Unknownwaters

Yea, im told the two are pretty tough to distinguish except for the fact that their natural ranges and environments do not overlap, except for this strange occurrance in the river by my house

Caught this bass in a river near my house were the DNR has stocked shoal bass and some unknown entity illegally stocked smallmouth bass. Rumor has it the two species are breeding and creating "smoalies". I honestly have never caught a smallmouth and only recently started fishing for shoal bass, so it would be nice to know which one I just caught. I appreciate any help identifying this fish.

No idea how big the one in my picture is, didnt take the time to measure it. probably several pounds and maybe 25 to 30 inches. caught it so long ago I dont remember the details

didnt think they made it this far south, unless it was artificially placed in the lake somehow. and I figured out the picture thing

I was fishing on a lake in Georgia. This lake is made artificially colder than most lakes in Georgia because of Lake lanier dam, you can even catch trout in it (which I often do). The Georgia DNR says pickerel can be caught in the section of the river downstream of the lake, but not in the lake itself. I was pretty sure it was a pickerel when I caught it, but I have had several people tell me its a Pike. Was just wondering the opinions of the members of this forum. P.S. How do you put photos directly on to your posts without having to use attachments? Pretty sure I see people doing that all the time.

shoreline fishing in the suburbs were almost all the good fishing lakes are private has gotten me run off by the lakes residents on numerous occasions, one even left a note on my car telling me that she was going to call the authorities (she thankfully didnt and the fishing wasnt that great on her lake anyways). Probably the worst thing i did was accidentily fish in a nature center near my house. I saw this lake on google maps and decided to checl it out. When i get there theres a rather worn fence about seven feet tall. Hopped the fence and started fishing the lake. I was amazed at all the sizable bass that absolutely destroyed almost everything i thru at them, almost like they had never seen lures before....and something about the lake seemed so familiar (i had gone to the nature center alot as a kid). Then it hit me. So i quickly finished fishing my last senko and left. Didnt get in trouble for it, but lord knows if it wasnt a weekday and there had been more people there i dont even want to think about all the trouble i couldve gotten into.

Honestly I would have to say the puzzle/mysterious aspect of it and the natural beauty of the lake. Everytime I see a lake with fish all I can think about is what could be underwater, were would the fish be sitting, what kind of techniques and lures could work, and so on. I always love picturing were the fish i catch were sitting and what they were doing and why they bite.

Honestly having fished from the shoreline/in a raft with no sonar I find the technique that always works for me is flipping jigs to fallen trees and other structure along the shoreline. While you cannot see the jig underwater, its pretty simple to just hop it along the bottom and feel it going over structure. I actually went to my neighborhood pool at night and casted a jig around it (much to the dismay of my mother) and experimented with some different retrieves to get a better visual idea of what it does underwater. Easy to snag and lose them if your not careful tho... and it certainly doesn't cover a lot of water. But the lakes I usually fish typically only have a handful of good fishing spots so I do not need to cover much water. Not sure this helps lol

I can usually forgive people on jet skis and other non fishing craft because they might now understand what they are doing, but every time a guy in a bassboat shoots right by me at full speed I get pretty ticked.

I can only dream of getting a fish finder that nice

I personally try to kinda "hop" it along the bottom. Sometimes ill just drag it. One thing that always worked for me when the strike zone is small would be to sorta twitch it right infront of logs without moving it forwards much. Hard to describe exactly what I did. Anyways, probably my favorite lure to fish with.

wow I never realized how great the fishing could be in other parts of the country. Guess I just assumed all the good fishing was in the south because of the warmer climate. Definitely not my top priority as far as places I could potentially live, but it makes me feel better knowing that I could find great fishing just about anywhere I go. Thanks for the advice

Best big fish lure I have ever used is the Jig n Pig

First time I have ever heard of that, you catchin em below morgan falls in the same places youd fish for shoal bass? Would you say this is one of the hybrids? never really knew the difference in appearance between smallmouths and shoalies.

I was recently fishing with a small jig n pig in some deep rocks. I hooked a nice bass that made a quick run to the surface, but my line broke right before it jumped out of the water. Honestly the line on my reel was rather worn an nicked down by the lure which I have since changed. However, I was wondering what would happen to the bass with that lure in its mouth? Would it eventually shake it out? If it doesn't, will the lure hamper the fish somehow? I know I have caught some striped bass that had flukes in their stomachs.

I couldn't agree more. One of the few places I could catch a striper, shoalie, or a trout casting the same lure. Never heard of any smallmouths in there though...

I am in my early 20s and soon will be having to make some pretty huge life changing decisions regarding what I want my career in, romance, and all sorts of other stuff (talk about a stressful time). One thing I know very little about is good bass fishing states. I currently live in Georgia and find it to be a great overall fishing state. From walleye in deep mountain reserviors to trophy spots,largemouths, and coastal fishing, the only thing it seems to lack is a productive smallmouth bass fishing lake (spots have all but pushed them out of the state because of illegal stockings of the fish). I never really considered living in another state,but the potential job market might take me to other places. So i was just wondering, what other good fishing states are there?

Thats a nice fishing Kayak joedoozer. I currently fish out of a two man raft with an 8hp nissan motor, but have long been considering a fishing kayak someday. thanks for the info

its made of some pretty strong material, hypalon rubber I believe. I doubt I have anything in my tacklebox capable of doing any real damage to it, except for maybe my fishing knife. The raft I had before it that was made of PVC, however, was a different story. Had to patch it up after almost every trip and never went fishing in it without an air pump or a bucket to scoop out water. Had some pretty wet and miserable trips in that thing

I am considering getting a fishing kayak someday and was wondering what everyone's favourite maker/brand/whatever is. Not exactly sure what kind of kayak I would want, but it would be nice to have some brands to look over to help me figure it out what I am looking for.

Have a 8hp nissan motor instead of the 2 horse n the pic. Bought the best I can do for myself while I am still in school

A lot of bass vary in things like colour, length, and other things depending on were they live. I know I have fished lakes were all the bass were short and fat, or caught fish that were far more colourful in deeper water than bass I have caught in shallow water. Could have something to do with that, idk about catching them on the same lake though

Anybody here go after shoal bass often? I have been contemplating fishing for them on the Chattahoochee river but do not know much about them. Best advice I have found is to toss crayfish imitations in the same place you would fish for trout in the shoals. Also, what would you consider to be a trophy shoalie? What is the biggest you have ever caught?

Does wearing bright/white clothing really matter? I have always heard that you want to wear dark, less noticeable clothing while you fish because the fish could see it, especially from the shore. I have also heard that camo clothing isnt all that much better than dark clothing. I would like to know what colour, if any, you prefer while fishing

I live around the Dunwoody area in ATL and found most of my fishing lakes by using google maps. Just made my own google map and explored all the possibilities