Underrated Quarry (part 2)
by Augustus Knickmeyer
Not only is it great that bluegill ponds, or smallmouth streams are close to home and easy to make a run down to homewaters in order to catch the evening bite; it brings back lots of great memories. Going through the woods to secluded bluegill ponds has a certain nostalgia that I have to admit, I love revisiting from time to time. It does not hurt that I do not have to feel bad about bringing home a stringer of fish for the pan, a pleasure I do not normally experience, as I release all smallmouth and other stream bred fish, as I feel they’re pressured too heavily to sustain one more person bringing them home; not to mention the increase in size and quality of fish that results from catch and release fishing.
The sporting qualities of many of our lesser known sport fish are very much underrated, and most definitely my favorite reason for targeting them. Shortly after becoming a fly fishing fanatic, I got a job near one of Missouri’s best trout streams, the Eleven Point River. I resided there for a year and a half and made it my goal to learn that river as best as I could. Now although I loved targeting the wild rainbows inhabiting “The Point” I could not help but find other, species, those less targeted, and techniques, in order to mix it up and make new learning experiences for my new found passion. The local smallmouth bass and chain pickerel population were where I turned most often when I needed something different from the standard Eleven Point ‘bow. The strong fight of a smallmouth, and absolutely smashing takes from the pickerel were a refreshing break from watching Thing-A-Ma-Bobbers suspending nymphs and maribou jigs. After catching a raft of smaller trout, I began to dabble in the world of big streamers. It did not take long for myself to become what I would describe as an all out, big streamer junkie.
All I think about is tying and throwing big meaty flies, all day long, until my knuckles swell and my fingers bleed, just at the prospect of seeing aggressive, predatory fish trash my offering. Now at first, like many other fly fisherman, this tactic is a great way to target, most obviously, large dominant brown trout. However, it does not take long for one to begin applying these techniques to other species. And what better than my old standby, the smallmouth bass? They hide in cover, they love streams, and killing anything they can fit in their mouths. As I have been transferring these big trout tactics over to warmwater species, it seems as though they match bass and others, quite possibly even better than they do the trout. And not just smallmouth, the largemouth, among many others. The past couple years I have been focusing on smallmouth through the summer, however I am planning on breaking out the meat flies in many other locations this coming year. Here in Missouri, we have Chain pickerel, bowfin, landlocked stripers, hybrids, muskie, and many others at our disposal, all of which I know are hiding out under a log somewhere, waiting to trash an oversized streamer.
All I think about is tying and throwing big meaty flies, all day long, until my knuckles swell and my fingers bleed, just at the prospect of seeing aggressive, predatory fish trash my offering. Now at first, like many other fly fisherman, this tactic is a great way to target, most obviously, large dominant brown trout. However, it does not take long for one to begin applying these techniques to other species. And what better than my old standby, the smallmouth bass? They hide in cover, they love streams, and killing anything they can fit in their mouths. As I have been transferring these big trout tactics over to warmwater species, it seems as though they match bass and others, quite possibly even better than they do the trout. And not just smallmouth, the largemouth, among many others. The past couple years I have been focusing on smallmouth through the summer, however I am planning on breaking out the meat flies in many other locations this coming year. Here in Missouri, we have Chain pickerel, bowfin, landlocked stripers, hybrids, muskie, and many others at our disposal, all of which I know are hiding out under a log somewhere, waiting to trash an oversized streamer.
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