MSWV

I went with: Rojas Ike Tharp Ehler Evers

Me and my brother have been fishing since we were pre-teens, mostly wading, floating in rafts, or in our 9.9 horsepowered jon boat, but we havent fished out of a bass boat until recently.. We have signed up for our first tournament which is a buddy tournament that will have 50-75 boats.. Were a little nervous.. We are both very competitive and Im sure we will prob have fun but Im sure we will learn a lot..haha Does anyone have any good first tournament stories? How did your first tournament go??

Trick worm & Frog

Several years ago I made a trip into eastern Ontario.. Bass were in spawn/postspawn mode and at the end of the week, this bait was one of the main fish catchers for us.. We also used an F11 Original Floater by Rapala in Gold also.. Those smallmouth up there loved these baits..

I flopped on the Sabine also.. I think it was my worst performance ever..haha I think this one could be the toughest event to predict.. Its going to be a slamfest and anyone is capable of winning but Im going to lean toward the power fishermen.. I havent picked KVD in a long time but this event could be perfect for him.. He fishes fast and could do well just because he gets in more casts than most guys.. I am also thinking Randall Tharp may want revenge after how things went down at the 2014 classic on Guntersville, therefore watch out for him..

I have Dean Rojas as my No. 1 and hes doing fairly well right now.. Faircloth seems to catch them anywhere he goes! I thought Brent Ehler would do well but he looks to be struggling.. According to Basstrakk, Iocanelli hasnt caught a fish and Chris Lane is whacking them!!

Several good points in this article that I hadnt thought of..: http://www.bassmaster.com/blog/should-classic-be-february

I love to fish for Winter smallmouth! I struggled for years on getting the hang of it but I feel like Im getting better each year. I dont really think there was any major contributing factor that helped me start catching them but there were several small factors.. Ive learned what kind of holes hold winter smallmouth.. I used to fish a lot of pools that were actually empty during winter.. Also, Ive learned to slow down.. During a spring or summer float I may fish all day and cover 6-12 miles but during winter, Ill float 1-3 miles in a day and really only concentrate on 2-3 areas.. Id say the most important factor to catching winter smallmouth is having confidence that they can be caught. Once I got the confidence, I felt like I could get bit on the nastiest, coldest days of the year..

I fish a certain small creek quite often and my bigger smallmouth have usually came during times when the water isnt so clear.. Over the years Ive began to enjoy when my creeks/rivers get stained. Big fish tend to let their guard down during these times and can be caught on big baits such as spinnerbaits and flashy crankbaits.. Big Smallmouth with clear water conditions are tough.. While clear water is great for numbers, it isnt so much for big fish.. Back to the original question: I feel that your best, clearwater, big smallmouth bait is a topwater.. Try a big topwater walking bait. Ive had good success during summer for bigger fish with spook Jrs & Rapala skitter walks an hour or so before dark.. Another good clear water bait is a Zoom Trick worm.. This worm may seem kinda big for smaller creeks but if you texas rig it weightless and work it erratically, it will draw a reaction strike from some nice fish..

I was dragging/deadsticking a 2.5" tube yesterday and found 2 biting fish.. They werent big but they were biters..

Ive done good on dragging jigs throughout the winter.. Drag them slow and let them sit for 4-5 seconds.. Another technique Ive found effective is to carolina rig a Bass Streamer.. A streamer fluttering in front of them will draw a strike a lot of times.. I guess this is a different version of the float & fly..

I fish small streams a lot and have caught some nice ones but a 4lber is tough to come by. Heres an 18" fish I caught last March out of a small stream while on my way home from work... Spinnerbait fish..

Thanks Guys!

I feel confident that I could catch smallies in fast or calm water on a 3.5" Brown tube year round.. Other baits may be better during different times of the year but I can drag a tube during winter, texas rig it during spring, jig it during summer, then double rig it during fall and catch 2 at a time out of a wolf pack!!

I love to fish for Big Smallmouth.. I float the New River in WV every chance I get.. I have been thinking about a trip to the 1000 Islands region for a smallmouth vacation but the problem is that I only have a Whitewater raft and a 16' aluminum boat with a 9.9 hp motor. Do you guys think it would be possible to get on some giant smallmouth during May/June out of this smaller boat? Ive never seen this area and maybe its bigger water than I would want. What do you guys think?