At 9:30 on a Saturday morning, Labor Day weekend or not, I’d expect to have company in the parking lot at this popular put-in point on the Little Miami River. Had the place to myself for a while but it did eventually see some action as kayakers and paddleboarders made their way in to enjoy these last days of summer.
In a word, this place felt ‘pressured’. The water was clear and running but the bites were few and very far between. I hooked a gar in the back pool of the island that is there in the river. The fight was brief but I was able to see the three foot length of the longnose gar before it coiled up like a spring and shot out of view, leaving my hook behind. I wound up seeing several gar and a few carp as well in the stagnant backwater and fished for a while in hopes of getting one.
After working that area for a long time with no further luck, I made my way down to the next island and instantly snagged a young smallmouth on a chartreuse grub in the riffles. The small bass flashed golden in the sun and spit the hook with a spectacular leap and dash in the swift current. I was rigged to avoid short strikes so it was frustrating to lose a second fish, but exciting to hook one even briefly. As a passing kayak fisherman reminded me “It’s better than nothing!”