Year Round Fly Fishing on the Smith River - Fly Fishing Smith River Virginia

As we are progressing through our fall season well out here on the Smith River in Bassett Virginia, we are finding fish transitioning into new trends based on temperatures and flows. It really highlights the luxury of our resource here in the foothills of the blue ridge region and our accessibility to viable trout fishing year round! Heading into colder temperatures has us reflecting on season changes we fish throughout the calendar year and how it all comes full circle. The heightened temperatures increase bug activity and inherently the fish correspond, but also the fact that they still have to eat in the winter gives up options when tracking holding water and feeding patterns of our local trout population! This article will highlight the beauty of an ever changing tailwater that promotes year round Fly Fishing on the Smith River Virginia.

Fall Fishing:

Looking at where we are now into our seasonal calendar amidst one of the most stunning times to be on the water; Fall Fly Fishing! Clients and myself have been enjoying the fall foliage on full display over the last 4 weeks or so, despite dodging the infamous leaf hatch and not only the challenge of casting or mending line but finding a clean spot in the water where we may have a greater chance of catching a fish, rather than our 14th leaf of the day. The nymphs have stayed strong for us and continued to put fish in the net. We have slowly transitioned into some hopper dropper rigs as we are hanging out on low flows. Even in the fall, mix in some sunlight and warmer temperatures we are still finding bugs coming off and fish looking up for an easy meal. Our risers are getting more and more quiet as the year progresses. Now seeing more surface feeders eating small dries in the tailouts with the most quaint silent surface disruption leaving a clue to their existence and general location. These fish are stealthy in their surface feeding habits and easy to put down with an inopportune cast. However, even with the finicky trends in their surface feeding it is quite remarkable to be able to continue to pursue trout with dry flies into the later fall season and into the winter months. As always a personal favorite passion of mine is hunting down trout with streamers. Understanding I am not looking for 15 but more looking for something in that 15”+ range! Fall streamer fishing can be very rewarding with some fish knowing what seasonal changes are ahead and looking for a large meal to pack on some extra protein rich meals heading into the colder setting looming ahead.

Winter Fishing

As we progress into the Winter the ecosystem slows down but we as anglers have the opportunity to hold strong and not only fight the cold weather, but also pick a fight with a few fish along the way as we continue to pursue this exceptional population of trout here on the Smith River, Virginia. We notice a slight decrease in feeding activity, less than what we see in the warmer months, however trout being the coldwater species they are, they do not mind these temperatures. Think more of the water temperature, rather than air temperature; granted there may be some correlations with rising and dropping temperatures, but rarely enough to change a significant degree of water when our water temperatures are mostly dictated from the release of water from Philpott Dam. One trend I have seen over time is the numbers of fish hitting the net may decrease some but the potential size of fish increase, those larger trout are still looking to maintain dietary needs throughout the seasons. Thus, creating a prime opportunity to sling some streamers out there and look to awaken the beast from a long winter's nap for an injured baitfish pattern dancing slowly above his head. Metabolism of these fish will slow down in correlation to the dropping temperatures (both air and water) and promote the thought of us making it worth their while to feed, allowing us to get away with larger patterns even in our nymphs. Making it possible for these fish to feed less, but still achieve that same over caloric intake needed. The lack of feeding corresponds with their decreased seasonal metabolism and reflects the trend of less numbers, but allowing us to throw larger flies in efforts to peak their interest in a high value meal. Don’t get me wrong when talking about “less” numbers, there have been several winter outings where we crush more than the typical status quo and get us back into the school of thought compatible with fall or early spring trends! With the mild climate we participate in this can happen more often than not, we have seen several December days taper out into the 50s. Don’t get river shy due to temperatures, bundle up and go play it, you never know what the day may hold!

Spring

Another fan favorite trout season is the Spring season! The river ecosystem begins to come to life once again and emerge from its winter hibernations. With traditional spring trends, flowers budding heading into blooms, bugs begin popping off again, and the fish are back actively moving for food; another wonderful time of year to be on the water. We begin to see the fish start to find their way from their slow deep pools and winter holding grounds, sliding back into water with a little more current and aligning themselves back into the food highways created by the current seams. The ecosystem resets and flourishes back to its early seasonal states with the diverse insect population coming back into the picture. This trend becomes more prevalent as we receive more consistent warmth heading into mid to late spring. As we progress through this season we will see the size of insects coming off begin to increase in size. Gratefully not having to rely on a size 20 emerger or 22 dry BWO imitation to fool a finicky trout, to being able to throw a variety of dry fly profiles as there are more options reappearing into the ecosystem. There is a period in the Spring where a vast concentration of bugs are hatching and the fish have aligned their eating habits with this expansive accessibility to the food availability. Options we were seeing in the summer and into early fall stages, starting to build their presence back into the playbook. As anglers we can get away with a little more than we can once they get dialed into a certain pattern/profile. General trend I’ve seen throughout this season; the bugs come off but the fish aren't responding initially, it’s like they take some time to adjust their meal plan to coming back up top and devouring the dry flies. Once they are aligned we get the luxury of getting away with a larger variety of profiles and sizes. As the season continues and heads into summer these fish get very keyed in on a certain profile of the fly along with the specific size, thus creating that frustrating dry fly bite where you see them eating a certain bug and you replicate it to the best of your ability all to no avail. But, that is part of chasing trout on technical tailwaters, there are various intricacies that the trout are keyed in on. Just as I alluded to the dries, our nymph playbook can become just expansive as well as we see multiple patterns enter the rotation and hold their own out there finding fish! We are able to hold on to some larger patterns but also incorporate new imitations based on a larger sample of flies we are finding moving throughout the ecosystem. Spring can be such a great time to find opportunistic trout feeding after a long cold winter now becoming more active and responsive to a larger rolodex of patterns.

Summer 

A season with a picture perfect setting for trout fishing in most people's minds, finding trout feeding on the heightened concentration of lively bug life. Even though the food availability is at its peak, sometimes the chase of our trout can become finicky. These fish have now seen these bugs coming off for many weeks now and developed a good perception for what a real vs imitation looks like. Profile is key, but also the timing of our cast into the feed becomes just as crucial. Just like discussed with the overly critical analysis of these trout in the fall, we see something very similar here in the summer. Fish have now moved all throughout and depending on time of day or temperature trends can be found anywhere from the head of the runs out to the tailouts. A great time to be out surveying the water with the abundance of options in the arsenal to approach these fish with. The majority fly box is open and fair game at this point as the fish are moving and metabolic rates are at a premium. They can be found sipping countless tiny midges throughout the day, staged up in a feeding lane waiting for surface flies to float down the conveyor belt, and even willing to cover ground and chase a streamer for a larger meal. 

Overview

When in doubt fish it out, and specifically here on the Smith there are applicable tactics proven year round to find feeding trout. A few guidelines and thoughts listed above are not tried and true but merely trends identified through time. The greatest part about fishing in general but even more so here on the Smith River is that every day is different. Each outing presents a new equation of challenges or intricacies that may be somewhat predictable through time but not always a given. General rule, we see less activity in the winter but there is always that one day that breaks rules in any season and could leave you scratching your head and rethinking why you are out here and questioning the amount of time spent chasing these peculiar specimens. But also provides the opportunity to figure things out and build that database of trials and tribulations that hopefully build into many future good days on the water!

As always, I greatly appreciate all the support and look to share the experience floating down the Smith, several prime weekend dates are still available and can be found on our website or by giving us a call!

Remaining Nov. dates: Nov. 23, 26, 28, 29, 30th

www.luckystripsflyco.com

276-732-0517