8/13/16 New Section, Same Result

Mike and I got the chance to fish a new section of river last Saturday. I had been on part of it last year but had wanted to float the remainder for quite a while. It is a nice section with some very nice and unique features including a dam, a handful of bridges, several cold water feeder creeks, and a diversion channel with a subsequent return channel. This section also had numerous log jams and shallow riffles that made the float slow going and hard work at times. It also had some very nice looking water that fished very well. Mike and I combined for at least a dozen Pike over the course of the day. We also caught quite a few Smallmouth Bass including a 19 1/2" beauty that I landed towards the end of the day. Pike were concentrated in the deeper pools and we had especially good luck where feeder creeks were coming into the river. I caught the majority of my fish on my go-to summer Pike lure: the spinner bait. I also caught a few fish on a buzz bait. I landed a few Pike approaching the 30" mark and even got my biggest Pike of the year so far with a fish that dwarfed my 30" bump board by at least several inches. It had a big head and a thick body. What a fish! Small rivers like this one can be very hard work but can also be extremely rewarding. It always amazing to see the caliber of fish that these places can hold. If you haven't been out fishing, you need to go! The fishing is great right now.