#monocacy river

[sky-high-dreams]

Fall ‘19

[muhk]

17.25” Smallmouth | Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 8:10 AM | Monocacy River

I caught two huge fish, back-to-back. The adrenaline was pumping trying to land this one. I definitely almost lost it.

I haven’t been able to fish for quite a while, so I was really stoked to have a great day. Caught two really nice fish along with a bunch of small ones.

The water was clear and low, but overcast in the morning with light rain. I knew I had a chance to catch a few quality fish if I could find a pocket of them. Luckily I did. Super fun.

Conditions:

[muhk]

16” Smallmouth | Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 8:05 AM | Monocacy River

This fish was just shy of 16”, but it was so close I’m just going to say it was…

I haven’t been fishing in over a month. I’ve had to travel so much for work, and along with family things, I just haven’t been able to find time to get in the river. I forced myself to make time this weekend. It felt great to be back in the water catching fish.

I’ll create another post, but I caught a 17.25” fish two cast after this one. The water was pretty low, so I found a bunch of them stacked up in a deep hole. Caught a bunch of small ones and two huge toads in the same spot within 20 minutes. Was a lot of fun.

Conditions:

[muhk]

Bluntnose Minnow Compact Spinnerbait

This is by far my favorite bait for large smallmouth in the Monocacy.

Yesterday I met a friendly young fisherman and his girlfriend (I assume). I was talking with him a little, and he asked if I sell any of the baits I make. I let him know that I don’t, but I’m happy to post how I make them.

I will add that he caught a 17”-18” smallmouth on a store bought glide bait, so not sure he really needs one of my spinnerbaits, lol.

Anyway, I would say I’ve caught 80% of my 17” plus fish on this bait. The other 20% were caught on variations, primarily one that swaps the smoke back/dorsal for black paired with a gold Colorado blade.

Save for a couple of randoms, I’ve caught all of my largest fish in stained to muddy water. With my level of expertise (no a lot), large fish are way too hard to catch in clear water. When conditions are right, I normally start with the black/gold patten in the early morning when the light is low then switch to the Bluntnose Minnow pattern as the light starts picking up mid-morning.

Photo Credit: Emilio Concari

I know this is debatable, but I believe smallmouth start preferring fish as prey as they getting larger whereas smaller ones focus on insects and crayfish (though I know tube fishermen who disagree and have the receipts to prove it, lol). I also believe large smallmouth are more likely to bite on colors and patterns they are familiar with. Bluntnose minnows are the most common prey in the sections of the Monocacy I fish. If I still fished the Potomac, maybe I’d think differently.

Skirt

Trailer: 483-10 Black Death @ 2 strands per side + 133-10 Silver Flash @ 3 strands at bottom

Back/dorsal: 246-10 Smoke Silver @ full tab

Belly: 133-10 Silver Flash @ three quarters tab

I thread tie my skirts using common fly tying tools. It’s just how I started and I like the control I get with it, but I’m sure you could achieve the same thing wire tying instead.

Components

3/16oz or 1/8oz compact frame (LPO Finesse C-spin, unpainted)

#3 Colorado polished nickel

4mm Fish Skull Living Eyes | Earth

#1 ball bearing swivel

Finish

For a while I struggled to get acrylic to stick to the led in a durable way. Regular primer didn’t work well, it would chip and flake off pretty easily with use. One day when I was picking up paint at Michael’s I started talking with a local artist, also there to grab some paint. She suggested I try chalk paint. It is by far the best base coat I’ve ever tried.

From there I mix deco paint to get the color I want for the belly and apply that with a brush to the entire head as a first coat. Then I use that as a base to mix in other paints to get the back/dorsal color I’m looking for. I just rub the accents on with my fingers. I think the irregularities make it look more natural.

There is a sequence to the finish coats. I first apply a coat of Sally Hansen glitter over the acrylic before adhering the eyes. Once I adhere the eyes, then I will top coat with clear Sally Hansen hard as nails. A top coat over the eyes helps keep them in place.

I let the finish coats cure for a week or more before using the bait. The nail polish has strong off gassing that lasts a while. For this reason and others, I recommend using an attractant. My preference is Berkeley Gulp Alive Minnow.

[muhk]

14” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM

It was one of those days where you catch a fish every fourth or fifth cast…

The morning started very slow, but things really picked up around 7:30 when I switched baits and got to the section I wanted to fish.

I stopped counting around 20, but I caught over 30 fish. They were all small in the 8” - 10” range, except for this one. This was definitely the largest of the day.

It was so much fun. I’ve been waiting for a day like this. I’ve caught some quality smallmouth this year, but the action has been slow. No monsters today, but it was nice to consistently catch fish.

I made this clear/silver willow leaf spinnerbait a while ago for days when the water is hot and clear, but I never really used it. The conditions today were exactly right, so I tied it on and started catching immediately. It delivered over and over again. I will give it more love in the future. I’m going to make a version with solid black lateral and slightly darker dorsal to more closely mimic a bluntnose minnow. A closer mimic may make it better for larger fish.

Conditions:

[muhk]

Couple small ones | Monocacy River | Sunday, July 20, 2025 at 7:39 AM

No magic today, but still a nice morning in the water.

Yesterday was so good, I was hoping for a repeat today. Conditions were similar, so I thought it could be. No such luck, but that’s okay.

I caught one that was maybe 10”, the other was much smaller.

Conditions:

[muhk]

16.75” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 7:00 AM

Quality fish today, conditions were just about perfect.

The water was murky with overcast skies, exactly how I like it. It’s so much easier to sneak up on large fish with low visibility.

I caught a +/- 15” smallmouth on my second cast. I didn’t get a picture (or measure) because I hooked myself landing it. Luckily the barb didn’t get completely buried, so I was able to get it out easily. Definitely a bone head move on my part.

This was my second fish. It was one of those magic casts, when it lands exactly where you wanted and you know you’re going to get hooked up. It fought so hard. I was really surprised it was under 18” when I measured it. It fought harder than the 19 inch’r I caught last month. It had a bizarrely large tail for its length. It doesn’t show well in the photo, but it had beautiful color. It reminds me of this 15” smallie I’ve caught several times that is absurdly huge for its length.

I caught three more that were 13” - 13.5”. Really great day of fishing. I love the black/clear w/ gold colorado blade when the visibility is low, especially early in the morning. I caught my two largest fish early on the black bait before switching to the smoke/clear “bluntnose minnow” color when the light came up. I caught the smaller fish on that. Probably should have stuck with black. The water was getting dramatically clearer as I fished, but it was still mucky.

Conditions:

[muhk]

15.25” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 7:28 AM

Very slow again today, but it’s amazing how quickly your perspective changes once you catch a decent fish.

I tried everything and I could think of, but nothing worked. It was luck that this fish bit.

I tried several different spinnerbaits before switching to a floating 2 1/2” silver/black jerkbait, which this fish hit on the third cast.

It fought surprisingly hard. It was a lot of fun, but I was reminded how much I hate landing smallmouth hooked on jerkbaits. I fear of those treble hooks.

Anyway, I thought I was onto something with the jerkbait, so I threw it for a while without anymore luck. After 30 mins I switched to this weird clear/gold spinnerbait I made and caught one about 10”.

On that note I decided to head home earlier than normal, wanting to leave while still feeling good about the couple nice fish I caught.

It was a pretty day…

Conditions: