Extra Depth

Here is a smallmouth technique I use often at this time of the year when the rivers are high but reasonable clear. I call it “sweeping a streamer”. It works like this: You are wading is water knee deep. The river drops off quickly right beside you into a beautiful pool which becomes six feet deep only five feet from where you are standing. You feel sure you could catch some large bass here, but how can you swim your streamers along the stream bottom in this deep water? You first cast is made 20 feet long up and across stream at a 45 degree angle and your streamer is allowed to sink on a slack line. After it is down deep the slack is removed with the line hand as the rod is swung downstream ahead of the streamer at the same speed the streamer is drifting. This assures you that you have a tight line on the fly which enables you to feel the strike as your streamer sweeps along the stream bottom. Successive casts are made at this same angle about a foot longer and fished in the same manner until you have covered all of the water 30 feet out then you wade downstream, stopping every ten feet to repeat this tactic. Good flies for this tactic are my Strymphs, Maruaders, and Magnum Streamers.