New to the area/ready to slay

[Kevin Coleman]

Hi guys, I'm new to the area and trying to get bent on some smallies or stripers. This weekend I will be at Harpers Ferry. Do any of you have any advice on how I should go about targeting smallmouth/ details on swinging shank's streamers vs. stripping them/ best times to fish/ etc. Was a guide out in CO this past summer, but now I've gotta learn my big river game.

Thanks so much in advance!!

[Charlie Church]

Last weekend white and pink CK baitfish fished deeper were pretty effective for me. I'd cast upstream, let it get down a bit and just lightly popped it as it swept in the current. I didn't even bother fishing any poppers last weekend but I have been doing well on them throughout the month so if you see activity up top, definitely give it a shot. 

The bite was good all day long, but I honestly prefer sometimes fishing for them a little later in the day. The river is pretty clear right now so make sure you have some fluoro tippet. 

Good luck and welcome to the area.

[Clever Knickname]

Last weekend I got a ton of action on chartreuse Boogle Bug sliders, but couldn't get them to touch anything subsurface.

Combo of dead drifting down and stripping across faster water. Action was hottest between 6 and 10 but they were active through 1pm when I put out.

[Lane Thurgood]

I fished a few spots downriver this week.  Similar to Clever, I had no success (on smallies) subsurface.  I bumped klawdads through likely holes and riffles and picked up some big redbreasts, but when I switched to an orange popper, I finally got into smallies, including my best to date.  The water was discolored, so that's why I went with orange.  I have been fishing from 6:30 to dark and will be out again tonight, probably closer to Riverbend.

[Jeffrey Silvan]

Big thing to remember this time of year: if you hear cicadas, fish WILL be looking up and waiting for them to fall. And definitely don't take the presence of surface activity as an indicator of whether fish will hit something on top. The fish you see blasting out of the surface are the small smallies (or if it's a big fish, it's usually a carp). Big smallmouth usually hit topwater very similar to a trout rising - they sip it. 

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[Clever Nickname]

Did you have more success with larger or smaller topwater flies?  I tried #4 Boogle Poppers in the same Chartreuse and had no action.  I went down to a #8 slider version in shallower water and started getting attacked by smallmouth then of course lost the fly.  Had some action with the same in #6, but not as good as #8.

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[Jeffrey Silvan]

I don't fish smaller poppers often because I get harassed by small sunfish far too often. Sunfish will still go after a bigger popper, but the only ones that can hook themselves are the big boys that are fun to catch. 

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[Lane Thurgood]

I was throwing an orange and black cup-faced size 2.  7:15 to 8:00 pm right now seems to be the sweet spot.

[TurbineBlade]

And definitely don't take the presence of surface activity as an indicator of whether fish will hit something on top. The fish you see blasting out of the surface are the small smallies (or if it's a big fish, it's usually a carp). Big smallmouth usually hit topwater very similar to a trout rising - they sip it.

This ^^

Gene 

[Kevin Coleman]

Thanks for the input guys! I'll definitely work with those patterns and such.. seems like the fish are hiding a bit deeper and not hitting subsurface attractors too often. Timing seems to be great as long as there is some angle on the sunlight. Any other particular patterns I should pick up before going out?