I picked Matt up at the airport on Thursday afternoon and spent a couple hour drive catching up and filling him in on the river conditions we will be faced with. With Matt being an avid fly fisherman, I told him he is in for a real treat. These smallies have been extremely shallow, pinning minnows up against the river bank, and Jimmy D's specially-made flies should work perfectly. Friday morning I pulled Matt up to one of my favorite spots, and we were greeted with several smallies on a feeding frenzy. I positioned the boat so Matt had a perfect lane to present these delicate flies to these fish. Lets just say we sat in this spot for 2-hours and watched these smallies put on a feeding clinic to these minnows and Jimmy D's flies! As aggressive as smallies feed at times, you would think they would hit anything… well definitely not always the case. This particular day presented us with a challenge, and we found that our casts not only had to be precise on the bank… but also had to be thrown downriver and slowly let the current wash the fly out away from the bank to look as natural as can be!

I only had 3 days to fish with my cousin Matt this year, but there is never a shortage of words and together the utmost desire and respect for river fishing! Thank you Matt for sharing my boat with me!

— Steve DeZurik