The Memorial Bob Z Smallmouth Float

Last week I made my first small mouth float of the year. Each year since the passing of our good friend(Bob Z.), we float a memorial trip as a tribute to the guy who introduced us to fly fishing smallmouth on the St.Croix. As you may recall, a few years ago  I shot this little piece of video on the very first float. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tcLko3jFUg Bob was an avid pursuer of the elusive Musky as well.  This year, for the first time there was two boats. This meant a bit of extra shuffling and shuttling, but all went off without  hitch.

The St. Croix’s flows were  quite high this year and are remaining that way on account of all the extra precipitation. Arriving at the launch the river seemed characterless. The rocks and runs that we know it by were all beneath the smooth flowing high water. We would be blind casting all day with no structure apparent in the murky flows. The trick was going to be either to find the undercuts with top water flies or  prospect the depths with sink tips and weighted minnow imitations. A number of avid smallmouth anglers said the river may be too high for the fish to be actively feeding, but our little group would not be denied.

As we anchored in the channel and rigged our rods wagers were made. $5.00 from each angler paid to the catcher of the largest smallmouth. $20.00 from each angler paid to the angler catching the largest Musky. The chances on this day were quite low that this feat could be achieved so the group felt comfortable forking out the money. The question was raised that some in the group could be considered  less than stand up and may try to skate away without paying so money was collected and put in safe keeping under the boat seat before the beginning of the float.

Bass were tucked into the undercuts, creek mouths, backwaters, and slow downs. As expected few were caught in any fast water dumps or runs. Most fish were caught on my new “Wild Thing” minnow in Tiger Fire (chartreuse over yellow). It was nice to see it work so effectively under these conditions. The largest fish was caught sub-surface on a sculpin pattern. 19 1/2″ of beautiful St. Croix Smallmouth. No Muskies were caught. There was however one top water fly cleanly cut off above the knot in approximately the same location where the video was shot. Upon the strike, the line and the leader came back to the angler without the fly. After accessing the situation it was clear that a large toothy critter was responsible. The fly, discovered a moment later, was floating motionless on the river. It had been returned to the owner by the fish who wanted to make his presence know.

We know your out there buddy!