This was my third trip of the month with Robert. His previous outings in April, were very successful, and my hope was that today was not going to be any different. Douglas Dam was generating at an average of 18K cfs, so fishing the French Broad was off the table. The Little Pigeon River was still a little high, and slightly stained, but most certainly fishable. The sky was cloudy, which is always a plus in my fishing book, and the water temperature was sixty-seven degrees. The first spot Robert fished, produced seven smallies including the big fish of the day. It was twenty inches long, and weighed four pounds and two ounces. The picture of that chunky fish, with Robert proudly displaying it is included in this report. In fact, out of the hundreds of smallies that my clients have caught this spring, Robert has landed the two heaviest fish. That includes this fish, plus another one he caught earlier in the month that weighed four pounds and five ounces. I mention this, because on average, by this time in the season, a few fish over five pounds should have already been caught, as well as several in that four and a half to five pound range. Don’t get me wrong, the smallmouth fishing this spring has been fantastic, and many fish between eighteen and twenty inches have been caught, but it is very unusual not see more of those bigger fish between four and half and five and a half pounds. From there, we made a move further upstream where he caught another fourteen smallies for a total of twenty-one for the day. Eleven of those fish were between seventeen and twenty inches long. It was another productive and relaxing day on the water with Robert. I am looking forward to some outings that we have planned for May. We hope to intercept those post spawn French Broad smallies, as they make their down the Little Pigeon, and back out into the big river, as this years spawning cycle comes to an end.
River Smallie Adventures Fishing Report April 25, 2019
