Smith river Bassett Virginia 1/18/21:

[AndyS]

Took the 2 hr. drive to the Smith and bounced around, tried old spots and some new. Dam releases were ideal to do a little wading. Had frozen guides in the beginning, snow showers on and off led to partly cloudy skies and breezy. The Smith reminds me of the Lehigh only smaller, and I say that because of the amount of litter and plastic you see, not so much up by the dam but it increases as you get into Bassett. Nonetheless there are quite a few trout in this stream, so much so I saw 3 drift boats today, that's right, 3 !! Did okay, got a small one up by the dam, rolled a few and got a 10 and 12 incher real pretty browns. Still beats working. Looking at a trip out to the Watagua in Tennessee soon.

[DanH]

Very nice! Are the trout stocked or wild?

[AndyS]

They look wild to me.

[tautog]

Lots of small wild browns there. Anything over 12 inches is pretty big. I have heard that there are fewer but larger browns below the next dam.

[AndyS]

I went down and checked out the next dam on Dye Plant Rd. near Martinsville, red signs, $1000.00 fine for trespassing, no access, and talk about trash on the banks OMG !

[thmyorke1]

purrty wild brown :D

the various wild trout fisheries are mysterious, sometimes big ones other times lots of small ones. I wonder what limits the growth size in that brown trout population?

[FASTEDDIE29]

Making moves and finding the fish! That’s awesome! Catch em up Cap’n! :D

[tautog]

Heard the access stinks below Martinsville which is probably why there are bigger fish. Not that much forage in the Smith to feed large browns. Back in the 70s there were shad and monster browns up to 15lbs. Guess it is sort of like what happened to Round Valley. But you can't beat relatively easy access with lots small wild trout.

[Pondhopper8]

Pretty brown and river 👍👍

[AndyS]

Heard the access stinks below Martinsville which is probably why there are bigger fish. Not that much forage in the Smith to feed large browns. Back in the 70s there were shad and monster browns up to 15lbs. Guess it is sort of like what happened to Round Valley. But you can't beat relatively easy access with lots small wild trout.

They changed the regs, stringers and worm containers now.

[bigfishy]

Haha!! A few trips and you already have "old" spots...
Nice work!! Good luck in Tennessee...

[DRiverRat]

Andy, looks like Southern life suits you.
Since you're accustomed to tailwater fisheries now,
I've got 2 places within an hour of my home that may be worth the trip for you.

First spot is below Dale Hollow Dam.
Alot of fish, mostly on the smaller side, with browns predominant.
Bigger fish are present but I've had no luck.
National fish hatchery is located 1/2 mile before dam.

Second spot is Center Hill Dam. (Caney Fork)
Bigger fish to be had. I've brought browns, brookies and bows to hand with
14" being more common than not and I've seen much bigger fish landed.
Caney Fork dumps right into the Cumberland River below Cordell Hull.
This makes for great striper fishing if you launch just below Carthage.

Both spots are primary launches for drift, kayak and canoe with no shortage of guides in the area.

I've shore fished both places on same day excursions with about an hour travel between spots.

Tight lines brother.