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SPINORFLY
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Re: Smith River
Bob,
I second the advice about Jeff's flies and I would go one further and say it would be well worth it to have Jeff guide you for a day on the Smith. You'll learn more about fishing the river in a few hours than you will in many trips going it alone.
I fished the Smith Saturday and Monday and it is fishing very well right now. I had success with #14 caddis and Jeff's pheasant tail.
SPINORFLY
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6/6/2006, 10:43 am
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bobbyg6
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Re: Smith River
Boykingdog, I agree with you! I think a lot of our best waters are being poached heavily. I don't know if any of the
fisherman who view and post on this site ever fished Bullhead Creek in Stone Mtn. State Park (I'm sure most have) but the quantity and quality of fish has diminished
drastically! Used to be browns in there the size of a large mans leg (well, maybe not that big) but certainly some monster trout! Now you can walk the trail and not see a good sized fish!! It's got to be poachers. Or maybe the water and fish are not being attended to as they once were? I don't know, but I do know that years ago I could fish that lovely stream and land many good sized trout and lose a couple of those monsters on my light tackle!
I don't have an answer for the diminished quantitiy and quality of fish, but if someone does I will be willing to help rectify the situation.
Sorry for the mini-rant. Am just frustrated in general with our lack of quality native trout fishing!!
Bobby G.
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6/6/2006, 7:34 pm
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Jeff Wilkins
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Re: Smith River
Hey guys just one note on a developing situation with regard to the Smith R. The green algae/scum on the bottom--anyone noticed that in many stretches of the river?
Its a diatomaceous algae that is a non native (and parasitic) growth. One of my fishing friends sent a sample to the EPA, I followed up with a couple of the folks there, and a lady named Sarah Spaulding emailed back wanting to know the fisheries contact person for that part of Virginia. They are very interested in looking into what its all about, and surprisingly theres a case study of a similar problem on a Black Hills, SD river that is a mirror image of the Smith. The river also has the same ills as the Smith has had for several years, # of fish, size of fish, few large fish, etc. You can check it out on the EPA's website, the plant is known as didymo (didymosphenia geminata specifically).
We keep pressing to get some answers.
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6/6/2006, 10:04 pm
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Jeff Wilkins
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Re: Smith River
Rant on!!!! Bullhead has had many ills too, some of it being animals as well as people (birds, minks, etc. ) The past 10 years there were many times summer drought brought the stream flow so low that many of the fish were sitting ducks to predators they typically could get away from. In fact, most folks believe (along with the park ranger Larry Trivette) that this is why section one has hardly any fish at all anymore.
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6/6/2006, 10:08 pm
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bobbyg6
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Re: Smith River
Hadn't considered animal predation Jeff, but it certainly makes sense. Anything we can do to improve conditions on the Bullhead?
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6/7/2006, 5:50 am
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Jeff Wilkins
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Re: Smith River
I think a few times in the past the rangers /staff had looked into the possibility of trapping some of the animals and taking them away for release somewhere else. But the issue then was that others would only move in in their places. The birds are a problem too, as some anglers have noticed the large kingfisher(s) that seem to make brief showings on sections 1, 2, 4. The low water is probably the most serious problem, no cure for that. One thing is for sure though, gone are the pools full of large fish that once were the norm there.
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6/9/2006, 2:55 pm
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bobbyg6
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Re: Smith River
It's really a shame!
What was once a majestic fishery will never be so again.
Maybe not----we can all hope.
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6/10/2006, 6:19 pm
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BoykinDog
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Re: Smith River
The best pat of Bullhead is section 3. I have not fished it in years since they raised the price. But above the falls was a wonderful place to catch all the brookies you wanted. I do not think many people knew about this. My belief is that everyone headed up the main prong looking for the pigs. But I cherish those days of 50 fish that acted like they had never seen a fly. There is an easy walk out down and old service path. Perhaps I will visit there again one day.
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6/23/2006, 8:48 pm
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MooseFly
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Re: Smith River
I'm absolutely new to Nat Green Flyfishers, so I've been looking around the message board topics for a bit. We (wife and I) used to participate in white water canoeing almost every weekend for many years, belonging to the Carolina Canoe Club. Each time someone lead a trip to a particular river, they wrote up a trip report which helped others understand both the participating paddlers and the river. Some trip reports were good, some were OK, some were extremely informative.
From what I have just read (all the posts), the information provided about the Smith is EXCELLENT! This makes me want to meet with and talk with you guys, and we're looking forward to seeing you in September. Thanks a heap!
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8/14/2009, 6:42 pm
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