I had the pleasure to guide Greg and and his uncle Milo again on the French Broad and Little Pigeon Rivers. Their last trip with me was in the fall and Greg has fished with me a couple of times this spring. My assumption is that the spawn is winding down and that the smallies from the French Broad River are leaving the Little Pigeon. We observed quite a few good-sized smallies in the middle of the Little Pigeon swimming downstream with a purpose. They did some sight fishing casting to those individual fish, but very few of them bit. Greg and Milo were more successful when they fished the holes and the daytime resting spots. It is always interesting to fish on the day of the full moon.
Over the years, I have talked to other anglers and guides who believe for a variety of reasons that the fishing is usually is not very productive on the day of the full moon. I have learned fishing rivers that if the water is clear enough to fish and the weather is cooperating that regardless of the moon phase it is best to wet a line. I’m glad they did. By the end of the trip Greg and Milo had landed 30 smallies.
The majority of the fish were between fifteen and seventeen inches. The big fish of the day was Greg’s 19 1/2 in. fish pictured above.