SmallieFever

Your not kidding.... I've fished small jaws there numerous times in the summer. I am an avid hard water guy as well and finally made up to the Penn Yan end this year. I was fishing a small chartreuse Fiskas tungsten jig in 22 fow with a waxie and could see it just off the bottom well enough to take a picture of it while in my shelter. Crazy!

Hello, Gentlemen! I'm here to ask for advice on where to find smallies on Keuka lake (NY) this time of year. I figure they will be deep but a few general areas would be great to get me started. I'm thinking some of the same deep sloping banks where I have found them in summer time should be productive, eh? I'm not asking for the exact coordinates to your honey hole just some areas that should hold good fish between now and when they move up to the flats. I've got some blade baits on order that I'm dying to throw at 'em Thanks for all the help!

I just got back from my yearly vacation at Keuka Lake...and FINALLY was able to put together somewhat of a pattern for largies and smallies. Anyhoo, I broke my old PB with the first good smallie of the trip at 4lbs 5oz....less than an hour later I boated a tank of a bronzy at 5lbs 9oz. I was ecstatic! I caught them in about 20' on a rocky flat. A white sub- walk is what did the trick

Beautiful fish! Glad your day in the wind payed off

Great fish, looks like you guys had a blast! Very clever with the background I like to post up my pics on Facebook to share with friends...that trick would be the ticket for that...

Awesome pics, very crisp.... That must be a top notch camera!

Beautiful fish, Dwight! Congrats on a fantastic start to the season!

Thanks for the tips guys. I got out this afternoon on another lake....not my favorite, which is still real muddy but another that was stained. I ended up with only three little smallies (12-13") but nailed a few "ok" largies and a nice 6.8lb hybrid striper. These fish were shallow on rip rap (2-6'). Most of the fish came on rusty craw X Rap 8's. One largie fell to a chart. jointed Shad Rap (around 10'). I also snagged a 6lb channel cat...fought good but I sure was disappointed when I got it to the boat ;D I'll give the other real muddy lake a few days and hit it again.

Well, I've hit two muddy lakes so far with no luck. I'll try a third one tomorrow but I'm not going to hold my breath. My buddy caught two smaller brownies on a dam where we saw some bait, but that was all she wrote. They were caught on an X-Rap 8 in the perch flavor. Can't wait for things to clear up :-/ I looked for fish off of points in various depths and other areas near last years prime spawning areas but could not mark any fish...well there were the occasional fish but just one here or there... I doubt they were bass.

I'm jealous! I've always wanted to get smallies through the ice. What is the rod you've got there...jason mitchell? lb test?

Just checked the temp at my favorite smallie waters...47 this am probably warmer by the end of the day. The problem is the water in this reservoir is pretty muddy right now with visibility around a foot. Normally I would throw X-raps, etc at suspended fish and around rip rap, but I'm not so sure this is the best option....maybe a Clackin' Rap? What would you guys throw? I'm planning to hit it tomorrow. Thanks for the help

I've heard these fish will go up river in reservoirs in an attempt to spawn even though they are sterile. Can anyone tell me when in the spring this happens, or at what water temp? Thanks!

This is funny....about 10 minutes ago I completed a Cabela's order with a couple pink X Raps included ;D The jointed Shad Raps are $4.49 in case anyone's interested...I helped myself to a few of these as well

Dwight and rlrsurveying, Those fish are gorgeous!!!! Gets my blood pumpin' just looking at the pics

What I used was the #8 X Rap jerkbait in the gold color. New this year is Rusty Craw, which is very similar. It just looks different in their pic. I don't know why but that was my best color last year for jerkbaitin.

It's a European carryall. Indiana Jones wears one... This isn't the real Caesar's Palace is it?

Beautiful fish! The Susky is one of my favorite places for smallmouth. Nothin' like river fishing. Good luck gettin' after that 5 pounder!

Those are some nice 'uns!

Nice! I met him at the Blue Ridge Brawl (Elite Series Tour) last year at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Va. I was in the marshal program. Got his autograph, along with Shaw's and a couple others. It's just super cool to meet these guys, especially when they have time to talk for a bit. I would have loved to been there for that seminar!

These are all a great bunch of baits that have been posted. I would also suggest the X-rap 8 or 10 in the deep diving version. I've had success with these as well as the standard X- Raps. Where I fish the main bait seems to be shad and perch, so I usually try to stay in that color range unless I just can't buy a bite. In that case I'll experiment with colors like Clown or hot pink like maineman suggested. Just don't let your buddies see you throwing a pink jerkbait! ;D

Pretty fish!

Good job! That water must be darn chilly about now. Wish that snow wasn't coming...

I have a Shimano Sedona that I use primarily for ice fishing. I think it costs 59.99 most places. The drag is super smooth, which is very important for fishing lite line. I caught some big perch and some nice bass with mine this winter. If you want to spend a little more the Shimano Symetre is an overall better version of the Sedona. I have owned a few and was very satisfied.

I saw that one. There was this hot red-head on the box cover.... ;D LMAO Nice!!!

Hmmm, the small pond you speak of is probably Hamilton or Nesmuck lake. I had NO idea there were walleye like that in Pine! How far down towards Jersey Shore do you go to find good fish? I've spent a ton of time on a few of the tribs to Pine like Cedar and Slate run...beautiful area.