S7, Ep 19: Weathering the Winds: March Fishing Insights and Pre-Spawn Strategies with Matt Reilly

Marvin Cash
00:00:00

Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly. We're back with another Southwest Virginia fishing report with Matt Riley.

Matt, how are you?

Matt Reilly
00:00:12

Oh, I'm doing good, man. Fairly strung out and hoping for the weather to change a little bit.

Marvin Cash
00:00:19

Yeah, it's interesting.

We're getting ready to record a little bit earlier than normal today and it's kind of funny I was thinking about you because it's, you know, as we get into March, you know, it's just so windy in Virginia. But we've also had like bluebird skies too, which doesn't make the angling great.

Matt Reilly
00:00:34

No, it's been pretty much high pressure, seems like for two weeks now. I mean, I was telling my guys today, I don't think I've seen a cloud or fished in less than 10 miles an hour wind for a couple of weeks.

But we've managed to get, get it done.

I mean, we've put lots of fish in the boat the last, last week or two, dealing with some high, dirty, not, not so much high anymore, but some dirty water right now too, which doesn't help.

So I would say from a muskie fishing standpoint, man, I hate to, I hate to call it boring, but like we have not been seeing a lot of movement, but fish have been eaten. So it's kind of been an all or nothing bite that you kind of just have to stick around for.

It's a mental game, you know, more than, more than it usually is where you're not getting a lot of, you know, feedback moving fish throughout the day.

I've had a lot of days the last week and a half where we, you know, saw one fish and it was the one that landed in the net, you know, so it makes it tough, but we're getting through it.

Marvin Cash
00:01:53

Yeah.

And so you were telling me before we started recording that you literally have only a couple more, you know, musky days on your dance card and you're going to full blown shift to pre spawn smallmouth, correct?

Matt Reilly
00:02:04

Yeah, I, I usually try to make that jump early, early March just because, you know, it.

It seems like our, our water temps this time of year have been trending warmer earlier and it's, you know, you just don't want to end up in a boat looking for muskies when they're immediately pre spawn and the water temps in the, you know, upper, you know, 50 to 52, 53 degree range. Because smallmouth fishing can be fantastic. And you know, it's just, it's just hard to justify. So I make that, that jump fairly early.

I've, I've strung it out a little bit longer than I have the last couple years this year just because we have had some cooler temps lately that have knocked the water temps back a bit. And, and I had a pile of, you know, probably like 15, 20 days get rescheduled back through January and February.

So we had to put them, had to put them somewhere. And we've still got, you know, water temps today.

We, we did have a couple, we had a, we had a air temperature setback yesterday where we dropped into the, the twenties again overnight, same thing last night. And we're going to start slowly warming up again. But we're in the, you know, low to mid-40s right now, depending on where you are.

And, but we've got some very few lows in the 30s and a couple of highs near 70 in the next, you know, five, six days. So I think we're going to stay in those upper 40s here from here on out.

Marvin Cash
00:03:53

Yeah, for what it's worth, I've seen my first robin and daffodil, so I think you're right.

Matt Reilly
00:03:58

Oh, yeah, yeah. We've been, we, we've had, we've had robins for a while now. Um, but I'm sure that varies with, with location too.

Marvin Cash
00:04:09

Yeah, absolutely. And so, you know, one of our favorite question askers, Brenner, had a pre spawn smallmouth question. So I think his timing is perfect.

And he wanted to get your thoughts on color recommendations for crayfish and pre spawn smallmouth.

Matt Reilly
00:04:23

Sure. Yeah, I would say. I mean, I, I, I keep my crayfish color choice is pretty basic.

I think I've talked about this before, but if we're going to relate it specifically to pre spawn, I'm going to isolate the, you know, stream flow and water clarity variable.

You know, not that I don't deal with high water, dirty water in the summertime, but in the spring, I'd say you probably deal with a lot more, you know, consistently, you know, colored water because we're getting a lot of rain at times.

But, you know, my standards are pretty much just variations on, you know, brown, olive, natural color, and then black and blues and black purples, something contrasty black and red, black, but, you know, copper, something like that. And then, you know, like I said, variations on natural browns. The what, what the gear guys call peanut butter and jelly is a good color.

Sort of tan, brown and purple, Purple accents. That's, that's, that's pretty much, pretty much what I do. I don't don't make it much more complicated than that. You can get creative.

I mean, in the New River, I'll see a fair number of, of crayfish that, that have, you know, a lot of red on them. They'll be dark black with red splotches. You know, so that's kind of a fun different color to have.

And you know, black and oranges and stuff like that. Things that are natural.

If, if you want to play around with color patterns, you know, just, you know, variations on all those natural colors are fine.

And I would say just, just in fly tying in general, it's, it's a huge, huge benefit to have that skill where you can go home and tie flies and kind of match what you're seeing, but also tying things in different colors just to have, you know, you have six different colors that could be considered natural.

And in my mind, it's, it's not a bad thing to, to fish a bunch of different colors that fit into those schemes because, you know, then you're not showing the fish the same fly every day. So, you know, definitely have fun with it. But I, I wouldn't overthink it.

You know, something that shows up in dirty water and something that's more natural and, and will. Will work well in clear water.

Marvin Cash
00:07:11

Yeah. And I would imagine those color rules kind of, you know, they work for everything, not just crayfish. Right. Changers and everything else.

You want to fish for pre spawn.

Matt Reilly
00:07:19

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I will say too, to kind of broaden it a little bit. I, I do think there's also a bit. So, you know, the, the.

If you're going to isolate the, the water clarity variable, you know, dark contrasty colors and dirty water, more natural, lighter colors and clear water.

I also think there's something to be said for fishing colors that can be seen from further away in colder water, just because the fish are not moving quite as much, their reactive distances are, are smaller than they are in warm, you know, sort of temperate water.

And I, I just, I think if those fish can be aware of your fly for longer and they can kind of take their time getting to it as opposed to, you know, having a fly that they can't see very well moving past them pretty quickly, I, I think that's sometimes a benefit. So sometimes I'll consider the, the water temperature too, and just, you know, how visible and how catchable that that color is going to be.

Marvin Cash
00:08:34

Got it. And you know, folks, we love questions on the articulate fly. You can email me or DM me on social media. Whatever is easiest for you.

And if we use your question, I will send you some articulate fly swag. Then you're going for a drawing for some cool stuff from Matt at the end of the season.

And Matt, before I let you go, you want to let folks know, like, I'm sure you're super booked up, probably into, like, August, but kind of let folks know what you have available. I know you're running a striper program and you might be chasing some cicadas as well.

Matt Reilly
00:09:01

Yeah, I think I'm pretty much spoken for for, you know, spring smallmouth stuff that there's always, you know, there's always a day or two popping up here and there with cancellations and things. So never be. Never be scared to ask. But, yeah, I probably still have maybe seven striper slots and in early May and then.

Yeah, I haven't really talked about it much publicly, but we. We are going to have another periodical cicada hatch in the Southeast this spring. So that'll be, you know, mid. Mid May to mid June time frame.

And then I've got a, you know, a dozen or so dates, you know, just kind of interspersed throughout the summer months. And then we're talking about the fall.

So, you know, like I always say, anything that I do that you're interested in, just shoot me a phone call or something. We'll at least start talking about it. Because, you know, selecting the proper, proper season, proper season within the season to accomplish whatever.

Whatever goal you might have or kind of meet you where you are in terms of targeting a certain species and learning potentially from square one is pretty important to me. Try to match all of that really well. So everybody has the best experience possible.

And that's kind of tough when you call in February wanting to book a muskie trip. So if there's something you're interested in, reach out and we'll try to find the perfect time to get it done.

Marvin Cash
00:10:53

Yeah, absolutely. And just so I know, I mean, I know that the state college boys are tying cicadas. What's the footprint for this cicada emergence this summer?

Matt Reilly
00:11:02

Yeah, middle Pennsylvania is definitely, definitely a hot zone. But, you know, parts of southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, east central Kentucky, parts of West Virginia.

I'm sure there's more, but that is sort of my. In my immediate sphere, what I'm aware of. And yeah, it's. Do your homework. It's not a. Not an easy thing.

And if just because you hear about a cicada hatch on the news doesn't mean it's going to happen in your backyard. So do your research and do your footwork if. If you have plans to capitalize on that or call me, because I obsess over that.

And I spend a lot of time doing the research and doing the footwork.

Marvin Cash
00:11:54

Yeah, there you go. And you know, folks, as I always say, if it's warm enough where you are, you should get out and fish.

If it's not quite warm enough yet, tie some flies. Or if you've got a fly fishing show near you, drop by and check it out. Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Matt.

Matt Reilly
00:12:09

Thanks, Marvin.