Fishing Report: SE Indiana smallmouth bite heats up on rivers and streams

We landed four smallies over 18 inches, plus numerous fish slightly smaller. In all fairness Aaron caught 3 of the largest. Tuesday my friend Rick Cockrum and I fished on one of our larger rivers. It was a bit high and tough wading. I caught a few decent fish but Rick nailed his personal best, a pig of a fish measuring 21”.

Wednesday I reunited with my long-time fishing partner Bill Baumbauer. Bill caught his personal best smallmouth on a big black wooly bugger, 19” of pure fun. I landed one just slightly smaller to finish the day This week we didn’t catch large numbers of fish as we sometimes do, but we made up for it in size. If big smallmouth are your thing you have to give winter stream fishing a try.

All of my buddies I fished with this week are fly fisherman. We were using 5wt or 6wt rods equipped with a sink tip line. We tried a variety of flys but my favorite fly, a chartreuse and orange Clouser, accounted for most of the fish. However, the two biggest smallmouth were taken on big brown or black wooly buggers. Don’t wait for spring before you start fishing. If you do you’ll miss your best chance to catch big smallmouth that can be difficult to find the rest of the year.