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Dry Times

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rivereddy:
July saw a brief period of good creek wading for smallies, but the absence of rain has caused water levels to crash. The local is
the lowest I've seen it since some time back in the early 80s. One local low head dam is mostly dry with barely a trickle on the
"wet" end. With the current too sluggish to break up the milfoil, the algae is piling up and covering nearly all of the water. We
need rain, bigtime.

fish on,

rivereddy

Daybreak:
I hear you.  I've been watering new trees planted this spring for our little town and the volunteer part seems like it should be a full time gig. The ground away from the water bags is bone dry.  I headed out to check a couple of lakes Saturday and they were down, but not as bad as I thought they might be.  Water was also a little warm for this time of year like I expected it to be. 

rivereddy:
Time for "Plan B"  I have posted this before.  My sweet spot for smallie fishing  has always been Oct 7,   + /-  5 days.  It is usually marked by cooling water temps and flows relatively free of line snarling leaves.  Not so this year.  After a couple of days of decent rain, the river
rose a couple of inches then almost immediately fell back down to dead low.

As a result me and the missus have resorted to flyrods and foam ants for bluegill.  They are surprisingly shallow at this time with many
caught along weed edges right off of the bank.  I have to feel that with more rain things can only get better...

fish on,

rivereddy

BassMaster12:
This is interesting/ funny to read as someone who's from New England. I swear it feels like it has rained every single weekend and most of the whole months of June and July. I don't know how much rain we've gotten but it's certainly ruined the limited time I've had to fish over the last several months.

Wish we could send some of it your way.

rivereddy:
I couldn't take it any longer and paid a visit to the local this afternoon. The stream was dead low - showing its bones.  Very few locations were more than 2 ft deep.  Between the mats of milfoil and algae, the water was crystal clear. I used my ultralite pole, 4# test, a small casting bubble and  a 1/32 hair jig. I could see the fish, and they were watching me. It didn't matter.  My first 10 casts yielded 8 hookups with 6 landed. I would see a fish, toss my rig at it and, as often as not, a second fish would dart in and inhale the jig before the first one got there.  I caught smallies, rock bass and bluegills. I fished for about 40 minutes and seldom went 3 casts without a hit. All were decent sized and gave a good account on the light tackle.  Had I chosen to keep some, I could have had a fine panfish dinner but, unfortunately the cleanliness of the river is suspect. All were returned to the water from whence they came. It was a great way to spend a beautiful October afternoon.

For BassMaster in New England.  On October 7, we went to West Longbranch New Jersey for a cousin's wedding. The venue was to be
at Sandy Hook National Seashore with the reception in the chapel area. The bride and groom wanted to be wed outside but sustained
28 mph winds and 1 1/2 inches of rain took care of that plan... That was more rain than we have had in 3 months...
fish on,

rivereddy

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