Been somewhat of a hermit on my days off of work but took some time off and hit up the West branch. Knoch knolls first on the list. Couldn't find any promising spots. Water levels pretty low. Moved north to where I knew there was deeper water. Few smallies, few largies and a couple rock bass. Overcast seemed to ruin the bite. Smallies only hit when the sun peaked out.
First outing of the year on West branch
murdoc1872002
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Been somewhat of a hermit on my days off of work but took some time off and hit up the West branch. Knoch knolls first on the list. Couldn't find any promising spots. Water levels pretty low. Moved north to where I knew there was deeper water. Few smallies, few largies and a couple rock bass. Overcast seemed to ruin the bite. Smallies only hit when the sun peaked out.
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Nice catches. I was out on the WB not too far north of you on Sunday. Saw a lot of top action but couldn't get anything to work.
Just fished the west branch for the first time Saturday morning. Started at Blackwell Dog Park and wade fished south and north of Mack Rd Bridge. Water was very low and clear.
My neighbor joined me and we used flies for the duration of our trip. Got cut short by the rain bc my buddy forgot to bring a rain jacket :?
Got 2 takes using a mostly black wooly bugger style fly with rubber legs and a leach tail tied on a 90 degree jig hook probably size 2/0 with yellow and black dumb bell eyes so the fly rides hook up. The fly looks very buggy/sculpin like in the water to me. Not sure what the fish think it is.
Lost both fish because of user error. First one was a dink off of the east bank north of Mack Rd Bridge. From what I could see I don't think it was a bass. Second fish came off the east back as well off of an arm of small rocks extending into a slack pool. Second fish was a decent fish, looked like a large mouth to me. He spit the hook after a brief tussle. I didn't get a great hook set because I thought I was snagged based on the slow action and the amount of eel grass and because I squeeze all of my barbs down regardless if I'm fly or conventional fishing.
Wish they made more barbless lures and flies. All around easier to remove hooks from fish and yourself should the wayward cast or hook set end up in the wrong place. Also, gives me a good excuse when I lose a fish :lol:
My neighbor joined me and we used flies for the duration of our trip. Got cut short by the rain bc my buddy forgot to bring a rain jacket :?
Got 2 takes using a mostly black wooly bugger style fly with rubber legs and a leach tail tied on a 90 degree jig hook probably size 2/0 with yellow and black dumb bell eyes so the fly rides hook up. The fly looks very buggy/sculpin like in the water to me. Not sure what the fish think it is.
Lost both fish because of user error. First one was a dink off of the east bank north of Mack Rd Bridge. From what I could see I don't think it was a bass. Second fish came off the east back as well off of an arm of small rocks extending into a slack pool. Second fish was a decent fish, looked like a large mouth to me. He spit the hook after a brief tussle. I didn't get a great hook set because I thought I was snagged based on the slow action and the amount of eel grass and because I squeeze all of my barbs down regardless if I'm fly or conventional fishing.
Wish they made more barbless lures and flies. All around easier to remove hooks from fish and yourself should the wayward cast or hook set end up in the wrong place. Also, gives me a good excuse when I lose a fish :lol:
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Never tried that area but drove over it plenty. Someday I hope to buy some waders and explore new areas. I could only imagine it takes a lot of patience working those flies.
Patience required with back casts and trees but not too bad.
BTW, great fish!
I need to check out other areas; waders help on the area I fished; just north of the bridge is a big slow pool that has some holes close to waist deep, even with the low water.
BTW, great fish!
I need to check out other areas; waders help on the area I fished; just north of the bridge is a big slow pool that has some holes close to waist deep, even with the low water.
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