Rainy Solo Wednesday - May 6th, 2026

 

I fished solo in the drizzling rain on the Greenbrier. Today was the thrid day in a row that I had fished this same section. The fish ate really well last couple days and today despite the falling barometer, cloud cover, and rising water the fish seemed sluggish. Less likely to chase and less agressive when they did hit. I even tried working a Ned rig at one point, but that wanted that less than they wanted a fluke. I still managed to catch 27, but there were a lot of short fish in that bunch and not as many quality fish. 

Total Fish = 27

Biggest Fish = 15"

Best 5 Fish = 65.25"

Minutes Per Fish = 9.0

2026 Annual Fish Catch Total = 350

2026 Miles Floated = 66.1

Greenbrier Evening - May 5th, 2026

 

I went back out on the Greenbrier after work to fish the last two hours of daylight, trying to recapture the previous afternoons double 20" craziness. The fishing while not as good as the previous day was still pretty great. I landed 18" and two 15" bass pretty quickly. The fish seemed to be deeper and relating more to deep structure than the previous day.  I had more follow and not take it than the previous day. That maybe the result of pressure I had applied in last 24 hours or just maybe the feed was slowing down ahead of incoming rain/cold front. 

Total Fish = 30

Biggest Fish = 18" 

Best 5 Fish = 73"

Minutes per Fish = 5.0

2026 Fish Catch Total = 323

2026 Miles Floated = 61.07 

After Work Double Citation - May 4th, 2026

 

I fished the Greenbrier afterwork for two and half hours before dark. I wasn't expecting much out of this trip to be honest. It had been windy all day and I wondered if the wind would lay enough to allow me to fish effectively, but I went anyway. And I am glad I did. I caught a 19.75" right off the bat and then started piling up numbers. An hour later I caught a 20.5" where the shade line and fall line married up. I then got broke off by a 18" or so and lost a 16". This fishing was really good. The water was as clear as you might find at Smith Mountain or Summersville lakes. It is hard to beat seeing big smallies come up and bust a lure fromt he depths. Any time you can catch not one but two 20' smallies is a great day in my book, especially on a random Monday afternoon. 

Total Fish = 28

Biggest Fish = 20.5"

Best 5 Fish = 78.25" (Could been high 80's had I fished a little more efficently) 

Minutes per Fish = 5.5

2026 Annual Fish Catch Total = 293

2026 Miles Floated = 58.23

May Cold front - May 1st, 2026

 

May brought a cold front in with it. Nights down in the high thirties with highs in the mid fifties to start May off. I fished solo on the New. I found active fish only in shallow pre spawn pockets and bays today. Places out of the current in 1 to 5 feet of water with ledges nearby sometimes grass edges near by. The fish were setting more towards the ledge end of the pockets. When I found one fish there were many others. But they had pulled out of the shallows some compared to week prior. 

 

Total Fish  = 33

Biggest Fish = 17.75"

Best 5 Fish = 74.5"

Minutes Per Fish = 7.27

2026 Fish Catch Total = 265

Miles Floated = 4.61

2026 Miles Floated = 55.51

After the Noontime Showers - PM April 26th, 2026

 

 

After the noon time rain cleared up I headed back out for an afternoon session, this time with Brad and Colt. The bite was immediate on again. The shallows were loaded with feeding smallmouth. I found some more size the eveing than in the morning. I fooled with a fly pole some but to no avail. I was able to cast pretty well but couldn't find the fly they would successfully bite. Today is one of those days you could have fished all day long and caught fish all day long. 

Total Fish = 35

Biggest Fish = 18"

Best 5 Fish = 77.5"

Minutes per Fish = 6

2026 Annual Fish Catch Total = 23

Incoming Front = Frenzy Bite - AM April 26th, 2026

 

 A long awaited rain shower was slowly pushing it's way into our area for a noon time rain today. The incoming front, heavy cloud mat and no other fishing pressure besides me and Rick made for the best fishing day of  2026 so far. The fish were up crazy shallow and very aggressivly feeding. Numbers where crazy high. I even caught a couple quality keepers on a spinner bait in shallow rock. Fish were in shallow bays, pocket water, and rocky shallows less than a foot in some cases in big prespawn numbers. It started raining at noon as soon as we were taking out. 

Tota Fish = 53

Biggest Fish = 16"

Best 5 Fish = 76"

Minutes per Fish = 5.6

2026 Annual Fish Catch Total = 197

Greenbrier Low Water Muskies - April 24th, 2026

 

Mike and I float Berries to Lowell on Greenbrier. The water was really too low to be successful in many of the areas we normally fish on this float. We would have some good fishing in deeper holes and then have to paddle through long stretches of skinny water that held no or only a few spooky fish. The drought we have had in April has persisted long enough now that we are seeing water levels in late April really resevered for July/August time frame. We did see 4 differnt big muskies on our 6.5 mile float today. Two were in the same hole right above the Pence Springs Bridge. I took a buck tail and steel leader and through it at two of them but they had already seen us and they weren't having it. They may have seen us get out of the car that morning as low and clear as the water was. 

Total Fish = 26

Biggest Fish = 16" 

Best 5 Fish = 71"

Minutes per Fish = 11.5

2026 Annual Fish Catch Total = 142