Bluebasser86

I've got some Duo Rozante KO's that I bought for $3.50 each that fish really close the original. Tearing the fish up on them yesterday without having to worry about losing them was nice.

I'd vote catfish also if you have any at all in the lake you were fishing. I can't remember any of even my largest bass making more than one or two short runs.

Just got back from a 3 day fishing/camping trip with my wife and boys and we had a blast. Wind was a bear the last couple days but I had a plan in case that happened and it worked out great. Nicole and I started out chasing smallmouth and they were about jumping in the boat. We had a lot of fun chasing them even though they were mostly small. We did find some bigger ones. and there was tons of wipers and white bass mixed in with them that really seemed to like small jerkbaits. Plus the crappie were just starting to spawn so we were getting quite a few of those also. Then the wind showed up. I went out early before everyone woke up and the wind got strong and caught a dozen white bass and tossed them in the livewell. When everyone woke up, I broke out the big rods and I had the perfect spot to park the boat where it would be protected and we could have a nice spot to sit on the gravel point. The next day and a half we just hammered the blue cats. None of them were very big, but my wife and boys really had a ball reeling them in and my ribs are bruised from setting the hook on so many of them. Had a few doubles and even a triple with the 3 rods I had out. It was all I could do to keep up with them a few times. The boys did a lot of looking for cool rocks, found 5 lures, some cool sticks, and peed on everything like a couple stray dogs in between bites.

Grab them by the back of the shell, they can't reach you. My grandpa use to noodle for them, yes he had all of his fingers still. They're not that hard to unhook if you're careful.

I had a client catch a freshwater mussel when it clamped on his dropshot weight on a guide trip last year.

51 is plenty warm for smallmouth. The no wind thing would be the biggest issue here. Smallmouth love wind, and when it goes away, often the smallmouth bite goes with it. Smallmouth are not largemouth, you're going to have to adapt to them. In the spring time for smallmouth, I usually have 2-3 rods with jerkbaits on the deck, a ned rig, dropshot, spinnerbait, and small swimbait like a 3.8 Keitech on a 1/4oz head. A lot of them have been shallow here lately but I'd suspect you should be looking for those flats near deeper water, the transition areas.

I had to Google "Great Lakes Worm Watch", because I thought there was no way that's a thing, boy was I wrong. Now I've been reading about worms for half an hour about exactly how a worm is dangerous to the environment. Most of it sounds like some serious reaching to say the least.

I had a bass I'm pretty sure was a DD fish engulf a 14" bass, plus a jerkbait with 3 trebles, then blow the whole mess back out without getting the hooks fishing a strip pit once. I've had a 4.5lber eat a 6-7 inch bass that had smacked a popper while I was fighting it in. That one wasn't so lucky and I landed both.

Welcome!

Welcome!

They all were but that one was especially stuffed.

I've been on Milford since Thursday afternoon. Wind was horrible a couple days so I shifted gears and got the family out for something different and we ended up having a blast.

Those river smallmouth are a blast. My smallmouth PB was on a spinning rod with 8lb test and a small jerkbait.

I don't, but I understand the thinking behind it.

15lb fluoro I'll wrap around my hand and pull. Heavier line or braid I'll wrap around my body and turn until it pops.

Seaguar Tatsu Daiwa CC80

I'm the same way 99% of the time. I've watched the guy in the back of my boat that's watching what I'm doing and how I'm catching them, try to fish the same bait as me too many times and struggle to get bit to be worried about someone on a different part of the lake trying to do the same thing I'm doing.

I can't remember the name of them, but I believe these were designed to go with a soft plastic craw and fish as a shakyhead. The craw was threaded onto the hook and then the tail was pushed onto the barbs to hold it into place. I could be remembering that all wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was.

You've never hit a hot bite that died off? OP, did you ask the people that were catching fish for help? Try telling them you're trying to learn and any advice would be appreciated. It's a fine line to walk. Don't ask for specific baits or spots, just ask for help and let them offer what they're comfortable offering. Some people will give you nothing, some folks might even toss you a bait or two that has been working to try, but they'd know a whole lot better what you should be doing that we would.

Steel rust and tears up your line, hard pass. Brass would be the only thing I'd consider other than tungsten and only in smaller sizes. Once you get past something like 1/4oz, they're huge.

I remember having a big Plano 3x2 hard plastic molded tray model. It weighed a ton and really didn't hold much for it's size. It was retired for a soft sided Shimano bag that held 6 3600 boxes. Outgrew that and went to the Cabela's Mag and eventually the Super Mag. Now I've got an 18' 9" tacklebox that has it's own trailer and takes a truck to haul it ?

That's a great fish, congrats! When I'm in the kayak, I like to take pictures of them on the measuring board. I can sometimes get a decent selfie, but I'm not so worried about getting my ugly mug in the picture as I am getting a good shot of the fish on the board.

I usually start with moving baits with good vibration, like bladed jigs or spinnerbaits. I've had some great jig bites in the rain though.

It's pretty easy to figure out from the video if you've ever been to the lake. Don't work too hard. I know a lot of guys that fish the lake a lot and I haven't ever heard of a largemouth that size coming from there. Most go there hoping for one of the monster smallmouth. I caught my PB smallmouth there a couple years ago that was over 5 3/4lbs.

Straight flouro gets a lot more snags and catches far fewer fish in the lakes I fish but they're a lot shallower and dirtier than where you're fishing I imagine.