NEAR ALLISONIA, Va. (WFXR) — Fly fishing has often been compared to ballet.
It requires grace.
It requires precision.
It requires rhythm.
It requires timing.
And, if all the conditions are met, it can be a thing of beauty and a place to find solitude.
At least until a fish hits!
“There’s one up on the bank,” said guide and owner of New River Fly Fishing Mike Smith as fellow guide Stephen Howard hooked up with a chunky smallmouth.
The rod bowed and after several jumps the fish was in the net.
Such is a typical day on the New River chasing prespawn smallmouth bass with the folks from New River Fly Fishing.
Smith and Howard have been fishing the river for decades, and they say prespawn is the time to target giants.
“You can’t beat it this time of year,” said Howard. “The weather’s perfect, the water’s great, and the big fish are active.”
Prespawn fish are on the feed, putting on weight before hitting the spawning beds. Smith and Howard know where to find them.
“We’re looking for boulders in about four or five feet of water,” said Smith as he explained what he looks for when locating prespawn smallies. “We want it to be pretty slow-moving where the fish can just kind of lay up and warm up and feed.”
The gear used was an eight weight fly rod with sinking line. Large articulated flies like Game Changers were the favored bait for the day.
“It hit like a truck!” Howard exclaimed after using one of those articulated minnow imitations to boat a smallmouth that weighed north of five pounds.
“She was up here in the prespawn water that we like to target, fishing a suspended fly ” explained Smith as he gestured to the chartreuse fly the bass had just hit.
“The fly has an articulated spine,” added Smith as he explained how it works. “The segments get smaller as it goes back so it gets a really natural swimming action.”
The New River is certainly one of the top smallmouth fisheries in the United States, and the argument could be made that it is one of the best in the world. That is because of a superior forage base, excellent structure and habitat, and fantastic numbers of fish.
“You just got to get down in the strike zone and keep it there,” said Smith. “You’ll get them.”
While prespawn is the time to target trophy smallmouth, there is good smallmouth fishing on the New all year. Techniques will vary depending on the season, but the fish are there.
And after years of battling smallmouth on the New, Smith and Howard answered the question: “Is this still fun for you?”
“Are you kidding me,” said Smith while laughing and nodding his head.
“Yes,” added Howard emphatically!
If you have never fly fished before, New River Fly Fishing offers lessons.
