“On The Top” Summertime River Smallmouth Tactics
Britt Stoudenmire
The late-summer months are an overlooked window to catch big smallmouth bass that have been lazily lying in the middle of the river after a long spawning season. The insect hatches and emergences that occur throughout the day including mayflies, damsel flies and my favorite, the cicada, spur feeding frenzies and create an excellent opportunity to throw topwater lures and flies.
One of my favorite lures to target topwater smallies during this period is the Pop-R. I make long casts with a 6-foot to 6-foot, 6-inch G.Loomis medium-action rod with a Shimano Stradic 2500 C4+ reel spooled with 20/6 Power Pro braided line. On entry into the water, I let the bait dead drift for about five seconds before working it erratically back to the boat. I target current seams, eddies, corner pockets and any type of structure or current break in the middle of fast water. It is important to continue working the bait with the same cadence, even if a fish is crashing behind it. Once you feel the rod load, reel into the fish and swing the rod back. Once hooked up, keep the rod and fish down in the water. Many big fish are lost while trying to pull the fish up to get a look at it.
Another one of my favorite topwater presentations is the buzzbait. I will target the same areas as above using a slightly stouter medium-heavy setup to drive the hook home. The key to the buzzbait is to get the bait up on the surface as soon as it hits the water. I favor a straight, steady retrieve, reeling just fast enough to keep the bait on the surface. When a fish eats it, allow him to load the rod before setting into him with a hard hook set. I favor longer shafted buzzbaits for better hook-ups, as I don’t use trailer hooks because of the damage they can do to smallies. If you have a blow up on your buzzbait and do not touch him with the hook, a quick follow up with a soft plastic will often garner an immediate bite from the same fish.
If you like to fly fish, summer is an excellent time to bust out the 7- or 8-weight and go looking for smallies. My favorite presentation for smallies on the fly is dead-drifting cicada bugs. This technique has produced some of my clients’ and my personal best fly-rod fish. When dead drifting cicada bugs isn’t working, several other presentations can produce explosive strikes. Any popper in the size-4 to size-6 range can attract smallies. When they strike, remember to strip up the slack line and into them before raising the rod tip hard to drive home the hook. If fish aren’t responding to the popper, another option is a slider-style fly. When stripped, the fly will dive slightly beneath the surface giving a darting and diving action. The Sneaky Pete is a good example, and this type of presentation can be deadly.
Britt Stoudenmire owns and operates New River Outdoor Co. with his wife Leigh and has been a full-time guide for the last 11 years on the New River in Southwest Virginia. You can reach him at (540) 921-7438 or www.newriveroutdoorco.com.
[easy-social-share]