Fork in the near future. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 4-20-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:00 Water: clear Water temp: clear Weather: overcast Temp: 65 I fished the Sp2 trip, from the State Park to Karo Landing. Last week I reported that river conditions were nearly perfect. This week it was even better. The water had dropped to show a lot of rocks, but it was still high enough to get down the river easy. Water level, clarity, and the absence of floating debris made for ideal fishing conditions. My first two trips this year didn't exactly knock me out. Fishing was pretty slow the last couple of weeks . Thankfully, yesterday was a whole new story. After a slow morning start, the fishing was pretty darn good. Yeah, the morning was bad. I didn't get a fish 'til eleven. By that time I was already going oh crap, here we go again. But my very first fish was a fat 19 inch largemouth on a 4" senko (green pumpkin) drifted in that deep area in front of the first creek past the park. Soon after that I started getting some nice size smallmouth by fishing around the rocks. At first I caught a few with a #3 Mepps inline spinner (gold blade). Caught a few with that, then switched to the Rebel Wee Craw crankbait (brown). Spent the rest of the day fishing the Rebel Craw. Tried other crankbaits and spinners, soft plastics as well, but the Wee Craw was the ticket. The bass were hitting in the fast moving water around the rocks, usually right at the edge between the boil and the slack water. A lot of them were tight to the ledges. They were nailing the lure hard and fast, aggressive ambush style, and a lot of them put up a pretty good fight. I got over twenty bass yesterday. For this early in the year, that's pretty good. But the best part was all the bigguns I caught. Two 18", two 17", and several 15 and 16" smallmouth. Sweet! Add that 19" largemouth into the mix and I call it a truly fine day of fishing. Yesterday was a good example of the spring fishing I always talk about. There are problems with spring fishing because it is a transitional period. So its not always a sure bet. Its not as consistant as summer. But when spring conditions are right, its without a doubt the best time to get large bass. In the summer you will catch a lot more fish, but the larger bass are a lot harder to come by. Its a trade off. I love spring fishing. I prize days like yesterday. Good size spring smallmouth make for exciting fishing. Hope you have time for a trip in the near future. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Date: 4-14-10 Time: 9:30 - 4:00 Water: light stain Water temp: 55 Weather: overcast, then partly cloudy Temp: 65 I fished the SP2 trip, from the State Park to Karo Landing. Almost perfect river conditions. Nice level, slightly stained, next to no floating debris. A few rocks were showing. Real nice. But the water is still somewhat chilly. Perhaps that explains why the fishing was a bit on the slow side. Only caught eight smallmouth for the whole day. Caught two on a Rebel Wee Crawfish (ditch), the rest on a #3 Mepps inline spinnerbait (gold blade). Got most of the bass fishing slack water around the rocks. Caught a couple near the bank. Not a bit of luck in the creeks. What happened to those largemouth that were holed up there last week? Anyway, at least I caught some decent size smallmouth. Six of them were over a foot, the best went sixteen inches. Still, it wasn't what I'd call an outstanding day of fishing. But its early in the season and the water is still kinda' cold. I'm pretty hyped about just gettin back in the game again. After spending most of the winter indoors, getting out on the river and catching a few bass is enough to put a smile on my face. And I know the water is getting warmer day by day, so its only a matter of time before the fishing improves. Remember, as I've told you before, spring is the best time of the year for scoring lunker smallmouth. So don't miss out on some spring fishing trips. Ed T. Date: 4-6-10 Time: 9:30 - 2:00 Water: stained Water temp: 57 Weather: Sunny Temp: mid 80's This year's first trip. Sure was great to be back on the South Fork. Did last winter suck or what. The river was pretty high and stained. Not much debris floating in the water, which means its been high for awhile so most of the trash has washed through. Overall, I'd say the river is in real good condition for this time of the year. I did a short four and a half hour trip yesterday, from the State Park to Karo Landing. I didn't do real well with the smallmouth. Only caught three, running from 10 to 14 inches. Caught all three on a Mepps # 3 inline spinnerbait (gold blade). All three were caught near the bank, pulled out of pockets of slower moving water. My best fish were the largemouth I caught in the creeks. The first creek, by the Stump Hole, gave up a 16 and a 19 inch largemouth to 4" senkos (green pumpkin). The second creek, across from the houses, produced a nice 17 inch largemouth on the spinner. The 19 inch largemouth was a whopper, probably weighed in around four pounds. I didn't do real well in the river proper, but the creek fishing was well worth the effort. If you fish the creeks, be sure to paddle up in them pretty far. I caught all those bass past the half way point. Pretty good results for this year's first trip. Like I said, it was great just to be back on my favorite little stretch of river. Beautiful hot sunny day. The four and a half hours were more than enough to give me a slight sunburn. Get out for some nice spring fishing if you get a chance. Good luck with your fishing. Ed T. Clyde reports that fishing has improved a lot since the middle of March. He was catching big smallies off the landing before the water came up. With good river flow and warming water temperatures, the fishing is only going to get better from here. Ed T. will be on the river starting next week and will submit reports the rest of the season. Get out here and wet a line! Don R. Check out some photos submitted by Guests: Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3 Check out these cool sites: Bass Fishing Reports for all States Fly Fishing Information Fly Fish America Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Front Royal Canoe Company P.O. Box 473 ~ Front Royal, Va. 22630 540-635-5440 / 800-270-8808 fax: 540-635-1574 Click here to e-mail us!

Date: 7-27-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: clear Water temp: 81

Weather: overcast Temp: 89

I took my buddy Tom fishing with me yesterday. I'm not much for taking other folks fishing, but I occasionally make an exception for Tom. For one thing, we both ride motorcycles. So we get a nice ride back and forth from D.C. on top of a day of fishing. We did the SP2 trip from the State Park to Karo landing. It was summertime low. We ended up dragging the canoe over a bunch of shallow spots. It wasn't that big a deal, Tom was by no means bummed about it. Grass is starting to grow pretty well and there's a fair amount of loose grass floating in the river as well. The water temp was down a little and it wasn't a steaming hot day, so I was hopeful for some good fishing. Well, that's not how it turned out. It wasn't what I would call a great day of fishing. We caught some fish, off and on, but as a whole it was a little on the slow side. The morning was pretty slow. We only caught a few fish before noon. But that happens pretty often, and then the bite usually picks up in the afternoon. It did pick up some in the afternoon, but it never got really rolling. Got a little better the last couple of hours, but still not what I would call good fishing. We were using pretty much the same lures I've been using for the last few weeks. We caught a few on inline spinnerbaits. I was using a #3 Mepps (gold blade). We caught most of our fish on 4" ribworms (pumpkin and green pumpkin), fishing them on 1/8 oz. Texas rigs or 1/8 oz. jigheads. Also caught a few on 4" soft stickbaits (green pumpkin). The bass were scattered. No clear pattern as to where they were hanging out. Best bet was fishing deeper areas and targeting any underwater structure like rocks or ledges. But we caught bass in open water next to the banks as well. Like I said, there really wasn't a clear pattern working. We ended up fishing all over the place, little bit of this - little bit of that. Just lookin' for fish. Most of the bass we caught were small to medium smallmouth. Not that many even went a foot. I did manage one sixteen inch largemouth with the soft stickbait, but that was the only decent bass we got all day. Between the two of us I think we caught four bluegill. Oh well. Sometimes you win, sometimes... Anyway, it was a fairly nice day and even though the bite never really took off we were catching enough fish to have a good time. I'm still surprised the fishing wasn't better yesterday. But it's history now and all I can do is look forward to the next trip. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 7-13-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: stained Water temp: 78

Weather: overcast Temp: 82

Went back to my usual trip yesterday, from the State Park to Karo Landing (SP2). The water level was a bit higher, so I got through this section pretty easy. Only had to get out of the canoe a few times. There was very little debris floating in the river. No algae at all and very little in the way of grass or trash. Nice conditions and the water temp was lower as well. Expected some great fishing. As such, the morning was a big letdown. It was slow. I only caught a few fish before noon. I was mostly fishing 4" ribworms, Zoom Dead Ringers (green pumpkin), on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig. Caught a few reasonable size smallmouth and a few decent size bluegill. The bluegill were either near the banks or in the fast stuff near the rocks. Most of the smallmouth were caught fishing deeper pools in the flat areas. The bite improved after noon. I started tossing a #3 Mepps (gold blade), occasionally getting a nice one at the edge of the current below the rocks. The worm was still my money maker. Nine out of ten times it was the worm that got 'em. It was getting them pretty good, too. By about two the bass were hitting good and solid, at a rate I would call about average for this time of year. Nice fishing. Most of the smallmouth were about the usual size for summer, running from eight to twelve inches, a fair number between ten and twelve. Only caught a few over twelve, the best two smallmouth went fourteen inches. My best bass for the day was a nice sixteen inch largemouth. Caught her by pulling the spinner between two ledges in shallow water. A nice surprise to say the least. Another big surprise was the twenty-four inch catfish I caught in some fast water behind some rocks with the spinnerbait. That one hit like a freight train and gave me a darn good fight all the way to the boat. I've caught several catfish on spinners this year, but it still amazes me. What are the catfish up to this year? It was an interesting day of fishing. Managed to catch four different species and saw some good fishing in the afternoon. Caught a lot of smallmouth. I usually catch a lot of smallmouth on this part of the South Fork in the summertime. Get out for some summer fishing if at all possible. Make time for it. You"ll be glad you did. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 7-6-10 Time: 9:30 - 2:00

Water: clear Water temp: 83

Weather: sunny Temp: 100 (high)

Had myself a hot fun day on the South Fork. With the high yesterday expected to be triple digit, I decided to do a shorter trip from Karo to the Front Royal Canoe Co.(Trip 1). Don't do that trip very often, but I was glad I did 'cause I had an enjoyable trip. Got my first bass, a decent twelve inch smallmouth, within about fifteen minutes. I was tossing a 4" Zoom Dead Ringer plastic worm (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig. About as simple as bass fishing gets. That was pretty much how I spent the day, fishing worms. Tried some other lures through the day, but the worm was the ticket and I was good with that. I like using soft plastics. Found most of my smallmouth fishing the deeper water in flat areas. Had next to no luck in the faster water around the rocks. The best pattern was tossing a worm into a deeper spot and working it along the edge of a rock ledge. The smallmouth were fairly aggressive, nice solid hits when they spotted that ringworm. Near the end of the trip, I caught a few bass with 4" soft stick baits, Bass Pro brand (green pumpkin). I caught fifteen bass in about four and a half hours, averaged out to three or four fish an hour. About half of them were eleven or twelve inches long. Only a few dinks. My biggie for the day was all of thirteen inches. No lunkers. But still not a bad day. Not bad when you consider how hot it was and the several thousand boats, tubes, and people that plowed through that stretch of water during the preceding holiday weekend. That much pressure can really turn off the fishing . Between the heat and the recent crowds, I was expecting a pretty slow day. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Got in several hours of fun fishing and called it a day before it got brain frying hot. Maybe I should hit this stretch more often. Plenty of summer fishing ahead, hope you get in on some.
Reading about it is one thing. Doing it is way better. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 6-30-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: clear Water temp: 82

Weather: sunny Temp: 86

I fished my usual little piece of the South Fork, from the State Park to Karo Landing (the SP2 trip). The water level is still a bit on the low side. Had to get out and drag the canoe over a few shallow spots. Not all that bad. I've sure seen it a lot lower. Personally, I think its worth the effort. I think the fishing through this stretch is better than anywhere else on the South Fork. The fishing yesterday was pretty decent. Started off slow in the morning. I was getting one now and then, but only two or three fish an hour. Not exactly what you'd call heavy action by any means. Caught a few smallmouth with the Rebel Wee-Craw crankbait (ditch), along with a couple of bluegill. I caught most of my smallmouth in the morning with 4" ringworms (pumpkinseed), on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig, or 4" soft stickbaits (green pumpkin). The worm was catching more smallmouth, but the stickbait caught the bigger ones. "Bigger" being a relative term, most of them were under a foot. The first couple of hours I was catching most of my bass working the banks, tossing worms into the tree shadows. I eventually started catching bass out in the middle of the river as well. Around noon I managed to get a nice fifteen inch bass on the stickbait. The fishing slowly started warming up after noon. Never found much of a pattern, the fish were somewhat scattered. Not a whole lot of them were hanging around the rocks like they usually do. I caught a lot of them working the deeper flat areas. Those smallmouth I did find around the rock ledges were pretty far downriver. Not much of that hanging around in the current near the rocks, like they usually do. My solution was to just fish all over the river, try all kinds of areas. From about two o'clock on they were hitting pretty good. Mostly smaller size bass, the majority were under ten inches. Some up to twelve, only a very few over twelve. I did manage to catch a second fifteen incher. Not many big fish, but plenty of them. For a short while I was catching a few on Super Flukes (green pumpkin), which was kinda cool. Its the first time this year I've had any luck with flukes. But most of my afternoon fishing was with 4" ringworms ( I switched from pumpkinseed to green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. Texas rig. I was also still getting a few on the soft stickbait. Same as earlier, the stickbait nailed the bigger bass. It was throw the worm and get more fish or throw the stickbait and get a few bigger ones. The fishing the last few hours was pretty much what I consider typical summer fishing for these parts. Caught a lot of bass in a few hours time, but not a lot of big ones. It was a lot of fun. Its always fun to catch a lot of bass, no matter what the size. I suffered through some really great weather yesterday. After all those unusually hot days we've seen lately, it felt so fine. Great weather and some decent fishing, how do you beat that? For those of you that get out on the South Fork for the July Fourth weekend, I'm sure you're gonna' have a great time. Its such a perfect way to spend a holiday. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 6-22-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: clear Water temp: 82 (average for the day)

Weather: partly cloudy Temp: 95

Summertime fishing. It was a hot hazy day yesterday, a good time to be on the South Fork. Fish awhile, take a little dip. Go on, put your head under. Feels real good. When its a hot steamy day like it was yesterday, you can't beat getting out on the river. I did my usual float from the State Park to Karo Landing. I'll be up front with you, if you have an aversion to dragging your canoe over rocks you might want to take a different trip. This stretch is starting to get shallow. I was in and out of that canoe a bunch of times yesterday. I'll tell you how shallow it was. Down in the lower reaches, just upriver of Thunderbird Farm, I watched a deer walk out to the middle of the river. I swear she barely got her ankles wet. Well, maybe she got a little more wet than that, but it was pretty darn shallow. There was a lot of floating blobs of algae, leaves, and assorted trash floating in the water. The level is drawing down and sort of concentrating the floating debris. Not a ridiculous amount or anything, but still somewhat of a hassle. The water was clear and shallow yesterday so it was so easy to see the fish. I could hardly believe how many catfish I saw. Big schools of them all over the place. Plenty of carp and bass as well. Last week I wrote about how I was worried about the bluegill. Yesterday I heard about a guy catching almost nothing but bluegill on a trip last week, fishing a spinner. So I tried my trusty #3 Mepps (gold blade) throughout the day and did manage to catch a few bluegill. And I did see a fair number of them chasing up on the spinner and swimming around the ledges. So yes, there are bluegill. But I still don't think we're seeing the usual population. But at least they're not gone by any means, and I'm pretty sure that in time they will get back to normal. The bass fishing yesterday was on the slow side. Started out well enough, I did okay in the morning. But the bite slowly declined after noon. By three o'clock or so, it was really slow, couple or three fish an hour. I think it got soooo hot in the afternoon, the water temp was about 85, it just punked the smallmouth out. I mostly fished 4" soft stickbaits ("senkos") all day (green pumpkin). I got my best results fishing them real slow, dead stickin' and just letting them drift around a lot. A lot of times it seems the slower I fish a soft stickbait, the better it works. Seems if I work a soft stickbait fast, I get the smaller, more aggressive bass. Slow deadstickin' gets me the big girls. I had better luck yesterday fishing the flat areas instead of working around the rocks. Working the rocks and ledges was best for getting a few bluegill and small bass with the spinner. Working the flat areas with deeper water, using the stickbait, got me the best smallmouth. Between ten and eleven I caught several nice size smallmouth, including a nineteen inch beauty. Biggest smallmouth I've caught in quite awhile. Sure felt good. Lit up a celebratory cigar after I let her go. I firmly believe in catch and release. Especially the big ones. Give somebody else a chance to catch it. After nailing that big smallmouth, the fishing went downhill. The bite started slowing down during the next hour and got slower and slower through the rest of the afternoon. The last couple of hours I was mostly just working the shadows under the trees, that was about the only place I could get a bite. Most of my fish yesterday were under a foot. Some of them were really small. Its a little bit sad when you catch a bass that's smaller than the lure. I know when this happens its tempting to leave that sucker on as bait, but Fish and Game frowns on that. Take it off and throw it back and hope its a little bit bigger next time you catch it. Throw your fish back in the river, but that's all. Don't throw your soda cans or your empty Cheetos bag and for god's sake don't throw your wadded up ball of messed up fishing line in the river. You can't imagine how much I hate getting tangled up in someone's old fishing line. Anyway,enough ranting, sermon's over. I just don't have any love for folks that trash up the river. In a nutshell, fishing was slow yesterday. Oh well. But getting a nice big smallmouth went a long ways. On top of that, being out on a nice river, getting in those cooling dips... all part of a good time on the Shenandoah. Summer fishing ain't nothing but the truth. Good luck with your fishing.

ED T.

Date: 6-15-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: clear Water temp: 80

Weather: overcast, light showers Temp: 80

I fished my usual stretch of the South Fork from the State Park to Karo Landing. The water level was somewhat lower than last week. Had to get out and drag the canoe over a couple of spots. Not too bad yet, but it sure would be nice to get enough rain to bring it back up a little bit. There was some debris in the water, a little bit of algae, a little bit of grass. Not a big deal, but I had to clean off my lures quite a few times. Morning fishing wasn't half bad for once. Caught a fair number of bass before noon, even got a few bluegill. I was tossing 4" tubes (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig and throwing a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). It was nice to finally get a few bluegill. I threw the spinner all day long trying to catch more bluegill, but the tally for the whole day was only five fish. At this point in the season I am quite sure that something eleminated a lot of the bluegill through this part of the river. So far this year I have only caught a handful. In years past there were often days when I would catch almost equal numbers of bluegill and smallmouth. I have no idea what happened to the bluegill through this stretch, but I can say for certain that a lot of them are gone. I'm hopeful that in time they will return to their usual numbers. Well at least the smallmouth were biting good yesterday. I was getting most of them on the tube. I didn't spend much time working the banks. Did most of my fishing out near the middle. I worked the rocks a lot but also had just about as much luck fishing the flat areas. Late in the morning I chatted with a nice couple out for a few hours of fishing. Told me a cool story about recently nailing a citatation 21.5 inch smallmouth. I never get tired of hearing that kind of news about South Fork fishing. Because I noticed those folks were using some senkos, and 'cause I've also seen some other folks using senkos lately, I thought what the heck and I tied on a 4" senko (green pumpkin) in the afternoon. I don't know if it was switching to the senko or just the usual time the fishing gets better, but either way the fishing really picked up in the afternoon. I was steady catching smallmouth. Sure caught a lot of fish. I caught a few with the spinner, but the senko was the real money maker. Now I must say that most of the bass I caught yesterday were small to medium. Lots of eight to ten inch fish, a few up to twelve and hardly any over twelve. My best two were fifteen and sixteen, both caught with the senko in medum depth flat areas. Lots of fish, but so many were kinda' puny. It was overcast all day. I sat through a light rainstorm right after I got started. Not what you'd call a pretty day. But the fishing was pretty good. What I consider about average for this time of year on the South fork. In my book, decent fishing makes up for so so weather. Lots of good summer days of fishing ahead on this beautiful little piece of river. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 6-8-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: slight stain Water temp: 74

Weather: sunny Temp: 78

Wow! A truly beautiful summer day on the South Fork of the Shenandoah. The weather yesterday was perfect. I'll fish in rain, cold... whatever. But when the weather is like it was yesterday, can't help but make a big difference. I fished the stretch from the State Park to Karo Landing, the SP2 trip. The river level is holding nicely, just a smidgin lower than last week. Slight stain and a few degrees cooler. Fishing pretty much sucked in the morning. Only caught about six bass before noon. I was using the same lures I've been using the last few weeks, a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig, a Rebel Wee-Craw (ditch) and a #3 Mepps spinnerbait (gold blade). The tube accounted for most of the fish, but I did get a couple of decent smallmouth in the rapids with the Wee-Craw. I fished around a bit at first, but soon started concentrating on fishing around rocks. Seemed like fishing the banks was pretty much a waste of time. After noon the bite picked up pretty quick. Both the Craw and the tube were getting bass, but the tube was much more productive. On the other hand, the Craw got full body slam hook ups in the fast stuff around the rocks. And it provided my only halfway big bass yesterday. I was pulling it through a little valley in some rocks and scored a nice sixteen inch smallmouth. The only fish I got all day over thirteen inches. I was catching mostly small to medium size bass yesterday, the majority were under twelve inches. I did get another large smallmouth bass on the Craw in the afternoon. I got a good look at it and thought hmmm, that's a big one better loosen up the drag. Just as my line went ping and the smallmouth went swimming off with my crankbait. The fishing in the afternoon was fairly steady, especially the last few hours. The tube was really pulling them in when I worked it in the deeper pools around the rocks. I started getting a few fish in the faster stuff with the spinner. I didn't get any bluegill all day. Sure would like to start catching some bluegill again. Good day of fishing. Slow morning starts are often the case in the South Fork, my friend says the bass are late risers. Afternoon fishing was decent. Nothing special, but pretty good fishing all the same. Had a good time as usual. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 6-2-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:30

Water: stained Water temp: 77

Weather: sunny Temp: 92

Summertime fishing on the south Fork. It was pretty warm in the morning. By eleven I was already taking dips in the river to cool off. By two o'clock I was wondering if I had enough drinking water. It was a real nice sunny day for sure, but it was a cooker as well. I fished the SP2 trip, State Park to Karo Landing. The river level was still holding quite well, in fact it was a little higher than last week. Good conditions. The fishing yesterday was pretty good. Not quite as good as it was last week, but still pretty fair. The extreme heat the last few days, plus a few thunderstorms, may have had a little bit of effect. Maybe the pressure of roughly half a billion visitors over the holiday weekend may have had some small effect. Whatever the reason, the fishing was down a tad from last week. For the most part, I used three lures yesterday. A 4" tube (green pumpkin), first on an 1/8 oz. jighead, most of the time on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig, a Rebel Wee-Craw (ditch) and a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). I caught almost all my smallmouth with the tube. I didn't get a single fish on the Craw, even though I tried it off and on all day long. I got a few bass with the spinner, as well as the only two bluegill I've caught in several weeks. Where are the bluegill in this stretch? I also caught another catfish with the spinner, like last week, but this one was a little guy, about a foot long. I heard several stories yesterday of recent catches of catfish on spinners and crankbaits. Rather strange, don't you think. The catfish in these parts are getting a little bit aggressive. Although the fishing never got real fast paced, it was pretty good from the morning on. As it often does, it got better as the day wore on. It seemed like the smallmouth were somewhat scattered out, so I fished different parts of the river. Spent most of my time working the pools around the rocks. But I got some nice ones near the banks as well. I caught more fish out by the rocks, but both of my biggest bass, two fourteen inchers, were hiding in the shadows near the bank. I didn't catch as many large fish as last week, but I didn't catch as many really small bass either. A lot of the smallmouth I caught yesterday were from 10 to 12 inches. Nice size smallmouth. Summing it up, the fishing was slower than the last couple of weeks, maybe even a bit below average for this time of year. But it was still pretty good fishing, I caught a fair number of bass. I was quite satisfied. Now that its summer and the water is warm, the fishing is pretty good most of the time. Odds are you get at least pretty good fishing just about any day you hit it. With a little bit of luck, you get a really good day. Either way, its always fun to spend a day on the South Fork. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 5/26/10 Time: 9:30-5:30

Water: slight stain Water Temp: 72

Weather: mostly sunny Temp: 85

Felt like summer yesterday. Did my ususal trip from the State Park to Karo Landing. River level is holding well, about the same as last week. Plenty of rocks showing, but I got through with no canoe dragging. Did pretty well in the morning, caught a fair number of smallmouth. I caught most of my bass with a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. split shot rig. That set up has been my go to lure for several weeks now. I also caught a few fish with 4" ring worms (pumpkin), but the tube worked better. In the morning the most productive pattern was working the shadows along the banks. I also threw a small inline spinner at various times throughout the day, hoping to get a few bluegill. No luck in that department. Not a single bluegill all day. I stayed with the tube all day' but late in the morning I switched to fishing mid river. Mostly fished around the rocks, but I also had pretty good luck fishing the flats as well. The fishing got real slow for around an hour after noon. It's kinda strange that the same thing hapened last week, the same lull in the bite in the early afternoon. During that slow period yesterday I tried the creek hoping for some largemouth. Nada, not even a nibble. I got back out in the river and caught a nice size catfish on the spinner. That's right, the spinner! That was one agressive catfish. Put up a heck of a fight. Soon enough, the fishing picked up pretty fast. From about one o'clock on the fishing was pretty good. Like usual, it got better and better 'til the end of the trip. Late afternoon seems to always provide the best fishing on the South Fork. Yesterday afternoon that ment lots of of smallmouth. The area above the twin islands was particularly good. I can tell we're shifting into summer mode when I start catching more small fish, fewer big ones.. A good portion of my smallmouth yesterday were ten inches or less. Only a handful were over twelve. The best bass went 16" and looked like a monster compared to the rest of 'em. The big ones aren't as easy to catch anymore, that's for sure. But it was a good day of fishing any way you slice it. Maybe they weren't lunkers, but it was fun catching plenty of bass. And I saw the biggest Bald Eagle I think I've ever seen fly across the river about 30 feet away. Priceless. Nothing like a day of good fishing on the South Fork. Good for your body. Good for your spirit. In parting my friends, good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 5/19/2010 Time: 9:30-5:00

Water: Clear Water temp: 65

Weather: overcast Temp: 70

I fished the stretch from the State Park to Karo Landing. The water level was about the same as last week, lots of rocks showing. I still got through without having to get out and drag. I was nicely surprised with good fishing in the morning. Yesterday they were hittin' hard right from the get go. Had a half dozen smallmouth before I left the park. The best two were fourteen and sixteen inches. Now that's how I like to start things off. I was tossing a 4" tube (green pumpkin), 1/8 oz. Texas rig. As I got farther down the river and started hitting some rapids, I started getting a few smallmouth in the faster water with a Rebel Wee-Craw (ditch). I used those two lures, the tube and the Wee Craw, for the rest of the day. But the crankbait only worked occasionally. About 80% of my bass were caught with the tube. I fished different areas of the river, but as usual concentrated on the pools around the rocks. However, flipping the tube near the banks was also quite productive. In fact, I caught my biggest smallmouth, a nice eighteen incher, in shallow water close to the bank. The bite slowed a little around noon, so I switched the tube to an 1/8 oz. split shot rig (essentially a lightweight Carolina rig). Wanted to get into more of a finesse mode. It wasn't long before the bite picked back up again. I was catching most of the smallmouth working the split shot rigged tube slowly in the deeper water. Sometimes they hit the tube pretty fast, occasionally on the fall. I was also getting a few with the Craw in the faster stuff around the rocks. The fish started biting better and better as the afternoon wore on. The last couple of hours I was catching fish at a real nice pace. I caught a lot of smallmouth yesterday, the most I've caught on any trip this year. It started out good in the morning, and except for a brief spell, stayed good all day long. Only thing missing was some bluegill action. But I only threw a spinner a few times and I didn't put much effort into getting bluegill. I was too busy catching bass. It was a good day of fishing, Made me anxious to get back next week. The summer's heating up and so is the fishing. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 5-14-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:00

Water: clear Water temp: 62

Weather: sunny Temp: 78

Missed a couple of weeks while I was on vacation. It was nice to be back on the South Fork. Picked a good day, too. It was sunny and hot all day. I did my ususal trip, from the State Park to Karo Landing. The river was in nice shape. The water level is down some, but its still easy enough to get through without any canoe dragging involved. On the good side, more rocks are exposed, so its easier to read the structure and find the fish. More often than not, fish hang around the rocks. Started things off by catching a few bluegill in the park with a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). First bluegill I've caught this year. Yay! I'm sure there are more to come. Caught a couple of smallmouth with the spinner as well, but the morning fishing was pretty slow. Seems to be the pattern lately, very slow in the morning, then it picks up in the afternoon. And that's just what happened yesterday. About eleven o'clock it started picking up a little and by about one the bass were hitting pretty well. I was still getting an occasional bluegill with the spinner, but the bass wouldn't go for it. I started getting the smallmouth with a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. jighead. Lots of slow fishing, mostly just dragging the tube on the bottom with an occasional little jig hop. Slow stuff. Seemed to be the best way to get them. The smallmouth were not as aggressive as usual. Little interest in crankbaits or spinners. I was thinking perhaps they were spawning, something seemed a little odd about the way they were hitting. When I talked with a couple of the guys at Front River Canoe Co., they said the bass were most likely bedding. Bedding is when the smallmouth make their nest in the gravel, part of the prespawn preperation. The whole spawning process has a substantial effect on the bite, so we shouldn't be surprised if the smallmouth act a little weird for the next couple of weeks. But that said, the fishing yesterday afternoon was decent. Not a great day, I didn't catch a ton of fish. Nor did I catch a lot of big fish. I caught a lot of small bass yesterday. I caught a few true sardines. The biggest smallmouth I got were a couple of fourteen inchers. But the afternoon fishing was fairly consistant good fun. Never too long a wait for a fish. Working the pools around the rocks with the tube and pulling them in. Half way through the afternoon I ran into a guy I hadn't seen in years on the river. He had his wife with him and they were both scoring pretty well. Earlier in the day he'd caught a major lunker in some shallow water. So I guess someone knew how to catch a big one. But any way you look at it, I felt like a winner yesterday, It was just such a beautiful hot spring day and I was getting in some good fishing on a great river. No traffic, no noise, nothing but mother nature to deal with. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 4/29/2010 Time: 10:00: 5:00

Water: Clear Water Temp: 56

Weather: Sunny Temp: 70

It was chilly when I put in at the State Park, but it warmed up in no time. I did the SP2 trip, State Park to Karo Landing. River level, clarity, and no floating debris combined for near perfect conditions. I had a good trip last week and was hopeful for a repeat. The morning was slow, only caught one smallmouth. Around eleven it picked up some. Maybe the water had warmed up a bit. I started catching a few smallmouth by fishing the slack water around the rock ledges. The bass were hanging in the pools, not in the fast water like last week. Once again, I was using a Rebel Wee Craw crankbait (ditch). I tried different lures, including soft plastics and spinnerbaits, but the Wee Craw seemed to be the best choice. After a couple of hours, the bite went dead. Hardly caught any fish for over an hour. However one of the only fish I caught during that time was the biggest bass I've caught this year. There's a deep area in front of the houses across from the second creek. Look for a stone retaining wall on the bank. The deep area is just downriver. I always slow fish this spot, usually drift fishing soft plastics. Yesterday I was dead sticking a 4" senko (green pumpkin) and caught a 20" largemouth. Nice! Around two o'clock the smallmouth started biting again. The fishing was fairly decent for the rest of the afternoon. As a result of the fishing being an off and on kind of thing, I caught less than twenty bass for the day. The size wasn't anything special either, except for the big largemouth. My best smallmouth was 15" and I caught a few that were pretty small. Oh well. I have yet to catch any bluegill this year. Where are my old friends? Where are my bluegill? Saw lots of good sized catfish, for those of you so inclined. Also saw some bald eagles. I've seen bald eagles so many times out here on the South Fork, but it's always an impressive sight. Wrapping it up,not a great day but not bad either. Caught a few smallmouth, nailed a lunker largemouth and enjoyed a sunny day on the South Fork Pretty good way to spend a spring day. Hope you get some time on the South Fork in the near future. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 4-20-10 Time: 9:30 - 5:00

Water: clear Water temp: clear

Weather: overcast Temp: 65

I fished the Sp2 trip, from the State Park to Karo Landing. Last week I reported that river conditions were nearly perfect. This week it was even better. The water had dropped to show a lot of rocks, but it was still high enough to get down the river easy. Water level, clarity, and the absence of floating debris made for ideal fishing conditions. My first two trips this year didn't exactly knock me out. Fishing was pretty slow the last couple of weeks . Thankfully, yesterday was a whole new story. After a slow morning start, the fishing was pretty darn good. Yeah, the morning was bad. I didn't get a fish 'til eleven. By that time I was already going oh crap, here we go again. But my very first fish was a fat 19 inch largemouth on a 4" senko (green pumpkin) drifted in that deep area in front of the first creek past the park. Soon after that I started getting some nice size smallmouth by fishing around the rocks. At first I caught a few with a #3 Mepps inline spinner (gold blade). Caught a few with that, then switched to the Rebel Wee Craw crankbait (brown). Spent the rest of the day fishing the Rebel Craw. Tried other crankbaits and spinners, soft plastics as well, but the Wee Craw was the ticket. The bass were hitting in the fast moving water around the rocks, usually right at the edge between the boil and the slack water. A lot of them were tight to the ledges. They were nailing the lure hard and fast, aggressive ambush style, and a lot of them put up a pretty good fight. I got over twenty bass yesterday. For this early in the year, that's pretty good. But the best part was all the bigguns I caught. Two 18", two 17", and several 15 and 16" smallmouth. Sweet! Add that 19" largemouth into the mix and I call it a truly fine day of fishing. Yesterday was a good example of the spring fishing I always talk about. There are problems with spring fishing because it is a transitional period. So its not always a sure bet. Its not as consistant as summer. But when spring conditions are right, its without a doubt the best time to get large bass. In the summer you will catch a lot more fish, but the larger bass are a lot harder to come by. Its a trade off. I love spring fishing. I prize days like yesterday. Good size spring smallmouth make for exciting fishing. Hope you have time for a trip in the near future. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Date: 4-14-10 Time: 9:30 - 4:00

Water: light stain Water temp: 55

Weather: overcast, then partly cloudy Temp: 65

I fished the SP2 trip, from the State Park to Karo Landing. Almost perfect river conditions. Nice level, slightly stained, next to no floating debris. A few rocks were showing. Real nice. But the water is still somewhat chilly. Perhaps that explains why the fishing was a bit on the slow side. Only caught eight smallmouth for the whole day. Caught two on a Rebel Wee Crawfish (ditch), the rest on a #3 Mepps inline spinnerbait (gold blade). Got most of the bass fishing slack water around the rocks. Caught a couple near the bank. Not a bit of luck in the creeks. What happened to those largemouth that were holed up there last week? Anyway, at least I caught some decent size smallmouth. Six of them were over a foot, the best went sixteen inches. Still, it wasn't what I'd call an outstanding day of fishing. But its early in the season and the water is still kinda' cold. I'm pretty hyped about just gettin back in the game again. After spending most of the winter indoors, getting out on the river and catching a few bass is enough to put a smile on my face. And I know the water is getting warmer day by day, so its only a matter of time before the fishing improves. Remember, as I've told you before, spring is the best time of the year for scoring lunker smallmouth. So don't miss out on some spring fishing trips.

Ed T.

Date: 4-6-10 Time: 9:30 - 2:00

Water: stained Water temp: 57

Weather: Sunny Temp: mid 80's

This year's first trip. Sure was great to be back on the South Fork. Did last winter suck or what. The river was pretty high and stained. Not much debris floating in the water, which means its been high for awhile so most of the trash has washed through. Overall, I'd say the river is in real good condition for this time of the year. I did a short four and a half hour trip yesterday, from the State Park to Karo Landing. I didn't do real well with the smallmouth. Only caught three, running from 10 to 14 inches. Caught all three on a Mepps # 3 inline spinnerbait (gold blade). All three were caught near the bank, pulled out of pockets of slower moving water. My best fish were the largemouth I caught in the creeks. The first creek, by the Stump Hole, gave up a 16 and a 19 inch largemouth to 4" senkos (green pumpkin). The second creek, across from the houses, produced a nice 17 inch largemouth on the spinner. The 19 inch largemouth was a whopper, probably weighed in around four pounds. I didn't do real well in the river proper, but the creek fishing was well worth the effort. If you fish the creeks, be sure to paddle up in them pretty far. I caught all those bass past the half way point. Pretty good results for this year's first trip. Like I said, it was great just to be back on my favorite little stretch of river. Beautiful hot sunny day. The four and a half hours were more than enough to give me a slight sunburn. Get out for some nice spring fishing if you get a chance. Good luck with your fishing.

Ed T.

Clyde reports that fishing has improved a lot since the middle of March. He was catching big smallies off the landing before the water came up. With good river flow and warming water temperatures, the fishing is only going to get better from here. Ed T. will be on the river starting next week and will submit reports the rest of the season. Get out here and wet a line!

Don R.