This was a really nice fish! It actually ended one of the best weeks of fishing I have ever had. I fished six of seven days on the New River from May the 1st through May the 7th, during which time I caught roughly 110 fish. Most were smallmouth with a few red eyes thrown in, a bluegill, fall fish and an 18 inch musky to boot, not to mention the brown trout from who knows where. In addition I got a hold of a monster carp that felt more like Moby Dick. I fought him for quite some time never gaining any ground, but alas he broke me off. The smallmouth pictured here is probably the nicest one I have ever caught. I thought for sure it was a trophy fish. I wasn't able to get a length measurement, but it weighed in at somewhere between 3 3/4 and just short of 4 pounds. Since 4 pounds is needed for the citation and this guy fell short I let him loose to grow bigger, but at least I got this cool picture. I caught this fish on a black Joe Fly Elite with a number 4 blade that I made myself. This is fast becoming my favorite lure and color as it was the same one that landed my 18 inch musky this year and a 28 inch musky I caught last year, in addition to the mystery brown trout, a flathead catfish and several carp. It is quite the versatile lure.
It was an overcast Sunday morning fishing the New River in front of Bluestone Dam. With the smallmouth bite being on Austin and I had a very good morning catching bronze backs. I ended up catching 17 fish altogether; however, I thought it more likely to hook the Lochness Monster than a Brown Trout out of the New River. It must have washed down from Camp Creek, or possibly the Bluestone River as it had been stocked with Rainbows last year by WVU. Being a Brown Trout makes this catch even more perplexing as this species is rarely stocked. It's a good thing this photograph was taken to properly document the oddity.
Gotta Think Deeper - May 1st, 2024
2 days ago
