6/11/17 River Smallmouth Action

I finally got the chance to take my friend Troy on a canoe trip down the White River. Troy moved to Anderson a few years ago and it was only a matter of time before I got him out for this trip. The predicted high temperature on Sunday was a balmy 91 degrees. With that in mind we planned an early trip and got on the river shortly after 7am. The river was clear but not too clear. All indicators pointed to us having a good day. Troy threw a crank bait the majority of the day and absolutely tore up the Smallmouth Bass! He caught 3 fish from the first run and never looked back. Troy described the day as "the single best day of Smallmouth fishing he has ever had". It's hard to say how many fish he caught but if I had to guess I would say at minimum he brought 30 fish to hand. I on the other hand didn't catch a fish for a couple of hours. The fly rod and crayfish fly was just not getting it done. I was starting to regret only bringing the fly rod and leaving my box of streamer flies in the truck. Finally, I got on the board and managed to pick away at the fish for the next couple of hours and ended up catching around 15 fish total. All in all I'd say we landed a dozen or so fish in the 14-17" range and who knows how many fish from 10-13". Troy lost a VERY nice fish right at the boat. He threw a bomb cast across the river, took two turns on the handle, and immediately his lure got absolutely demolished! Most Smallies go airborne when they get hooked but this fish just stayed deep and headed for deeper water. Telltale sign of a big fish. It was definitely in the 18-20" range and once it made it to the boat, it took a few jumps and runs before coming unbuttoned just before it could be netted. The one that got away. I bet Troy is looking forward to getting back and having another crack at that fish. We had a beautiful day on the water and it was great to catch up with a good friend.