Spankey

Great color to start with for sure.

That fish is most likely a female. The spawn is well over. She would take on a different shape at that period. Looks fine to me. That crawdad may not of been there all the long. It doesn't take all that long for some hooks to rot away.

A 16" Smallie is a respectable fish in my book. And not knowing a thing about your river or where it is, there is bigger than that there. It it would be nice to catch 22"-23" river Smallies on each cast or outing. I know in my case it not going to happen. 16" today. Tomorrow your working toward 17". Maybe you'll get a 20"er. Milestones toward progression I guess. I know in my case, I have to work hard at it. I try to give them different looks. Not to quote old Mike Ike but I never give up. I'm certainly no KVD either. I just have an addiction for Smallie fishing. I do ok.

If you know that bigger than 13" smallies are to be had there you have to just stick with it. Go at it hard, never give up. I'd like to know what you are fishing with. Do you have the means to get to where the bigger fish are? I'm thinking trying to fish drawing reaction strikes by the bigger ones.

I have to agree with Galls post above. Medium and Medium Lite setups are in my boat. It was not your rod setup it is fine, tube are a great choice for smallies. Work on getting a good drag point for those heftier fish. I've hooked and landed musky and catfish on numerous occasions over the years. On 6# test no less. Not sure if other will agree or not but i find that when your hooked into decent sized and respectable size smallmouths that, yes they are acrobatic at times, but those fish dig to get back to the bottom they don't like to be on the top of the water. Hard to explain and smallies ounce for ounce are the toughest fish out there.

I like that a lot.

I'm glad you're alright also. That's something I know nothing about. Kayaking. You could have been seriously injured. Is kayaking something you normally do alone? I'm generally alone boating. Have seen some crazy crap go on over the years.

I've be down that road before many of time to go back and land the fish I felt that I lost. I lost a fairly nice Smallie Saturday on a Wopper plopper. 15"-18" leaning more toward the 15" mark I think. I think he'll still be there this Saturday for me to go after. I should of went up yesterday but got hung up fishing another point and a creek I've never went up. Area sees some pressure but mostly cat fishing guys. I hope you get him. You will. You know what he likes.

Guys haven't been on the sight much as of late. Giving those smallies heck. Not gotten that very respectable Smallie yet (18"+). Lost a nice one on Saturday on a whopper plopper but I think he was way short of that. Have gotten a few on the 90 series but I'm not all that impressed yet. Rather throw a skitter pop, pop r, or spook. Crankbaits, worms and a Ned rig version has been working. Have been fishing a lot of different structure, depths and places in the river system. A lot of times I hang myself up by fishing the same spots. Actually going back to some old spots I don't hit as hard anymore. I'll get some pics off my phone and post them.

A couple of spots I fish you have to be mindful of scullers. I have no problem with them. They don't have any effect on my fishing. You have to keep yourself wired pretty tight. In very early am and under low light and fog conditions coming off the water they are tough to see. I know I'd never want to hit one or wake one to put he/she in an issue. I do and have to run with a bow and stern light before sunrise. The law I guess but, they don't have any requirements in the same conditions. A few wear those small flashing beacon lights on their back and chest. They can be seen very easily. In early am or low light it should be mandatory for them but who am I to suggest something that makes sense.

Not really in need of a pump up. I need to bare down and fish a bit harder. Have been taking a laxed approach and adopted the attitude at least I'm not getting skunked. Water conditions have been pretty poor for weeks up here. They (river) is starting to get a decent stain color and settling out. If we start to get just moderate rains things will start to look up. Fish a little slower with the jig and my results may be better. Over the years I've gotten some nice smallies on 4" Zoom lizards. But for some reason I don't throw them as often anymore. I'd say the Deleware River is pretty big as far as size. I'm open to opinions. And any comments are greatly appreciated.

Gotta step my game up starting on Saturday. Maybe jig & pig will get it done. I don't know. I've been getting out. I'm catching fish. Tubes, grubs and worms have been working. Crankbaits and countdowns have been working. Can't say I've caught a respectable Smallie yet. I know I will. Got to break the ice on that first nice one. Jig & pig or split shotting some lizards is on my agenda.

Please accept my sincere apology for getting a bit colorful with my language in some of the above post. No one here was by any means targeted and please do not take any offense. Making the story a bit more colorful was my only intent.

Well when all this was playing out I really thought this guy was coming toward me to ask me how the fishing was going. I certainly was not out in the middle of the river looking to get broadsided. I was just drift fishing a bank. Very odd incident. But this guy was a true ***. I'm sure we'll cross paths but you never know.

Sorry for the delay but he had like a 16 ft. Sea Nymph. If you can't plane your boat to see over the bow, stay home. In Pennsylvavia I guess they let you on the waterways with any *. But I guess the dude is just enjoy his time on the water also. Boat Commission sited him. They came to my house to check out damages. Went to him also. Just a hastle to get fixed. My insurance kicked in. I'm not having my stuff * by some lame *. But in all seriousness some one really could have gotten hurt or killed. But the ol Tracker is looking good now.

I got clipped last year sort of broad side while bass fishing. Not under power minding my own business by some **** ran into me. Couldn't even react. Guy never had his boat planed. Gunnel took some hard damage. Didn't let it ruin my fishing season. Was still able to use it. Hard to get someone to make repair. Found a guy who hooked me up. Did the work over the winter. Looks great. Granted I have an aluminum bass boat. But it's nice and cherry for as long as I've had it. It gets use. I'm lucky the accident happened when It did. The week before I had my two adult daughters out fishing with me for Father's Day. Someone most likely would have gotten hurt. Don't want to think about the possibility of getting killed. Haven't seen that **** around since. I won't get into my plan for him. But things happen. And a lot of guys have no business on the water. Couldn't say more accidents are happening but do know what one is about. Had one of my best bass seasons with that damaged gunnel. I think those smallies felt bad for me. They knew I'd put them back.

Welcome. I'm SE Penna. Mostly a river rat. I'm not gonna post negative because my time of the year is the fall. I've been catching smallies nothing to brag about yet. Not in any rush for it but I'm always ready for October.

This is a great site. It is site is full of class act dudes on here that are willing to share their knowledge. There are site that don't operate like that. I've been doing this a long time and I'm always picking up things .I'm eastern PA and one of these times I'm going to come out and fish the three river area. I'm a bit of a river rat and that's a bucket list item I want to do. Good luck and have fun.

Absolutely. You don't need anything else by the look of it. Nice fish man.

I've gotten BASS and Bass Times for many years also. I don't tournament fish but like all the info. I get the long subscriptions so that they don't run out as fast and less junk mail associated with it. I like the local and evironmental info in Bass Times.

Fished tubes and grubs this past weekend. Fish got a bit nicer. Been getting a lot of rain here in eastern PA. Gonna do some river fishing Saturday. Hope to get a few days of sun prior. Seems to clear the water faster. But that might just be a coincidence. Not sure if you guys are familiar with road kill or camo works pretty consistent spring, summer or fall. But I know everyone is into their own thing. I'm not a true Musky fisherman but I take a bit of time to fish for them in a few areas I fish for smallies. I've caught a few by accident while smallies fishing over the years and they are a pretty cool fish also. It's crazy though. I bought a few spinnerbaits for them over the years but have only caught them on my Smallie baits. Good of luck if you get out.

We've been getting a lot of rain, heavy to stained is the norm now. My colors of choice also along with a few other chartreuse patterns. We just got hit hard again overnight and early am. I'll throw some red this weekend. I got hooked some on red the last years from you guys talking about it. In my area ive never seen red a part of the craw fishes life. Orange yes but never red. I got to talk red with Ish Monroe one time for a short while but I'm sure he was referring to tidal situations. So that's where I've been breaking them out some.

Woods time is a great place to get your mind at ease. Here in PA I deer and turkey hunt along with ducks, doves and squirrels. I have a few people who will take all the squirrels I can get. Prefer to shoot squirrels with a .22, would love to take a trip to a dove haven. Someday I hope.

Great post. I've been working reds into my Crankbait fishing a bit more the last few years. Trying to build a confidence in it. Been working out some in tidal.

"What's that old saying?"