...on the Huron River for this year, aside from an abortive trip last June when I nearly drowned trying to wade. I've been wanting to go for weeks, but different committments (read: the porch project), plus my trout addiction, have kept me away. I always say that I want to explore local fishing more...maybe I should focus on that next season (especially if gas costs $5 a gallon?). Heck, I can focus on that for the rest of this season. With a heavier load at the university this fall, I may not have a choice. Cruel fate...forcing me to fish a prime smallmouth river!
I got onto a favorite Dexter area stretch a little after 8:30, and saw hex spinners hovering and dipping above the river. I didn't see any actually on the water, and they didn't stir any volume of feeding. A couple of fish too small for the hook of my spinner struck, and around the time the flies stopped, I caught a 7" rock bass--above average for that species on the Huron.
Closer to dark, the white flies (ephorons) started to hatch, though not in the blizzard quantities they sometimes do. Again I saw few actually on the water and little surface activity. Actually, most of the rises I saw were to my own fly! I was fishing a ephoron dun along likely cover, and as it passed over a midstream boulder, it drew a heavy take. The fish took line from me immediately and gave me a couple of minutes of stiff resistance, with a couple of nice water clearing jumps along the way. When I brought the smallmouth to hand, I taped him at 16"...a nice fish, and certainly larger than the ones I usually catch during the hatches. Wouldn't you know I left the camera behind.
I caught a smaller bass, then a succession of little rock bass before the flies stopped and full darkness came.
Not a record book outing, but good enough to send me home crunching my schedule to find time for a few more outings while the bugs are still on the wing.
Tags: Fishing; Fly Fishing
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