Fly Fishing for Smallmouth on Sugar Creek – Part 2

Welcome back to my follow up video on fly fishing for smallmouth on Sugar Creek – Part 2. There was just too much to put on Part 1 and I wanted you to be able to see a separate portion of what I feel is indeed the most beautiful creek/stream in Indiana. The weather continued to be spotless and in fact, it was so nice that it really put the fish down low in the water column and reduced their aggressiveness in chasing my favorite fly, the baitfish pattern. One note, I had a battery issue and this video is a bit shorter due to that fact….you won’t be able to see the best smallmouth I have caught yet this year as I landed a true gem in a deep dark hole just east of Crawfordsville….so it goes with technology and being your own film crew.

As I said with the first film, Sugar Creek is simply special. It is one of those rare gems in Indiana that looks like it would be a stream from the mountain west. I believe without question that Sugar Creek is our finest smallmouth fishery … even on days where the fish are a little sensitive. Today’s video is taken further north and east from Shades State Park, which was our home base for a couple of days. If you aren’t familiar, the water on SC runs from pools to riffles and runs and then once again back into deep pools. As we start to move into summer the fish can be found in a wide variety of spots; in fact, up from the deep holes that they have spent the past 6 months in…to the shallows, where they will spot and ambush a wide variety of prey.

I am a streamer guy, plain and simple. I like to casts baitfish patterns mainly due to the fact that I love the tug or smash of the fly as it is taken in any number of situations. Often I tend to be stubborn and continue on with a baitfish pattern when I know for sure that smallies will eat a crayfish just as often as the baitfish…and I have to be reminded or remind myself of that on occasion. At the end of our second morning’s fish…I pulled up just in time to see my buddy Frank hooked up on a nice smallmouth and later found that he had caught three fish in a row on a smaller crawdad pattern. Moral of the story…try a variety of flies.

I hope that once again as you watch this video you can appreciate the sheer beauty of Sugar Creek. If you need a ride or lift…or need to rent a canoe or kayak, then Clement’s Canoes is your place. They are located just east of Shades State Park at Deers Mill. If you have any questions or comments you can email me at flyfishingwithjeff@gmail.com.