I received a phone call one day from a gentleman from Utah. He had heard the Penobscot was one of the best smallmouth rivers in the country. I agreed and told him I have 50 to 100 fish days with fish up to 5 lbs. He was in town that weekend and wanted to book a trip! I immediately tried to talk him into fishing for trout and salmon instead. It was the end of April and that typically  means high water. That year was no exception.  Every island was under water and flows were 30,000 cfs plus. He called me back the next day and asked if I would do it for half price because the conditions were so poor.  I thought about it and told him I would but only if I got to fish with him. The date was set and we hit the water that cold April weekend.

This trip was early in my guiding career, even I though I knew a lot. I always had stuff to learn. Even now I pick up a tip or tricks from anglers. I don’t think we can ever know it all, which is what makes our sport so special.

The water was cold, in the 40s, and so high it consumed the shoreline and crept into the trees nearly 10’ in places.  I figured the smallmouth would be out of the current and want the fly stripped slow. So my plan was to hit spots that held huge breaks or a drop offs or find water that might be a little warmer than the rest of the river, this meant shallow spot with sun.

The fly selection was going to be the hardest, poppers were out. My plan was to have each of us fish different lines with totally different flies. One of us a fast sink tip and the other an intermediate line. I also had each of us strip at different speeds. I fished a chartreuse deer head streamer. I stripped painfully slow on a sink tip line. My client fished an olive bugger with a  strip, strip, pause retrieval on an intermediate  line. We were using 6 and 7 weight rods. 

I hit the first spot and anchored the boat up against the shore. We both cast down river with the water rushing by us on both sides.  We’d cast into the current and let it swing in the water. Once I though the fly were deep enough we’d start our retrieval. The water went from 2’ deep to 10’ for a distance of 50’ or more. We gave the first spot a good half hour without any luck. 

Spot two was very similar.  The water was shallow with a 10 foot  drop. I positioned the boat so we could cast up river and let the flies really sink. I striped so slow you could hardly tell the fly was moving. I felt tension or a slight resistance on my line. It was either bottom or a fish so I played it safe and set the hook.  Turns out, it was a fish.  A 16” smallmouth. The next cast had the same result but my client wan’t having any luck. I changed out his fly to what I was fishing and still he got nothing while I caught another. I then gave him my rod with the fast sink tip line and  that made all the difference in the world.   He proceeded to land a 17”,18” and 19” Penobscot River smallmouth.

Our half day of fishing was coming to an end when he hooked one last fish. “This is a big one” he said.  I thought yeah, well, the last 3 were big but my attitude changed when the fish flew out of water. It was huge! It was the largest smallmouth I had ever seen. I instantly went for the net and talked him through the fight. It was nerve racking right down to when the fish made it into the net. Once safely in the boat we were high fiving and hollering! What an incredible fish.  That one was for the record books. 

The day started out rather ominous but thankfully turned into a day worth trying and a day I won’t soon forget.  I was able to take a few things away from that day. One, never assume the conditions are too bad to catch fish. Two, set the hook on everything and assume it’s a fish.   The water was high and cold but we were able to get the fly down deep and move it slow.

If I get out in early in the spring, I fish 150 grain line with a short leader, around three feet long, with an articulated fly that will stay just off the bottom when stripped painfully slow. I created a fly last year with a foam head , articulated flamen shanks and frantic tails. You just need to be patient, set on everything and keep it moving. Don’t let cold high water keep you from getting out there.