SUMMER FISHING RECAP--LOW WATER TO FLOOD WATERS

As I sit at my tying desk typing this out, the summer feels so far away. And while over a month has passed since that official turning of season, the distance, I think, is most strongly represented by the depth of the events that have occurred since that changing of season. Hurricane Helene is now a month gone, and we're still digging out boat ramps and scouring the playbook for accessible water to carry our fall programs forward on. Conditions are now back to low, clear, and summery, after an extended stint of high and dirty, thanks to the flood-impacted Claytor Lake. These are the things that truly test a guide.

The rest of the 2024 fishing season has brought no shortage of hurdles, either, and the summer was no exception. I may have said on a handful of occassions that this summer season was going to go down as one of my least productive, and while that may have been a tad dramatic, because we did see some fantastic fishing, big fish, and memorable moments, I think the numbers may reflect that. This was almost entirely related to water levels and streamflows, and where we were able to fish.

As soon as we got back on our summer smallmouth program after completing an epic Brood XIX cicada season, low water was the prevailing factor, and this remained the case until Hurricane Helene flooded most all of our river systems, which greatly reduced our float options for the whole season. We spent a lot of time on tailwaters, this summer, and found some fantastic fishing, including some incredible sight-fishing opportunities. I had the great pleasure of introducing some uninitiated anglers to this engaging style of smallmouth fishing, and am so proud to be able to observe the change in attitude and mindset that comes with that.

June and July were probably our best topwater sight-fishing months, this year--but again, that had almost everything to do with what systems we were fishing. As the summer wore on, low water levels became extreme in places, and the area's tailwaters began running extra water overnight to generate power, producing some tough fishing during the day, and ruling out pieces of water altogether. The New River fished well throughout the summer window, with numbers of fish present lots of days in the 6- to 13-inch range--a great sign for the future--, and a consistent number of 18- to 21-inch fish showing up, as well.

Of the rivers in our region, apart from the Nolichucky, the New River was the most highly affected by Hurricane Helene. Thankfully, our musky fishing, and the fall smallmouth electrofishing surveys conducted by our Region 3 DWR fisheries biologists, have shown healthy numbers of fish present. I field the question quite often when we have large flooding events, of how such extreme streamflows will impact our fisheries. Generally speaking, I am confident that our fisheries can survive these events, well.

After the flood waters receded, we still had about two weeks of our "regulation" smallmouth season to fish out, and we were able to find some clear, floatable water in parts of the region--often in the form of water we hadn't had access to all year because of low flows, and it paid off. Several large fish were put in the boat in early October, as the largest fish in our systems are instinctually driven, and permitted by dropping water temps, to pursue large baitfish prey in preparation for winter.

As of this writing, we've embarked on our 2024-25 fall/winter musky season. Low, clear water; summer-like weather; and unusable boat ramps continue to influence where we spend our time and how we fish, but plenty of fish have been moving and chewing, so far. If you'd like to get out on a musky hunt or winter smallmouth trip this winter, give us a shout! We'll see you out there.