1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fishing Reports
›
3. Fall Smallmouth and end of season brown trout

I made one trip in late August to the WB and another in late September to close the cabin and set up an appt with the plumber to winterize it. On both trips the weather was very nice but there was virtually no rising trout. The trout I did catch were on various color Clouser minnows. The fish caught on the Susky were caught on an all yellow Clouser with gold flash in the middle tied on a 1/0 Mustad circle hook. While as you know I prefer casting dry flies to rising wild trout I am not such an elitist that a big streamer might not somehow find itself tied to my leader. Many of my friends look down there noses at me for pursuing some of the techniques that I employ but as long as it is legal I'm all in.

Good stuff Matt! Though there are many places to fish here year round, there still is a pang, somewhere inside, when another fishing season has come to a close. September 30th was the end here in Michigan.

I was up a couple weeks back to close things out myself, and I didn't have anywhere near the success you had.

This was a great year for me though...April in PA with "the Boys", a couple trips to Grayling, and then out to Montana.



:) Speaking of "the dark art"...I think I may visit my local smallie stream here soon. We got some water here this week that may have left the river in good condition for some streamer tossing...Don't tell anyone! ;)

Spence

WOW Matt, some really beautiful fish there, including the smallie and the catfish! I managed to catch a couple of 17" channel cats from a stocked but largely unfished pond in Texas back in 2005. One actually took a little deer hair "micropopper" (size 10 dry fly hook) off the surface, the other a #6 (I think it was, otherwise #10) original silver/grey KBF (got my biggest largemouth ever from this same pond on that same fly the very next day - 20" long, 5.5 lbs.). Those browns are really, really nice too, very healthy looking fishies. Visualize the 18-incher as the one I caught after dark this summer when my camera flash didn't work...

Who looks down their noses at streamers?? Scr*w 'em! I'll never give up my Woolly Buggers or KBFs no matter who ever says or thinks what. They work and they catch nice big fish as you have showed so nicely. And there's nothing quite like the JOLT of a fish slamming into one, sending the shock wave straight up through the line to your arm and up into you brain!

Well done Sir. And again, nice to see some fishies on here for a change, not too many of us troutnuts have been posting photos on here lately.

Jonathon

BTW Spence, I know where you're talking about...good luck and post us some photos if you get lucky!

Jonathon

Nice fish, Matt.

I'll be on the WB this weekend or next tossing some huge streamers...good to see they're chasing.