Fly vs the Ned Rig

Area - LK

Wade/Float - Wade

Water Level - Fairdale Gage @ 2.35ft.

Water Temp - 59

Clarity - Clear to Crystal Clear

Fly/Spin - Fly

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My good buddy and ISA pal, Mr. Frank Briggs, contacted me earlier in the week about fishing on Sunday. Frank had yet to land his first smallmouth of 2018. The Saturday night/Sunday morning overnight temp had dropped to 29 degrees, so a later start (noonish) to our outing was a good plan. We decided to wade the middle Kilbuck and we were both armed with our fly rods. The creek is looking absolutely beautiful with it's clear running waters. Frank has never fished this section of the creek and can see why I have such a love for the creek with the changing colors of the water depths and riffs. The fishing was tough on this middle section and Frank and I both noted that we had not seen much for aquatic life other than a few moving carp.

Well we both skunked and I suggested that we either go some place on the Kish or we could hit the lower Kilbuck, which has been receiving lots of pressure from other fishermen over the last couple weeks. It is hard to believe that the smallmouth have not yet migrated to the middle section. Frank thought it would be a fun experiment to hit the lower Kilbuck to see if the migration has begun to move upstream.

A quick stop and a hop at the car and we were all geared up to again to go, only this time Frank opted for the spin gear with the Ned Rig. Once we got our footing in the lower end of the creek, it didn't take Frank long to hook into his first smallmouth of 2018. Too bad it came unbuttoned while he was reeling it in. A couple more cast and a retrieve with constant twitching and few pauses, brought to hand Frank's first 2018 smallmouth, a nice fighter that was in the 14" to 15" range.

As for me..... I was still working on my fly casting trying to get it perfected before allowing myself to land a smallmouth. If your fly cast isn't right, then you don't deserve to catch a smallmouth. I'm very tough on myself when it comes to casting. And if you buy that load of crap then I a have bridge for you to take a look at.

Frank ended up killing with the Ned Rig and finished the day with 14 smallmouth, 1 pike, and 1 sheep head.

I avoided the skunk on the fly and ended the day with 1 smallmouth (12 inches at best), and 1 tiny pike.

It seems that the migration stalled but has made it's way upstream about a 1/4 mile or so. Strange.

No beds were seen.