stepchild

Oddly enough, the water level was normal...maybe even lower than normal. But this used to be a river where A LOT of runoff from farmers fields would just pour in, so it's got this chocolate milk look to it. The smallies were all very light colored, but healthy nonetheless.

My cousin invited me to fish a river for some smallies and I was just baffled at the fact that the cmallies were all holding in classic largemouth spots!! The river was stained and they were holding along the edge (and just inside) of stump fileds, thick weeds and shallow lilypads. I was using pretty much the same thing, a 4-inch power worm, t-rigged, with a pegged 1/8 ounce weight. I also used a 5' Senko rigged the same way and got bigger fish. I don't know if it was the slower fall or the bulkier bait, but it seemed to work.....oh, and both were in Junebug colors

Well in that case, I have A LOT of water to cover....looks like this will be a nice weekend to do it before it gets uncomfortably cold. I'm guessing warm afternoons would be a good time to go after aggresive fish.

I went out for a few hours last weekend and, just when I thought I had them figured out, they were completely elusive! The lake is typically a trout lake. Relatively small, really deep (200+ feet in some areas) and clear. The shoreline is steep so it gets deep in an awful hurry. There are a few bays that are shallower with humpsall rock though, not many weeds. I thought with the temperature being 58, that it would be an absolute frenzy on main-lake points and on those humps. I tried cranks and suspending jerkbaits around them and only got a few small ones. Then I tried drop-shotting Gulp minnows and finess worms without much success either. I was banking on getting some bruisers (4+ lbs.), which I was catching fairly regularly at the end of August and start of September. My question is, where did they go? Should they be shallower (in like 5-15 feet of water) or even deeper than the 20-25ft I was focusing on? Should I be trying to get them to react to my baits (burning spinnerbaits and cranks) or slow way down and force-feed them? Any help is always appreciated! Thanks

I was gonna say, normally I find the thickness of the tail to be indicative of a specimen that pushes 4 lbs. When you them too, you can tell just by the thickness of the jaw as well. It has a lot more meat on it then the smaller, skinnier fish

I've personally never really used this technique before so it could be an eye opener. I've always gone to cranks, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits for early fall. In the lake I fish most often, they move shallow to classic holding areas and I have a hard time using anything else but jerkbaits really. If the going gets though, you're either not in the right spot or they've moved deep where I would use a soft stickbait (either t-rigged or wacky) along the break or a dropshot at the base of the structure with a longer, thicker finesse worm since they're used to bigger baitfish at this time of year. Hope this helps!

I had one of those days just a few weeks ago! It was rediculously warm out and I ended up landing about 50 in 2-3 hours. Most were 1 to 2 lbs, but I also got about 10 that were 3+ with one being 5 and change. It didn't seem to matter what I threw out there, they hit it! Cranks, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, poppers, grubs, drop-shot: it gets hard to figure out what actually works better when almost every cast gets you a fish....doesn't get better than that! ;D

Thanks for the kind words fellas. As for the outing, I'm just used to thinking I know what I'm doing more than I don't. As in, I normally have a game plan everytime I go out and most of the time, if plan A, B and C don't work, D normally will...but on this occasion it didn't. I've actually been reading these boards quite often. I find I barely have to even ask questions since someone's bound to ask it or already has! Gonna go give 'em a try this weekend in hopes of cracking the code...haha.

This past weekend just completely baffled me. I was out fishing with 2 buddies that have no idea how to fish. So I thought of bringing them to a bay on a private lake that has almost all classic types of structure/cover smallies are known for: deep water, humps, islands, shallow and deep flats lined with a bit of cabbage and sunken trees. It was in the afternoon and it was real hot out and there were no clouds in sight. I tried to get them on a jerkbait...nothing. Spinnerbait...nothing. Then I tried various topwaters, cranks as well as grubs, jigs and worms with a little success, but nothing to brag about. I proceeded to use my drop-shot rod and got a few better ones with a small finess worm. Next thing I know, my two buddies have a double-header going with 3 lb fish each. I set them up with t-rigged senkos and added a few split-shots for weight. They ended up KILLING me all afternoon just reeling in a senko ever so slowly, as I was scrambling to find something, ANYTHING that could work better. Alas, I was blown out of the water by 2 rookies The whole point of this story, I guess, is that has it ever happened to anyone? To use something completely against logical tactics and that it actually worked miracles?? For me, that afternoon was more of a reminder to think outside the box on occasion and sometimes, the concept of the simpler, the better really does apply to fishingeven in when it's not supposed to.

I am thinking of using the Gulp leaches or minnows on a drop-shot but haven't had a chance to since the season isn't open here until 3rd weekend of June. :'( I did however use normal Powerbait leaches and minnows and they worked just fine.

I've had a great deal of success with jerkbaits actually. Just ripping a Husky Jerk back to the boat with unusual speed and hard jerks normally drives them nuts! It seems to get their attention and don't waste time finding it with all the water that moves as well as the noise. I've also had good luck with tubes (w/ rattles) when the action slows.

I get what you guys mean by them clamping down on your thumb while lipping them. As a member wrote, it's often the smaller ones that are more troublesome. Funny story though. My cottage lake only really has stocked trout, rock bass, perch and smallies. In the morning, you can see lots of little smallies looking for food in the shallows. Without thinking about it, I just decided to go for a soak and drift off with some water noodles to keep me afloat. Within 5 minutes, something tugged at my nipple!! I look around and there's this cloud of mini smallies swimming around...those little buggers are ferocious!!!!

Hi everyone, I couldn't find a place on this board that specifically talks about electronics so I posted here (Mods - feel free to move it to wherever you see fit). I'm basically in the market for a new sonar and when I started looking up all the different makes and models, it got pretty confusing. I'm looking for a decent sonar, but not top of the line stuff. I don't really need any of the GPS mapping as most of the lakes and rivers I fish are quite small, but I guess having a GPS memory wouldn't hurt to pinpoint that honey stump 20 feet deep! (but not mandatory). I'm just wondering what some of you think are important features to have on your depth-finders to give you the best odds in identifying bottom composition and seperate fish from baitfish pods? Thanks a bunch!

I've had good luck with t-rigged and weighted senkos and skirted grubs on main-lake breaks, points and flats adjacent to deep water. When fish are breaking surface in the morning and evening, I've used soft jerkbaits, X-Raps and 1/2 double-willow spinnerbaits with increasing success.

Good call guys. I just had a breakthru and cashed in bigtime! ;D I found a rocky flat (i could've sworn i went over it with the depth-finder before) where t-rigged senko's were the ticket. Visibility is about 20 feet, so it's a real clear lake. Long casts were needed to get at the fish, which made for really fun battles for the bigger ones. Even a few real solid fish, one pushing 5...but I still don't get what they're really foraging on. Maybe it's little rock bass and crawfish here... Later on, in the evening, I spotted some fishing breaking surface over 80-100 feet of water. I throw out a white x-rap and low and behold, non-stop action for a good 30 minutes. I just don't get what they could possibly be chasing over water that deep?! I just want to know so I could somewhat match my presentation to what the fish are eating.

My family has decided to invest in a lakefront cottage on a deep, clear Canadian shield lake. I was excited at the fact that there might be some untapped fishing opportunities, given lake access is restricted to property owners. In the spring (when the season's still closed), I was overly excited when I spotted 4 pound smallie swim by the dock so I knew I'd have my crack at them. Late spring/early summer was great to me, especially when coudy or windy. But now with the water warmed up, the fish have scattered and seem a lot more opportunistic. The trick is, this is known as a deep lake trout lake that also has brookies in it (and also an overabundance of rock bass given the lack of warm-water predators). About 85% of the banks drop directly to 50+ feet of water, leaving only a few points and shelves for the smallies to rest on. Could they have moved offshore and feed in open water? Recent catches have revealed good sized rock bass as a food source since the tail was still sticking out of their throats. My question is, on a deep lake with relatively steep banks and minimal structure...where does one begin to look?

Hi all! I'm acutally a long-time reader but this is my first time posting. I love the information you all share and gladly look forward to contributing to countless threads. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to post what I saw in a local newspaper this morning. Someone apparently caught a WR smallmouth about 30 minutes from here. Here's the link and feel free to discuss! http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=a9407333-cd21-4841-bb6e-cd971ecf743b&k=19874 Personally, I find it looks nothing more than a great catch by anyone's standards but nothing close to what the current WR looked like.