Multiple cars in the parking area for Smith Creek concerned us upon arrival. The stream is small, and the stretch we were to fish only a mile or so long. And with other delayed-harvest waters likely too high for most anglers to fish comfortably, I'd suspected we might find a crowd.
And close to the nearest point of access, there seemed to be an angler or two in every run.
As often seems to be the case, though, once we got 1/3 mile or so downstream of the most direct access point, we had the creek pretty much to ourselves, passing one other angler and a couple of hikers along the trail. The trout also got more abundant - or at least more aggressive - as we worked our way downstream.
The creek itself was in beautiful condition, with a heavy flow making the fish much less skiddish than they can be. My friend, Mark Wiese, enjoyed the best action, catching seven fish on a Rebel Deep Teeny Wee-Craw in a Stream Crawfish color pattern (treble hooks removed and replaced with one single hook on the back split ring). My best lure was a Lindy Premium Marabou Jig. I only landed one trout in our short afternoon outing, but I missed several others.
The folks fishing in the most trodden waters were mostly throwing in-line spinners, and none reported much success. The only other person we saw downstream was fly-fishing, and he had caught several trout.
Mark and I determined that next time we fish Smith Creek we'll hike all the way to the lower end of the public access before we ever make a cast and then fish back upstream. There's much to be said for making an effort to get away from the easiest access point in almost any stream.
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