Perkinsville smallmouth

On Monday, I took the last of the shrimp I had kept overlong in the fridge to the Perkinsville access, one of my favorite fishing spots. When I got out in the river, I saw a guy fishing where I wanted to fish. I went in the opposite direction with only a few bites. After a little while, the guy came back upstream. He was an old guy, ten years older than me. He had been flyfishing, and had on waders, vest, booney hat,the full regalia from the flyfishing catalogs. He said he did not have any luck.

I bid him good luck and waded on in to the spot I love. The light on the fine gravel picked up the reflection of mussel shell fragments, the low water rushing just a few inches deep. A lovely sight on a late summer day. I could see sunflowers on the south ridge of the high ground across the river from a large field of them growing.

Once I got into the deeper water, I threw a piece of shrimp up into a backwater pool just off the swift flow. I immediately got a hit and landed a nice footlong smallmouth, darkly striped with vertical bands. A few more casts produced several more before I got a nice two pounder. He did not have the vertical striping, just a beautiful iridescent gold. They really like the shrimp! The shrimp are dense enough that they sink nicely and can be readily seen in the clear water. The clear water really makes a difference to me. I love to be able to see the bottom and even see the fish passing, the ripples of light on the bottom. I think I enjoy these sights as much as catching these beautiful fish. As I always release them, I have come to wonder if I have caught the same ones repeatedly. Maybe they remember me. They probably do not get much shrimp. After I ran out of shrimp. I switched to worms, and the bites really slowed down. I caught a few rock bass, lovely fish as well, stout and thick with vibrant red eyes and the intricate patterning of their skin. They do not fight like the smallmouth. There are some nice ones in this part of the river. When I fish in the more pristine waters of Sixmile creek, I usually am able to pick up six or so that I do keep and grill whole on a hickory fire covered with melted butter.