The Yamaha XT 600 posing with my Sage VXP 8′ 6″ 4WT Fly Rod.
The temperature outside was in the high eighties, the air thick enough to wade through. Lacking a pool and with the lakes all kind of warmish the best option to keep cool on Sunday was wet wading in the river! I loaded my XT 600 with some light duty gear for the Smallmouth and rode over to the Lazy “K” Ranch to meet Mark. Over at the old homestead in progress we ran into our other rod and gun club mates. Woodhead was out feeding the resident deer. Dave and Zach came over to enjoy a beer however, I rallied at least Mark and Zach to head down to the river.
My old wading shoes demonstrating their age.
In an exciting bit of news, using accumulated L.L. Bean dollars I was able to replace my old set of waders with an upgraded pair. The old ones were getting worn out and some of the lace holders had popped out. The pair I purchased are called West Branch Studded Wading Shoes by L.L. Bean. After using the new boots for several hours on Sunday I am highly satisfied with the purchase. The shoes lace up well and provide ample support. The rubberized materials seem to keep off “aquatic hitchhikers” while drying quickly. The studs provide ample grip on slippery rocks, even allowing me to catch my balance and save my phone after falling over a big hidden rock!
Brand new L.L. Bean wading shoes, new boot smell and all.
Midsummer on the Paulinskill can be an exciting time to dip a hook in the water. There is literally no telling what you could pull out of the water when something bites. The variety of temperatures, habitat and stream conditions allows for many species, stocked and wild to live together. In just a few hours of fishing we had landed Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Largemouth Bass, White Suckers, Sunfish and a Golden Shiner. This year, the copious rainfall that has kept the river cool and flowing high, yielding above average fishing days.
Typical Smallmouth out of the Paulinskill.
As far as tactics go, this time of year the fish seemed to be enjoying a Green Woolly Bugger or similar fly, cast across stream, allowed to dead drift downstream and then retrieved in two inch strips or a steady lift. I suspect a wet fly attractor would have presented in a similar manner and yielded and equally good day of fish. The only trick was locating faster water, springs or deep pools. That seemed to be where the fish were congregating.
Nice holdover Rainbow and not the only one I dredged up.
The day was predicted to be a washout, however, if we made it out to the Delaware River early enough there was a chance to engage in a couple hours worth of pre-frontal fishing conditions. Mark and I were up to the challenge; accustomed to waking up for work early, a 5:30AM wake up is not a problem. Especially since in all of summer’s glory, it is already light out by this time!
Spin casting in the distance, on this day Fly Fishing was the way to go.
Arriving on a remote dirt road in the Delaware Water Gap NRA everything about today looked like it would have been a washout. The cloud ceiling was low, the humidity high and a marked chill in the air. The only part of this adventure not cooperating was the barometric pressure, which was rising and not falling, sub optimal for pre-frontal fishing conditions we sought. Looking out at the low hills surrounding the Delaware River there were spirals of mist lifting off of the treetops and little droplets of rain falling. I donned my L.L. Bean Emerger II wading jacket on top, filled it with fly boxes, tied on some 0X tippet and marched (quietly) out to the river.
Look at that evil red eye!
Equipment and Tactics
A selection of flies which have proven effective for Smallmouth Bass.
At this point we have written a sizeable amount of material on seeking Bass and other warm water fish. This time I used my 7WT St. Croix Bankrobber, my Sage 4280 reel and some weight forward floating Rio Grand line. Following the advice of Barry Reynolds and John Berryman in, “Beyond Trout a Fly Fishing Guide,” I brought pearl white Zonkers, Woolly Buggers and some crawfish patterns that I purchased at Orvis NYC. The crawfish or mudbug patterns work but probably not as well in the Delaware as Zonkers or Woolly Buggers. The location to seek Smallmouth, very similar to trout is the transition area between fast and slow water where the Bronzebacks are holding to feed. The Smallmouth Bass is a river fish and can tolerate a moderate current though not to the level of a Trout. Pound for pound these are the hardest fighting freshwater fish out there.
When river fishing in the summer, these guys like Woolly Buggers in fast water.
The Take
Smallmouth Bass like streamers, they do not eat them delicately, they rip through and devour the streamer. I use the Kelly Galloup method for hucking streamers to Trout and apply it back to Bronzebacks. For more information you can check out his book. In New Jersey we do not have the massive Browns he has in Montana, we have Smallmouth in big rivers like the Delware. Anyway, I throw my streamer out on the slow water, fast water transition line near a deep pool. I do this once, I do this twice, the third time as I go to retrieve, the line goes taught as if I just drove my Zonker hook into a floating log.
This guy bent over my 7WT St. Croix Bankrobber.
Just as I hook into the juicy upper lip of this “log,” the fly line rips through my fingers that are maintaining tension. Holy crap, that was not a log that is a fish! The fight was intense; I used most of my effort to prevent the Bronzeback from moving into the fast water, once I got the fish on the reel it was easier to control. As I shortened his leash and moved him in towards my net, he enveiled the last of his evade, escape and survive arsenal. He went air born! By far the best part of aggressive Smallmouth Bass is that they not only fight you below the surface but they engage in aerial combat when you least expect it. I bowed my pole to him and kept the tension, however this Zonker was securely fastened to his upper lip do to the aggressive take. As I netted the fish, it turned out to be a one pounder, I am curious to learn what a four to five pound Smallmouth Bass fights like.
This one was not very big, he still put up a valiant fight.
Spin Rod Verse Fly Rod
As many of you can tell from the extensive tales of outdoor adventure on this site, I often go fishing with my buddy Mark. Mark is a die-hard spin fisherman, who I can proudly say, now owns a fly rod (that he has not used). He was able to land two Smallies, however this was the day of the fly rod. I landed three Smallies, a Rock Bass and a White Zucker all on various flies. This was a bit of redemption from last summer’s adventures where Mark out fished the fly.
Excellent beer sign, I want this for my basement bar.
The rain finally came as a torrential down pour around 12:30, beginning to soak even through my rain jacket. We decided to call it quits, as the rain was about to wash out the entire weekend. However, no trip to these splendidly isolated parts of Sussex County New Jersey is complete without a trip to one of the many glorious roadhouse and watering holes at the park boundaries. On this day we went to The Flatbrook Tap House, a rustic fishing themed establishment on the edge of Stokes State Forest, the banks of the Big Flatbrook and located on 206 North. We had delicious deep friend Calzones and Chicken Parmigian sandwiches. I highly recommend this place to a hungry angler or biker in the area.
Vintage map at the Flatbrook Tap House of Stokes State Forest Circa 1982
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