Transcript: Southwest Virginia Fishing Report with Matt Reilly
S6, Ep 15: Southwest Virginia Fishing Report with Matt Reilly
2024, Marvin S. Cash
The Articulate Fly
http://www.thearticulatefly.com
Transcript
Marvin:
[0:04] Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly, and we're back with another Southwest Virginia fishing report with Matt Riley. How are you doing, Matt?
Matt:
[0:12] I'm doing great, Marvin. How are you?
Marvin:
[0:14] As always, just trying to stay out of trouble and happy to be home from three fly fishing show weekends in a row.
Matt:
[0:22] Yeah, I don't blame you.
Marvin:
[0:24] Yeah, was one enough for you? I know you were up at Cincinnati last weekend. end yeah.
Matt:
[0:29] One is one is more than enough i uh i don't know i always do kind of enjoy talking to people and i definitely enjoy talking to people and um kind of experiencing new places and markets but uh it is taxing i'm not not meant for uh long-term public exposure that's for sure.
Marvin:
[0:52] And uh it's probably i don't know what is it a five-hour drive from your neck of the woods to of cincinnati yeah.
Matt:
[0:58] It's about five um really pretty easy drive though honestly got to drive over some pretty juicy looking musky water in uh central kentucky and um not too bad at all.
Marvin:
[1:10] Yeah it's funny you know i we were talking before we started recording it was the first time i had ever been in uh schultz outfitters and i got to tell you if you were in the streamer game they had their stuff dialed in yeah.
Matt:
[1:22] Buddy i bet i.
Marvin:
[1:23] Mean it's just uh you know i think our buddy ellis's His head would have exploded if he had walked in there and seen all the fly time material.
Matt:
[1:31] I think it might have already exploded, if we're being honest.
Marvin:
[1:36] But, you know, it's funny. I was looking at your weather before we started recording, and it's kind of been, I don't know, maybe a weird winter, maybe not.
I mean, kind of big spurts of rain, super cold. But I looked at your long-term forecast, and, you know, we never know, right?
You know, we certainly know we're going to get more snow, particularly where you are. but your temperatures are starting to creep into like the mid fifties.
Matt:
[1:57] Yeah.
It's definitely been up and down. I mean, two weeks ago, parts of the new river were frozen all the way across and couldn't fish them. And yeah, Things thawed out, and water temps are in the 40s now, and we've had some, you know, 50, 60-degree highs.
That looks like it's going to continue for at least through the weekend, but we are having, there is about two inches of rain in the forecast over the weekend and into next week.
So, we'll see how that shakes out, but, you know, we're in a pretty good place right now. Now, the question is always, you know, how warm is it going to get?
How long is that warm weather that we're seeing now going to hang around?
And how's that going to impact our water temps kind of going into March relative to kind of ramping up smallmouth pre-spawn activity and, you know, muskie spawning activity getting kicked off?
Marvin:
[3:02] Yeah, and I guess, you know, it's really kind of anybody's guess.
I know, you know, some thinking is you guys have been so cold for long enough that this little warm bump, as long as it doesn't last for two or three weeks, probably isn't going to really change things very much.
Matt:
[3:17] Yeah, I like, like you said, it's just, it's hard to tell. I mean, we had a similar thing last year.
It was, uh, um, the river froze at the end of December.
It was in the, uh, we had negative temperatures for a couple of days.
And then, you know, first week of the year was in the 70s. And I think most of our muskies started spawning like first or second week of March.
So it's just hard to tell.
Marvin:
[3:45] Yeah, got an interesting question for you. It's almost like they may have listened to the last interview, a report I did with Ellis where we talked about moon phase stuff.
But Michael Smith wanted to get your thoughts on the importance of majors and minors when fishing for musky.
Matt:
[4:03] Um, yeah, that's, that's an incredibly interesting question.
And the, there, I, I have a hard time saying that there is an answer. Um.
[4:17] So my, my thoughts go a couple of different directions.
Um, one, I can tell you, like, like most people who have spent a lot of time fishing musty, um, I can tell you, absolutely.
There have been times, um, where those windows have been, um, seemingly very, very accurate or productive, um, in terms of activity.
Productivity um i will say you know like i say to all my clients when we're booking booking days and things you know there's a lot of talk about moon phase and moon windows and a lot of that stuff um it still falls secondary and tertiary to weather conditions day-to-day and river conditions i mean the talk in terms of extremes you know if you have a blown out river just because there's a major and a new moon doesn't mean you're going to go out catch a bunch of fish you know um so good good water and river and uh weather conditions definitely come first um those those daily windows um definitely i think certain days have impacts impacts on, on, you know, movement and feeding activity.
[5:42] Um, so it's never a bad idea to, you know, try to play that to your, to your advantage, you know, be in good spots at theoretically good times and, um, and play that game.
Um, but you know, I, like I say to people, um, when we're out fishing or when we're planning our day, I mean, if, if that's incredibly incredibly inconvenient and it's going to be better for you.
Like, you know, say you're doing a float where there's a really good spot, you know, right out of the gate in the morning.
Um, you know, I would not necessarily, um, Just because there's a window in the afternoon, I wouldn't necessarily try to put in in the afternoon and do your whole float or not spend much time in that really good spot in the morning because you want to get down the river to another spot for the mire in the afternoon.
You know, just kind of keep it in the back of your head.
[6:47] And if you spend a lot of time on the water and you, you know, observe patterns day to day, sometimes it's really, really hard because you just don't have a lot of data to work with.
Um but you know like i said weather water conditions there are factors that do conspire to create windows that are not just related to to salooner events you know like with any kind of fishing in in freestone systems or or fishing in natural rivers with um warm water you know Fish, you have to think about water temps.
There's always a peak water temp for the day, basement water temps for the day.
I can tell you there have been patterns that emerge sometimes for me when we have these sunny, bright days with relatively high highs in the dead of winter, where a lot of activity happens when the water's warm for the day.
You know, not much in the morning, not much when the sun starts going down, but, you know, when the sun's on the water.
So there's more to think about.
[8:06] And but it's it's it is worth paying attention to. I think.
It just needs to basically be said that, you know, if you're asking that question.
[8:21] It's not a silver bullet. it you know it's not do i pay attention to it do i not pay attention to it be aware of it and then sometimes use it to kind of qualify things you know it's like if you're out for 10 hours and you don't see anything for seven and then all of a sudden you you know boat two fish and you happen to look at your app or calendar or whatever and you're in the middle of a minor you know definitely Definitely note that and make sure you take that into consideration when you're, you know, filling out your fishing logs and planning other trips in similar conditions.
And, you know, just like water temp, weather, all that stuff is just another element and condition to kind of pay attention to and try to learn from is what I would say. say.
Marvin:
[9:11] Yeah, it sounds like try to do everything you can, not just with this, but with everything to tilt things in your favor, but don't let it talk you out of going out and fishing.
Matt:
[9:19] Absolutely. Because so many people, like I said, going back to my booking process, they're like, well, I really wanted February 7th, but that's four days after the full moon.
And it's like, you know, I bet I have caught a fish at some point, you know, some year on every day of the muskie season, you know, regardless of moon phase, you know, in and out of majors and minors.
And you just don't know.
I mean, there are days that are very surprising sometimes how much activity there is.
And, you know, I joke with my clients say, you know, it only takes like 10 minutes to catch 15 muskies.
So you just need to you just need to be there and you just need to believe and put in the work and do everything you can to to skew things in your favor but you're you know can't catch them if you're sitting at home that's kind of the end of it.
Marvin:
[10:24] There you go and you know folks we love questions at the articulate fly you can email them to us or dm us on social media whatever is easiest for you and if we use your question i will send you some articulate fly swag we're and are drawing for some cool stuff from Matt at the end of the season.
And, you know, I suspect that you have a lot fewer slots to have people fish with you now that you've been to Cincinnati, but you want to let folks know kind of what you're booking and how to find you and all that kind of good stuff?
Matt:
[10:53] Yeah, man, we're pretty much booking everything.
I mean, I've booked a few muskie baits for next year or next year, this coming fall and winter.
Um and uh you know definitely booking spring and summer stuff i think i might have 15 days um between march and middle of october um for some smallmouth or trout or whatever days you want to get in there on um, I still have a handful of muskie days, maybe, like towards the end of February.
But I think that might be like one or two or three.
But, you know, like I always say, just if you're interested in anything or have questions or want to commiserate about muskie fishing or all of the above, you know, give me a call or shoot me an email and we'll make friends.
Marvin:
[11:54] There you go. And of course, you know, don't let any of that, uh, the shortage of days dissuade you from calling Matt for trout, because if he's not available, he's got some guys that can certainly hook you up.
Matt:
[12:06] Correct. Yeah. We got a lot of good guys, um, in the area, um, that, that know these streams like the back of their hand.
And, um, of course we've got the tailwaters too, um, just down the road.
So that's, uh, I got a lot of interest in Cincinnati, um, with, uh, relative to, to wild trout trips.
And, uh, unfortunately I can't take them all. So I've got a couple of guys that are filling in a little bit.
Marvin:
[12:35] Well, there you go. And, you know, it's kind of an interesting time of year, you know, uh, we've got show season still, if there's a show near you, get out there and check it out.
Always good to kind of see new stuff and see old friends and make new ones.
And if it's nasty cold where you are, just stay at home and watch some sports and tie a few flies.
Or, you know, if you're lucky and it's warm, get out there and catch a few.
Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Matt.
Matt:
[12:59] Thanks, Marvin. Thank you.