Floatfishing usually means more fish caught and fewer truly fishless days. On Virginia smallmouth rivers, unless the water is a chocolate mess, just about anyone can catch a few bass, even immediately after a cold front. The only true rule of thumb is that if fishing is tough, work slower, deeper, and more methodically. And I would rather do that than motor in to the ramp in disgust any day. There is pain associated with hard-core floatfishing.
Shoulders become sunburned and tight from paddling.
Frisky smallmouths are masters at slipping a hook from their jaw to your hand at boatside. Shins are barked as canoes are lifted off of mid-current rocks. But such things only add character to the successful floatfishing expedition. May your thumb, abraded or not, be lifted high, for a trip down the river in a canoe or johnboat is a spiritual success, no matter what. Craig Fields is the Director of Electronic Communications for Gun Owners of America.