cobras and no more will ferrell

So Matty and I are rowing down the river last week when we see a snake swimming across the river. Neat, let's go net it and see what kind it is. I row like crazy to catch up to the thing and upon reaching it it actually paused for a second so I could net it. Turns out it was an Asian Cobra! Actually, it was just an Eastern Hognose Snake, even better. If you've never seen one of these things, they're neat. When disturbed, they flatten out their necks and raise up into "strike mode", just like a cobra. They are non-venomous and are usually quite docile. As a matter of fact, their next line of defense is to play dead. They will actually go limp and the tongue will hang out, an attempt at trying to get a curious dog or human to lose interest. Snakes aside, the smallie fishing has been good, but there's been a definite change. Cooler, shorter days and falling water temps have moved most fish out of the shallows and into deeper holding water. We're still catching good numbers of fish, but it's mostly been with heavier flies that get down quickly, retrieved slowly along the bottom. Sure, it's not as exciting as watching a wake push towards a popper or a big baitfish pattern getting crushed, but this is the time of the year that we see some of the biggest fish in the river. I was just on the Oconto yesterday throwing one of Nelson's patterns, the Mudbug, on my spey rod and I got five really nice smallies, all over fifteen inches, all very hefty fish. It's weird to think that the busy smallmouth season is almost over. It is nice to be home though, spending time with Kristy and Logan. It's almost saddening that the smallie season is almost over. No more nights up north with the guys, no more swimming in the river at lunch, no more PBRs at the local watering hole. And what am I going to do now that we're not watching "Blades of Glory" or "Zoolander" every night? Oh yeah, the migratory browns will be in soon, along with the steelhead, late season smallies and muskies. Break out the gloves, spey rods and blackberry brandy! If the brown trout run is as good as it was the last couple years, it will be a fun fall. Just remember Timmy, it's apparently always twenty degrees colder by the time we get up to the river. I'm going to see if I can coerce a few smallmouth into eating the new flies I tied last night.