Paul Roberts

5lbs 19"!! What is it about smallmouth? The only time I see largies THAT fat is when they are stuffed with shad, or trout -really fatty prey. Some smallies eat alewife, smelt or cisco -fatty species. But it seems in some waters smallies can also do this with perch or Gobies. LM can't as far as I know. So, what are the forage types you giant killers have in your waters? I see posts with such fish coming from Maine, CT, and NY. What are these monsters getting fat on?

I'm still experimenting, and it's been a bit of a pain. Here's what I'm coming down to, so far. Correct me if I'm missing something. I love the spiral fall of a 90deg head. But I'm fishing in and around lots of vegetation, and the 90 hangs weeds. I tried 0deg: EWGs and the internal weights of various types but lost that great slippery spiral fall. Instead a 0deg causes the bait to corkscrew around the anchor point (my knot) on the retrieve. So, I'm using 60deg but need to have the eye come out on top of the tube head, not too far down on the nose. This gives a good stable gliding action, unless I retrieve too fast, then I get the corkscrewing again. I have been using two heads primarily: Luck-E-Strike G4 (w/weedguard). I like this, but, I've had periods where the oddball hook design doesn't always hold well. Not exactly sure why. I'm hoping to solve it. Owner Bullet Head worm hook. I bend this head up to about ~40deg and insert it into the tube pushing the eye out at the topside of the tube nose. This is very stable and hooks and holds well. Problem is the hook is too small for larger tubes and the forward sitting weight needs a hollow tube head, so I use it with the Gitzit (great tube). I'm going to try the Bite-Me and BPS (Gamakatsu) heads this year. Falcon also makes a decent looking design. I'll add my own mono weedguards. Oh yes, the last way I rig tubes (with solid heads) is: A shank-weighted EWG: BPS carries them. Lots of makers now too with the swimbait craze going on. This is a stable rig, but doesn't spiral on the fall. Seems a little bit of instability is needed for that. -A Jewel Finesse jighead. This is a GREAT head. I also use it for my creatures and craws. It's a true functioning stand-up head that will put the tentacles and claws up when resting on bottom. Tubes do make good crayfish mimics. That's where I'm at with tubes so far. It's still a work in progress.

Ahhhhh..that might help.

Hi Ice, I don't know the West slope at all. Along the FR and plains the DOW is recognizing the potential value of warmwater fisheries and there is talk of such interest and some research beginning. Back in NY, the fisheries research was well established, and there was tons of expertise to draw on. Here it's a diff story. As to the endangered species, I know nothing about the issue in W CO, but do know that ES are a federal issue, and likely the impetus for action is out of DOW hands. But, again, I don't know the details. Corruption stinks, I am just out of the loop there.

Welcome Beardog. Thanks for piping in. Good stuff. Hey, do you have a "Newfie" (Beardog)?

Tennessee! Must be a big lake to be that cold. I'd keep my eyes on the shallows; you must be in pre-spawn. We're only a month away here in N CO (I'm a bit stricter in my definitions than some). The main bodies of my shallow ponds are still in the mid to lower 40s, (with heated areas just about to hit 55), but that will be changing fast. Things peak here when heated areas hit 60, and the subsurface waters are in the low 50s. Good luck. Let us know what you find.

It's been a few years, but it sounds like the Chautauqua smallie fishery is smokin'!

The search function is pretty unwieldy and limited in effectiveness. Try using Google, although you really do need to use a specific phrase (in "") for what you are looking for.

Wind is something to keep track of too. If a front follows this warm trend you could get wind. Good Wind: If it's a light wind warm water, since it floats, can be pushed by the wind and there may be places that collect it. Warm water is less dense so it tends not to hold wavelets look for slick calm water stacked in a good cove or shoreline (near fish of course). Bad wind: But, strong wind can really kill things by rolling up cold subsurface waters, destroying heating. Don't go lookin' for something that just isn't going to happen. A few degrees may help, but if you can find something approaching a 10 degree increase through the day, on top of fish, BE THERE! You can plan ahead for this too, if you know your lake. The MOST intense heating occurs with direct sun on calm water -thus those "protected bays" you read about in spring fishing articles. If you know your water, or have time to do some exploring, watch for such places that can warm substantially, and keep your eye on the sky.

Interesting. Thanks RW ... I think . Record fish tend to be freaks -truly unique fish. I guess it's not surprising that there was more (or make that less) to the story. Bummer. John brings up sterile fish. It's quite true. The NY state record steelhead (at the time) was 26+lbs (caught fair and square) and was determined to be a sterile fish that never made a spawning run -It just kept on growing.

Good replies here. I like Raul's advice -on a big lake. I like XcoM274's advice, since you didn't mention anything about your water. Since it's a T my guess is it's big water. Now if it were a pond, I'd take XcoM274's advice and keep tabs on shallow temps. Or, if the lake is shallow or with large shallow areas the shallows might develop. It's very lake dependent. It takes awhile for water to heat, esp as days are still short. And it's direct sun that does the heating. The sun is getting higher each day and night's shorter though, but my guess here is that it's still early.

I do not want the distraction. I can listen to music anytime, but not when I'm fishing. One thing I hate is when it's hunting season and I'm so busy I can't be in the woods regularly. When I finally get in I realize my nerves are raw and there's music in my head and the feeling of car traffic in my veins. It takes me some time to let it all drain. Nope! not for me.

Tuckman, I just want to say welcome aboard again! If a reader was within distance of the FL, this thread would be a gold (bronze) mine.

Yes, that is a beautiful replica. The paint makes it -you need an artist for that. Very nice! And that fish might still be alive. Now that's stisfaction in my book. BIG is relative. I know I don't need to tell you to be pleased with that fish.

I hate the guessing game...But, I'm game. A tad over 20 should put a "normal" good condition smallie at just about 4lbs. That fish I'll venture is 5-1/4. Now Chautauqua is known for 7# smallies on occasion, which should put me pretty low. But ONLY (LOL) 20inches...OK, 5-1/2.

I hate it when my line sinks with topwaters, especially with walkers. Some plugs can handle this better than others. A big Zara is buoyant enough to combat this somewhat, but my smaller slimmer walkers can be touchy. If the bass are aggressive and all I need is a constant rhythmic walk, less than buoyant line is OK. But sometimes the bass take coaxing and what I do when an approaching wake gets right up behind my plug makes a difference. I want that plug to perform right then and there at that instant. I may pause the plug for the bass to catch up, then increase the cadence of the walk with short twitches away, or give it a single long sliding dart to the side an apparent, but weak, evasive behavior in the plug that tentative bass just can't stand WHOOOOSH!. I love it. But I HATE it when the plug doesn't respond, and a sunk line can be a presentation killer. Fluoro is out. Conventional (nylon) mono is fine, but it will absorb water and begin to sink after a time, thus the recommendation for a thicker, more buoyant line. What I've come to use, if I'm going to be dedicating time to a topwater, is braid (on spinning tackle too). I'm beginning to come to the realization that a leader isn't necessary, but I use one -~5feet of Trilene XT (8 to 12#, depending on cover, fish and lure size). With a J-Knot (Google it), a fast easy knot to tie as good or better than a Uni-Uni, the leader can be easily changed when it begins to sink if it's causing a problem.

RW, I remember when that fish was caught, and was at a fly-fishing show where the mount was displayed. It was simply...unbelievable! I remember something that intrigued me. It had a wear mark on the upper lobe of its tail fin. I could just picture that 'ol monster spending it's "off hours" holding under some big deadfall. From what I remember I thought it was caught in the White. I hadn't heard the Red River rumor. Either way, an almost scary creature! You should see the mouth and teeth on that beast!

20" That's no dink!

Ouch! That's scary. Glad you and your rig are OK.

I've seen this with trout. Not with other fish, but definitely something to keep in mind. BTW: Your DNR should be able to tell you if there are SM there, and where the nearest SM fisheries are. Cool stuff. Keep us up on what you find.

I have fished rip-rap lined canals in the past for smallmouth, crappie, walleye, and largemouth in appropriate places. I found small fish relating to the rip-rap all summer -nearer the shorelines in spring and then they dropped deeper in summer. These canal sections were 14ft deep. Better (mature) fish were found at irregularities that were anything form obvious to subtle: Locks, spillways, oxbows, embayments, shelves, turns in the canal that altered the mild current (eddies), docks, deadfalls, overhangs. Usually the cover type stuff was better when in conjunction with the structural characteristics. My guess, from the scant description you've offered, that most of the water will produce small fish, but if you can find areas that offer larger water, cover, vegetation, ... you might find something interesting. In my canals, over time, I did find bass up to 2lbs, walleyes to 4lbs, and crappies to 14inches. I used to fish a small creek that was channelized in certain areas. It held northern pike -no one fished it. Most areas gave up 15 to 18 inch fish, great fun on light tackle. But I found a few areas that were widened and deeper, like small ponds. These areas gave up pike to 26inches. I like what you've got -something to explore with a fishing rod. Let us know what you find.

Thanks, Glenn. Got it. Nice interviews. Good questions; Nice to hear about their productive patterns.

I've had lots of memorable fights. I love speed on scaled tackle: smallmouth's, chain pickerel (awesome!), pike, steelhead, and false albacore are my favorites. But there are also conditions that bring out the best in species: certain water temperatures and individual fish in prime body condition. Largemouths are rarely spectacular but I've had some memorable ones. LM's often duck into cover, which has lead to some interesting battles: One I remember well was a ~15 on UL tackle in a pond with no cover. There was no place for him to go except for the depths. As I steered him to shore he spied a muskrat hole just as I did, and he just burrowed into it. All I could see was the end of his tail fin sticking out! He was too deep to reach and the pond edge too steep to wade in. I waited a long time before I finally broke him off (4lb line) trying to coax/pull him out. I had to laugh and figured he deserved to win that one. I've caught some largemouth's that have fought exceptionally, and that stand out. These have been fish caught in ideal LM fighting conditions: no cover (so they can't bury), and water temps in the upper 70s. In such conditions LMs may almost reach smallmouth ability, and they jump more than fish that have cover to head for, or in colder or warmer water. One pond stands out in my memory: It was a pond built for swimming primarily and was spring fed. There was no cover. The water appeared almost blue I remember. The LMs in it were metallic silver-sided and blue-backed pelagic coloration like you might see with pelagic trout. Very cool looking fish. Some reached almost 4lbs there. These were the hardest fighting LM I ever encountered. They would not give up very smallmouth-like. The temperature thing I think is important. At certain temps certain species perform best. I always called 57F-58F brown trout "jumping temperature". And it seems that at ~77F LM (in open water) is LM jumping temp, in which they are apt to jump often and high. OK, I know the post is the most memorable LOL, so... It would be steelhead, hands down. They are SO fast, and SO spectacular like a smallmouth, times 10 . Others, like false albacore, are ungodly fast but they aren't spectacular too. Steelies, in proper temperatures, have it all. One in particular, one day in particular, really stands out. I came on an early surge of brilliant fresh-run steelhead in the very lowest end of a large river, just above the estuary. The water temp was 50F that's warm for steelie runs in the East! They were mirror bright, mint metallic silver, with blue-green backs, and there were some big ones too. I hooked a bunch that day, on a 6wt fly-rod (too light) on wet flies swung down to them. The takes on these flies, especially in warm enough water, is a sharp aggressive nip! and then your off to the races! The weird, truly uncanny thing is how fast these fish are, even trough or under strong current. They pass whitewater like it isn't there. You hook em 30 feet below and across from you and in a split second they are across the river! It's...just...unbelievable. Your fly-line is still pointing to where you hooked em, but the fish is jumping 70feet away and 90degrees to one side. Your reel is spinning so fast you are afraid it will come apart. They make spectacular 3 to 4 foot high leaps, cartwheels (yup, end over end), or in rapid succession. I hooked maybe a dozen fish that morning and brought only 4 to hand, and none was my fault I simply had NO control for the first 5 minutes or so. I hooked two slobs, a ~16lb I tailed, (she was gravid and relatively slow and I could keep her in the pool) and another as close to 20 as any steelhead I've seen just a huge buck that came unpinned on a head thrash almost immediately after hook-up (Oooooo...I wanted that fish). The most spectacular fish were the mid-sized fish (6 to 10 lbs) and they just cooked with such abandon that I couldn't do anything. They usually broke me off in wood, or around boulders, or just took 80yards of line out and I just couldn't catch up with them in that fast water and slippery bottom. I remember realizing, despite the fact that I had never learned to ice skate, how well I stayed upright charging downriver in strong current on what felt like an iced bottom. Adrenaline does amazing things. One fish, a ~8lber, kept crossing the river back and forth I couldn't tell where he was by where my rod or line pointed; he was always somewhere else! He never jumped but I began ignoring my rod and looking for a flash of silver or a snaky out-of-place ripple in the white-water out there. Twice I caught up and freed the line from impending disaster by throwing a mend over an offending boulder. I eventually caught up to him in another pool, recovered my line, thought I had him (I saw his eye), but he then bolted across the cut, under a deadfall, and was gone. I guess what hangs with me about steelhead in warm water is the complete lack of control. They dominate that white-water, the powerful river looking tame around them.

Ditto. Never say never! I've never been stuck, but I'm darn careful. I DO NOT want a 4lb fish thrashing around on the other end of a hook stuck in my thumb. On some treble caught fish I may belly lift them first, pop a hook free so the mouth will open, then lip 'em. I've also gone barbless on all my trebles now. They hold perfectly well and the hooks come out SO much easier.

My best guess is that chilled immediate shallows (surface) won't be a draw, so you can ignore those. Don't get psyched out by the temperatures. The brilliant sun would be the biggest issue to deal with for me.