Fly fishing for smallmouth bass in November can be tricky but not impossible. Many large smallmouth bass seek protected feeding stations in the large back eddies which form on the slow sides of the river opposite the heavy riffles. These may be from 40-50 feet in diameter and from 4-6 feet deep. They hold large populations of minnows and the slow currents make it easy for the bass to catch the minnows. These back eddies can be fished by floating in a drift boat or by carefully wading along the shallow banks.
Some of the most effective streamers I use in these back eddies are the Murray’s Tungsten Cone Head Marauders in size 4. I swim these slowly across the stream bottom by stripping them three inches every 5 seconds. Often these back eddies are so productive that I devote an hour to fishing one which is 50 feet in diameter.
Fly Fishing for Trout
The native brook trout are still spawning and I prefer not to fish these streams at this time. So let’s discuss the stocked trout streams instead. The VA DWR continues to stock streams throughout Virginia this month, providing some good fishing for browns and rainbows. In the slow sections of the streams, a good technique is to fish a two-nymph tandem rig with a Mr. Rapidan Soft Hackle Nymph size 14 below a Murray’s Dark Stonefly Nymph size 12.
Fish these across stream with a slow line hand twitching action as you wade slowly downstream. Place a small split shot 6 inches above the top fly to help fish these deeply. Listen to my podcast for more information.
NEW PRODUCT at Murray’s Fly Shop–Frogg Togg Canyon II Stockingfoot Hip Wader
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