Charlie and Stew first fished with me in April '05. Being good clients and friends of our late-friend Cap'n Jack West, I admit I was a little nervous at first. I prepared them for a tough day on the water as we headed to the put-in since the April bite had been on slower side. As we were loading the boat, Stew asked me what color tube we would be using, Cap'n Jack's favorite bait. I informed Stew that we'd be fishing a "new bait" for them, a suspending jerkbait, and not to lose it because it is quite expensive. I could feel the crazy looks as we headed off to begin our day. Within 10 minutes, Stew landed a beautiful 19.5"-er. Charlie then got into the action by landing an 18.5" fish. About mid-day, Stew lost his jerkbait on a loud snap during his cast. Charlie quickly casted in the direction of Stew's bait and snagged his line retrieving the lost lure. Immediately, Charlie informed Stew that he was "one lure up on him," and the best that I can remember, he still is to this day. After that, Charlie went on an absolute rampage hooking big fish after big fish. To say Charlie was in the zone is an understatement as he landed ten fish 18" or better over the course of the day including two 20"-ers that both weighed 4lbs and many, many quality fish in the 15" to 17" range. Towards the end of the trip, Charlie hooked into a nice fish. As I went to net it, I realized two fish were now on the jerkbait....both quality fish. The chain of events caused quite a commotion as we were all laughing and yelling prefusely at Charlie's good fortion; so much so that we attracted observers from the bank that thought we were absolutely crazy. As I snapped the picture, I let Charlie know that I couldn't see his face for all the fish....all 34" and 5.75lbs of them. I don't think any of us will soon forget that memorable day on the river!

On a recent trip, the bite was quite tough for the first half of the day. We were trying everything with limited success....fish here, fish there, on this, on that....but no real pattern. About mid-day, I spot some carp jumping/circling and have my client throw a SENKO to them (see entry below for why we target carp). I pick up my new favorite "tough-bite" lure, the "CRAW-BARRY," aptly named after former New River Guide Barry Loupe, and toss it in a riffle to see if it would possibly bring us a bite. The bait falls and comes to a dead stop. I set hard and it feels like I am hung on a rock. I drop the rod and just sit there for a bit waiting for my client to fish the spot out. After a couple of seconds, the drag starts screaming on the rod that is hung up, and I rear back again....I swear that we have a carp on. The fish never comes up, never jumps, NOTHING but stripping/screaming drag!!!! The whole time I am in dis-belief at this whole thing (the bait, the spot, the hangup, the take, the drag ripping), AND then I notice it is dang smallmouth, and a big one.  Check out this bruiser....I have to admit it was quite a suprise.

There is a lot to be said about carp and smallmouth, but I can tell you that more times than not, when I spot a feeding carp or a group of feeding carp, there is one or more big smallmouth somewhere in the vicinity taking advantage of the easy meal; I don't care what anyone says, I have seen it too many times. In any case, the two days Larry fished with me in August on the fly were no different. We did catch fish on bugs early, mid-day, and late, but during the slower times we dropped down on crayfish flies and caught some of the biggest fish of the trip. During both days of the trip we kept spotting big smallmouth following or right beside the feeding carp; however, most times we spooked both of them before we could get a good cast in. On the second day of the trip, we entered a great looking feeding flat to find the carp extremely active. Big smallmouth were with each and every one of these carp, and we made repeated sight casts to these fish. We did boat some nice smallmouth, but I guess Larry got a little overzealous and laid his fly right in front of this big carp pictured above. After about a five minute fight on his 8-wt with zipping drag runs, we boated this fish. I don't think Larry really wanted to touch "mister orange lips," but we got the picture anyhow. Always remember, "Follow the Carp," and you can't go wrong!!!

Summer is definitely a good time to throw topwater baits; however, some days the fish are just not looking up and will not hit them with any consistency. That was just the case this past July when Alex and Bob fished with me. We were catching fish on a variety baits, and a couple of our better fish had come on topwater, but they were definitely not on it. Bob was doing really well on plastics, when Alex picked up his topwater lure and began chunking it all over the place. I let him throw for about 10 minutes or so and then asked him, "Are you gonna keep throwing that in the turbulent water?" Alex repsonded, " I wasn't really thinking about it." We then start targeting soft pockets with the topwater lure while all the time Bob is picking up nice fish on his plastics. I told Alex that if he caught something, it would probably be a "big fish" since the average-sized fish had shown no interest in the big 3/8oz topwater plug. Alex agreed, and commented he'd rather throw it for the "big one." We were working a very shallow ledge when Alex made a perfect cast on the downstream side into the soft pocket. Immediately, the fish engulfed his bait and the fight was on. We manuevered the fish through the shallow ledge and boated him; a solid 21.5"/4lb 4oz summer smallmouth for Alex. Alex definitely threw the crap out of that lure, and he had mentally prepared himself for the long drought of no fish in anticipation of catching a quality fish. It paid off for him!!!