S7, Ep 72: Ebb and Flow: Mastering Smallmouth Fishing in Unpredictable Conditions with Matt Reilly

Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly. We're back with another southwest Virginia fishing report with Matt Reilly. Matt, how are you?

I'm doing good, man. How are you?

I'm just trying to dry out. We've been getting soaked down here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Yeah, yeah, that's been kind of the, the story of the summer here. It's been, you know, I've really only been smallmouth fishing since about, maybe for about a month with cicadas and vacations and stuff like that.But, you know, I don't know how many flash floods we've had in the watershed in the last month, but it's more than, more than five. And it's, it's just, just now starting to kind of dry out a little bit.But, you know, we've still got some threats of some, you know, we've had tropical storms knocking around and historically we're rapidly approaching what could be the first hurricane of the season. So I'm hoping that we stay kind of in this pattern that we're in right now.We're getting, you know, some reasonable rain every four or five days or something like that. But honestly, not holding my breath too hard.

Yeah.So obviously the funky weather conditions have made it incredibly difficult to pattern things, which kind of dovetailed well with a question from Elijah, who guides down in this part of the world for trout and smallmouth. Just kind of on a day to day basis.You've done your homework, your stretches of water, but how do you make that decision about where to pull the trigger for tomorrow?

Yeah, man, if you could, if you could, if you could answer that, if there was a concrete answer, you'd, you'd be, you'd be pretty well off, I think.But yeah, like you said, I mean, a lot of it, you do have to have that, that groundwork of knowing, you know, what your, what your different stretches of river look like, how they fish at dirt and different, you know, water levels at, at the, you know, at this time of year, what it's likely going to mean, you know, that number on a stream flow gauge in terms of clarity. And you know, sometimes water temperatures can change if you're fishing tailwater systems.And you know, if you've got a firm understanding of all those details, it, you know, the way, the way I look at it is I, I'm always, I've got an idea of what I want to do per the season.So, I mean, this time of year I'm happiest and I Feel like we're doing our best and putting our best foot forward if we can be, you know, fishing smallmouth on top water. That's what everybody wants to do. Catch some really big fish that way. But, you know, it. Sometimes, sometimes you can.If you have a bunch of different options, you can find those situations where you've had, you know, dropping, clearing or, you know, low clear water for, you know, a couple of days and the water temperatures are right and, and take advantage of it, but you can't always. And I would say that's one thing that you definitely have to be careful of, just trying to force something like that.You know, there, there are times when I feel like that might be the best move.You know, you find yourself in a situation where, you know, the, the presentation, the, the tactic that you think might work for big fish for the day is not perfectly prime. But, you know, everybody in the boat's willing to put their heads down and, and commit to something.You know, you can do that, but it doesn't always pan out.I mean, this summer has been probably one of the, probably one of the least productive or, or worst top water seasons, summer seasons that I've had in the last seven years.And again, we're early August, so there's still a lot to come, but with yo yo and flows and dirty water and cold fronts and all that stuff, it just, just hasn't set up. And so if you keep trying to chase that, probably going to end up with a lot of, you know, kind of, kind of wasted, wasted days.So the other thing that I would say is just to keep your mind open in terms of, in terms of game plans, you know, and try to recognize other potential opportunities.We've had a lot of days this year where, you know, cold fronts and rain have raised the water level, dirtied it up, and those can be really good streamer fishing conditions if the fish, you know, especially if you have sort of lingering low pressure and, you know, dark skies and, and that kind of thing, the fish have sort of linger and aggressive attitude. You can take advantage of that. I've had a couple of days like that this year.But yeah, I would say not marrying yourself to an idea, I always, I always go to the river with sort of a couple of game plans, usually mo no more than two in my head based on what I see, you know, in the data for the day. And then, you know, you've got to give them a good audition, but, you know, also not be scared to totally change gears and be prepared for anything.I would Say, that's definitely been the biggest sort of theme this year is just, you know, not leaving anything at home that's, that's not seasonal because, you know, we've been using a lot of springtime tactics with bigger streamers and sinking lines and stuff this summer, a lot of bottom fishing stuff. And, and there's days too, you know, like I said, I'm, I'm always looking for big fish.I'm always trying to, this time of year find good, you know, top water fishing. But a lot of times it's just not in the cards.And if you can, you know, if you find yourself rolling on a program where, you know, you're able to put a number of fish in the boat and that's a sort of an okay compromise, you know, don't be afraid to just kind of lean into that either. You know, you just kind of have to let the river tell you what's the way things are going to go and, and, and take it.But yeah, so I would say if, if you've got the firm foundation of just what all your rivers, all your fisheries look like in a variety of conditions, the next biggest element is just understanding a wide array of patterns.You know, when the fish are going to be acting different ways and if you don't see in the cards, kind of your first choice, start looking for those other ones, start looking for other opportunities.And there have been a lot of days this year where, you know, talking about having a lot of rain, there have been a lot of days where I've sort of chased dirty water because, you know, you're either because streamer fishing can be really good in dirty water for smallmouth, but low, dirty water can make things more challenging.So there's some situations where, you know, know I would, I would almost go to the bottom of the watershed looking for the highest water possible if I know I'm going to have to deal with a certain level of clarity just to be able to play that game, you know, lower water might be better for trying to do some top water stuff. But you know, at the end of the day, is it really going to be all you want it to be? Probably not.And so, you know, go down, find some better streamer fishing conditions and roll those dice, you know, so that's, that's something that I've, I've really had to do a lot this year is sort of giving up on my, on my primary, my hope, you know, what I'm, what I'm looking for and just taking cues from the river and you Have a really good day doing something that kind of surprises you. Just try to find those conditions again the next time you're out. And, you know, don't, don't put all your, your eggs in one basket.

Yeah.And so when things are funky, do you generally try to pick floats that have more varied water so you feel like you can hit maybe 50 or 60% of something. Right, as opposed to.

That's a, that's a great point too. Yeah.I mean, so one thing I've run into a lot this summer is, you know, like I just mentioned, kind of low to average flow, but dingy, dirty water, you know, a couple feet of visibility maybe, and, and that can be kind of tough, especially in your kind of flatter water, deeper sections, places where I might find bigger fish in the summertime, especially when they're set up eating, eating bugs along the banks and, and that kind of water can be, can be kind of tough to approach in those situations.So having some, some good moving water to fish, you know, runs, shoals, riffles, that kind of stuff can be sort of a concentrating element where, you know, all of a sudden you're not having to search a flat where there's, you know, it's cloudy, water's dirty, not really running that swiftly, so there's nothing to really put a fish anywhere in particular.That's, that's a really tough scenario, you know, Whereas if you can go fish a ledge system where you've got seams and pockets and, and, you know, real structure, that's gonna sort of concentrate fish, that, that can be a much better, much better choice. So. Yeah, that's, that's definitely an idea.You know, sometimes I might just lean more into, you know, again, if I, if I know I'm gonna be streamer fishing all day, then I, I might just look for a piece of water that's gonna lend itself to that, you know, so, same thing you do looking for, you know, like I said, you know, top water, kind of technical sight fishing situations like I like to do in the summertime. A lot of times I'm going to look for floats that have flats, that have big fish that are going to have sun that day.They're going to have sun coming from the right angle, the right time. And it, it's the same, the same muscle. You just gotta, gotta use it in another way.

Yeah.And then it goes without saying we always have to come back to first principles like having a really honest, frank conversation, you know, with the clients. Right. And the clients having an honest conversation with you about what they really wanna get out of the day can make a big difference too.

Yep. Managing expectations, sort of. I like to approach folks with a game plan the night before if, if I can, if I.Especially if I know it's going to be sort of atypical. You know, most of my clients I've fished with dozens of times, so they generally know what to expect when they're showing up.But if it's going to be something else, I like to sort of brief them ahead of time.And, you know, if, even if, even if you have a feeling like things aren't going to be great, but we have a good shot at, you know, doing X, if we can do this, then, then, you know, present that and, you know, then, then you get in the boat in the morning. Everybody's got sort of a sense of mission.They've got properly adjusted expectations and, you know, the victories count for, for what they worth or what they're worth as opposed to being, you know, it's like getting somebody in the boat who, who thinks a good day is catching 10 muskies.You know, if, if you catch six muskies and have a stellar day, they're still going to, you know, so make sure everybody knows what, what every fish is going to be worth that day. And, and you know, that, that makes things a lot easier on the client and the guide. Absolutely.

Yeah. Well, Elijah, I hope that helps. 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'll send you some stickers and other goodies. And we are drawing for some cool stuff for Matt at the end of the season.And you know, Matt, before I let you go, I know you've got kind of like popcorn pop and you've got cancellations kind of in the late summer, and you can tell people how to kind of stay on top of those.But also, I know you started cracking the books on the muskie fishing for fall winter, so you want to let folks know kind of where to find you, what you have available and all that kind of good stuff.

Yeah, man, I do. So I've filled. I filled all of my nine cancellations that I've had in the last couple of weeks, thankfully. But I do have.I wouldn't really call it a cancellation, but a adjustment of schedule. I have September 23rd open and then I believe like October 7th or something like that, but that'll be kind of it for smallmouth season at least.The main event and then. Yeah, I haven't sent a musky email out yet but it's sitting in my drafts folder right now. So, um, I'm gonna push that out pretty soon.I've already booked a handful of days there and yeah, then we're just looking at, looking at the future. I've booked some striper days for next year, some smallmouth days for next year.So after about, you know, the 10th of January, things get pretty thin usually for me. So if, if, if we haven't fished together and you'd like to reach out whenever before then and maybe we can start talking about something.But all my contact information is on the website which is matt rileyfly fishing.com and any of those methods, contact work, just great.

Well, there you go. Well folks, as always, say yo to yourself to get out there and catch a few tight lines everybody. Tight lines, Matt.

Thanks, Marvin.