The report from the river is that year-round fishing for smallmouth is here and, like it or not, here to stay. We have never had a pre-spawn, year-round season on bass, so it is an unknown, until now. Fishing and floating a river that I know so well after decades of guiding and fishing is a mind bender; the usual techniques are not going to be effective. Deep and slow is the name of the game. The fly fishing action in April is very similar to the winter action I have seen up to the close of the winter season in late February each year. One thing I noticed, thankfully, was the lack of the ubiquitous northern pike. I am sure they are up in the shallow backwaters and incoming streams and rivers doing their spawning thing, which leaves all the slow deep runs to the wintering smallmouth. The bass are feeding at certain times during the day, based on last week. So far, in April, the bass are not close to spawning, but are showing a swollen belly full of eggs. Remember, if you can, I know I moved the fly too fast at times; the drifting fly needs to be low and slow.