Matt 825

There is one lake that I fish sometimes that the state actually Installed several tire reefs way back in the 70's for "fish habitat" The tires are still there and I loose a bunch of Blade Baits each year on them. I dont think that it was the best choice of material for fish habitat and I am sure it would not be the prime choice material today, but the tires do hold fish.

On my 11' Aluminum I use a trolling motor mounted tranducer and I was useing a Hummingbird Piranahmax 240. It costs like $130 and it worked great, better than some units that cost 3x as much.

Super Spook is by far my #1 topwater bait and like Tin said you can almost always get them to eat it. I start out with the full size one every time. I will use the super spook Jr sometimes and a Zara Spook (without rattles) also. I really do not like the Sammys at all. They flat out suck for me. My replacement for the Sammy is the Spro Dawg. I love those Spro's almost as much as my Super Spooks

Try a Zoom Speed Craw. Flaps much more than a paca craw and its a little bigger. I had good success at Champlain with this trailer last summer.

I agree with Slo_Roll rock piles are the way to go especially for smallies. I was ice fishing on a pond about 10 years ago and wasnt catching anything, so I decided to drag out a bunch of rocks that were in a pile on the shorline. I spent all day dragging my sled back and forth to create a rock pile that was about 5' x10'. Marked it with my handheld GPS and every year since then that spot has been the best offshore spot for smallies. Of course in Massachusetts that was completely illegal just like sling shots, blowguns, fireworks and any other fun activity. lol ;D

Yes sir that is the mold (ZV-5-A) that I ordered the other day. I like 1/2 OZ best but in wind will use 3/4 OZ

Is this knot the same as the San Diego Jam Knot?

Good Luck....Sounds like your weather is considerably worse than the forecast for New England ths weekend. I'll Be out there in the wind and rain but at least it will be around 60 degrees

Last summer I was fishing at Lake Champlain and I caught a 2 IB smallmouth out of 30' and when I got him close to the boat he puked 5 or 6 plastic lizzards. I figure someone must have dropped a bunch in the water by accident and he ate them like a turkey on thanksgiving as they fell down. Just proves that fish are stupid.......lol

I read a bunch of articles by Stephen Headrick about hair jigs for smallies a few years back and since then I have had it in my head to throw hair jigs for smallies and they have worked well for me, but I also catch a lot of smallies on silicone jigs in the summer. When the water gets cold though I prefer hair jigs with a small trailer or a spin jig pork trailer. I dont know what it is about hair jigs, but I catch more smallies with them than regular jigs and the size of the fish seems to be the same or slightly larger. Smallies just love them and I think that at least up north not too many guys throw them anymore so fish havent seen them as much as regular jigs. Good luck with that fish...Hope you catch her.... and hope she is HUGE!!!

My preference is for no nets in tournaments, but since all local tournamnets allow nets you have to use them. When I fish tournaments I net my own fish. I have seen too many "horrible net jobs" to let someone else net a good fish for me, plus I dont want someone else to stop fishing to net my fish.

Where are you ordering yours from? I cant find any place other than *** that is even offering them right now????

Matthew LeBlanc 30 Rockland, MA I fish in SE Mass and on Cape Cod almost exclusively except for in the summer when I do a lot of fishing at Champlain & Winnipesaukee. I fish a handful of tournaments each year and do the State championships for BASS and FLW each year as a non boater. I have a 11' Jon boat and a 14' Jon boat and have a couple friends with Bass boats so I split my time between my boats and theirs. I make my own soft plastics, Jigs and Rods, although I am always behind on what I need to make. lol I am obsessed with smallmouth but seem to spend just as much time fishing for Largemouth. My favorite techniques are Drop Shot, Jig, Topwater & Silver Buddy. I love fishing offshore strcture and using my electronics to find fish. I fish every Saturday, Sunday, Holiday or day off I have from Sunrise to Sunset. I fish until there is ice, and then I will ice fish or go way down the cape to fish open water. I have fished or have information on almost every body of water in Plymouth and the Cape (especially the smaller HP restricted places) so if you have a question about a pond just ask me and I can probably help you out or at least point you in the right direction.

I agree Metal Baits + Winter + Location = Giant Smallmouth

Yeah like crestliner said you will lose plenty of them. One day last year I lost a dozen of them fishing a tree in 25ft, but it was well worth it. I was buying them in bulk for cheap from a guy on ebay the last few years, but now he is gone. Looks like I'll be making my own shortly.

I would use it as a frog rod over matted vegitation, a heavy Flippin Stick to punch matted Vegitation. Maybe a Carolina Rig.

I use a 7' spinning as my main jerkbait rod but most guys use a 6' or a 6'6". Length is your preference, but a soft tip is a must. For colors in clear water I like Ghost Minnow, Watermelon Seed, Yellow Perch, Bone, Baby Bass and sometimes American Shad when Herring are around. In slightly stained water I throw Sour Grape, Fire Tiger and Black, but mostly fish it in clear water.

Punisher Lures has some nice Hair Jigs for Smallies. They work pretty good. I lost all the ones I had so recently I have been throwing regular jigs for Smallies. I just trim the skirt a tad longer than the Hook and trim the weed guard down a bit and put a smaller trailer on. I like a Baby Paca Craw or a small Twin Tail grub for trailers. For colors I like Green Pumpkin, Dark Watermelon Seed and Brown.

Wow...That is impressive for a first rod. A split grip spiral wrap for a first rod is no small feat. Looks like it could be your 100th rod. Great Job!!!!

Got them .......Love them.....Get them

I am using some Sonic Braid on my drop shot rod. I think it is 14 IB with a 6 IB diameter. I am impressed by the way it handles on a spinning reel. It cast well, is pretty smooth, blood knots and Uni knots hold up well. I am a Big fan of Sufix though. I would say that suffix casts significantly better and is more limber where the sonic braid is a bit stiffer but it is almost slippery when you touch it. I would give Sufix the nod as the best braid, but I havent replaced the Sonic Braid yet and probably wont. I have used pretty much every brand of braid out there and Sufix is #1 for me and I would put Sonic braid as #2.

I dont think you need the Dual beam unit. Plus the LMS 522c IGPS is on sale at Cabelas right now. Check out the link http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=Related_IPL_019023&id=0044762019021a&navCount=6&podId=0044762&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=8IS&rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat602012&hasJS=true

I am a big fan of Spro lures. These baits look awesome, they have already done 1/2 of what they are designed to do......Catch fisherman......next they must also catch fish

Good advice above.......... I would just add throw the football heads in deep water also. 15 ft + and fish it slow

Great post. You are right most people myself included fish the jig too fast.