Dwight Hottle

It would not be much different than a jig & minnow presentation. Fish Chris a past member on BR used to use live craws to catch monster large mouth bass & smallies also mean mouth in California waters. Mostly sight fishing as I remember.

I totally agree. Do not wait until it’s too late because you only live once & there are no guarantees in life except death & taxes. My father had already passed before I bought my first boat in my late fifties so he never got to go with me after purchase. My only advice regarding boat purchases is don’t buy what you can not comfortably afford. Being old school I appreciate & have always practiced not to encumber debt I could not handle.

My guess is in the 4 lb range. But the solution to your question is always carry a scale with you.

Listen up all you brown bass enthusiasts. The man shares & communicates his thought process & experiences as a trophy smallie fisherman very well.

My suggestion is to swallow your pride & start trolling on a regular basis.

I almost always use spinning tackle for fishing jerk baits for smallies. I do use casting outfits for largemouth when fishing jerks simply because that’s what I have available. But for windy conditions the solution would be spinning tackle.

Very scary situation. Glad you got it sorted out & can get back to normal & go fishing.

Welcome aboard Pablo.

For me personally flouro sucks. I always use mono leaders when using leaders to braid. I always use back to back uni knots for the connections without failures. While up at the St Lawrence last week I had two leaders knots fail using saltwater yo-zuri 100% fluorocarbon 30 yard fluoro. The leaders were 10lb & 12lb joined to 10lb braid & 8lb braid. I cinched all my knots up with saliva & lip balm to prevent the knots from burning. Water temps were high 30's & low 40's which I'm sure might have contributed to the problem. Extreme water clarity is the only reason I even considered flouro. My buddy also had a leader connection at the knot to braid fail.

@T-Billy Great start to your season.

Well all I can say is welcome to the 60 point club. And the race tightens but be aware I have an ace up my sleeve.

Heal up fast but listen to the doc's timetable.

It's over $6.00 on the left coast.

I forgot to welcome you to the 8lb club.

I think my fishing prime is still in front of me at the age of 78. I don't fish as much time wise but my ability to catch trophy fish has not decelerated. I caught my PB largemouth at the age of 71. I caught a DD largemouth at the age of 73. My PB smallie came at the age of 74. I tied my previous PB smallie at the age of 77 only two ounces less than my PB. You gain fishing knowledge with exposure so that works in your favor as you age. My thinking fishing game is strong which helps compensate the decline in physical ability.

True biggie trophy for Ohio congrats.

Sometimes mother nature determines all the outcomes.

Anyone else hear of a 13lb+ largemouth caught in lake Cayuga NY? A New York friend got a message about it with a picture that substantiates the weight. It was caught by a fellow trolling for trout & was released because it was out of season.

Blade baits baby !

Bigger fish than previous submission but just below the percentage because of the location caught. This fish was 6.5 / 10.15 the Ontario Canada record equals 64.039.

One last pic from the St Larry. The river smallies carry a lot of weight for the length compared to typical river fish. @TnRiver46 right?

Sun rise on the St Lawrence in April.

Last day of our 7 day search for big smallies. Once again Mother Nature sent us another curve ball. High pressure with starting temps in the 30’s going up 58 and water temps from 40-43. The water is clear to the bottom in 35’. We could see smallies on the bottom but they could see us & would turn away when our finesse baits hit the water. We did score a few on Deps Sakamata shads on light jig heads using FFS. But the majority still came on blade baits. Our best five were 27lbs-13 ounces. Biggest fish was 5-15 today. I gotta tell you fisher people you will not regret a trip to the St Lawrence for small mouth bass. It is unique.

Katie the water is so cold we only had one wallow at the surface. Compared to Erie they came in quick but were caught much closer to the boat. The Erie fish were jumping as high as 4 feet above the surface.

Day 6 of our smallie quest. Best five went 28-2. We had three over 5 lbs & two over six. Air temp was 39-45. Water temps were 39-42. Most fish on blade baits in 20-40 feet tight to the bottom & very lethargic. Cloudy skies all day but extremely clear water.