"Probably the most interesting information we have obtained is the slow growth rates that we see in the upper river," Hining said. "I would suspect that the quality of fish is much better farther downstream where the river re-enters North Carolina from Virginia."

The missing year-classes on the New are not restricted to North Carolina. Indeed, not only the New River, but also a number of other smallmouth rivers in the Southeast experienced the same poor spawns during the first years of the 21st century. And many of these same waterways, as was the case of the upper New, enjoyed very good spawns in 2004 -- which bodes well for the future.

SUMMERTIME PATTERNS
Mike Smith, who operates Greasy Creek Outfitters in Willis, Virginia, relates that he has developed several effective summertime patterns on the upper New.

"My favorite summertime pattern involves buzzbaits," said Smith, who is also a college English professor. "I always start clients off with one to see if the smallies are interested -- sometimes they will stay hot on the buzzer all day long, especially during rainy conditions. I use big buzzbaits of 1/2-ounce when the water is up and dingy, and smaller ones of 1/4-ounce when the New is low and clear. I think color matters, so I tie on black on rainy days, white on clear, chartreuse if the water is stained."

More important than color, however, is size, which definitely matters. The reason many anglers only entice sub-10-inch mossybacks with buzzbaits is because they only employ ultralight baits. Simply stated, 1/8-ounce buzzbaits will not attract quality fish like larger buzzers do; or just as bad, the ultralight models will draw only the smaller fish. An angler will spend too much time unhooking 8-inch fish instead of fishing for that one big bite per hour that a buzzer can produce. Smith notes that the second biggest smallie caught on one of his upper New guided trips in 2005 came on a buzzbait -- a trophy 22 3/4-incher. Interestingly, the biggest, a 23-incher, came on a fly rod.

"Next, I will try a Case Magic Stik -- a great soft-plastic jerkbait for clear water when the fish are lethargic -- just dead-stick it along the banks during the dog days," Smith said. "Magic Stiks or Yamamoto Senkos are good summer baits when the water is low and clear and fish are spooky. When dead-sticked, jerkbaits are very unobtrusive and fish do not have to work hard for them when they supposedly 'shut down' during the dog days of summer."

Last August on our trip, Captain Forest Pressnell showed me an effective way to rig a soft-plastic jerkbait. His wide-gap size 2/0 to 4/0 hooks had weights attached to their shanks. Thus, an angler could Texas-rig the jerkbaits so that the weight was, in effect, internal. This rigging method prevents a bullet sinker from sliding up and down the line and perhaps making a solid hookset more difficult to accomplish. After catching several smallmouths on the Independence to Baywood trip with Forest's technique, I will be using it from now on.