bassnleo

I don't fish the Mississippi but do fish a river here. This time of year the smallies will gang up and chase bait. They too will migrate toward their wintering areas. If you can find the bait you'll find the smallies. What's really different is that now you can find schools of fish and catch em good, as opposed to one here, one there, like summer. I would try mouths of creeks, sand/gravel bars, above and below islands, anywhere that bait is present. 64 degrees is good, they should be on the feed, wish it was that cool here, our rivers are still close to 70 and with 80 projected for the next couple days I don't see it dropping much....

Good suggestions. When the fish drop into deeper water I would also try a 4 inch worm on a drop shot rig. For when they are shallow I also have success on a soft stickbait like a senko. Throw it well out in front of the fish and deadstick it. Small pops off the bottom can often trigger one to run over to it and inhale it. One of the lakes I fish has many areas like you describe and I have had success with the above things.

When you said you tried the gammie, did you mean the trailer hook or the G-stinger? I have used the G-stinger on flukes and they worked great. The G-Stinger. I just couldn't get that hook to rig in a way that I liked. How do you rig them, maybe I was not doing it correctly.

I agree it looks like a 2 - 2.5. No way it's 6.... Here's a 3 pounder on my digital scale, it's been pretty accuate when I weighed my catch then weighed them in at a tourney.

Wow, a really good discusssion without any incoming fire! I'm a C&R angler but DARN I enjoy some deep fried fillets on occasion. Bass are not my favorite, I prefer perch or walleye, but bass aren't all that bad if I have some cocktail sauce needing used. In all seriousness, if I do keep a few bass I keep the 12-14 inchers, that seems to be the most plentiful class in waters around here. Yes, I do think C&R can be overdone. Like fishchris said, I too think selective harvest is the way to go.

Ok, guess I should have been more specific. Not fishing it around weeds. Fishing it in open water situations around very limited wood, mostly around drop offs, current breaks, rocks. For smallmouth and not really big ones, a 4 pounder would be a large one for this body of water. Allow me to add that I've fished a fluke just about every way imaginable. I'm just looking for a solution for short strikers. to Toyko_Tony....I saw the fish that hit the bait short.....defiantley NOT dinks......yes they are capable of inhaling it if they want to, smallmouth are notorious for slashing at a bait and not eating it, or running up to it inhaling back 1/2 of the bait then immediatley blowing it out.

I call the hook a stinger, some may call it a trailer hook BTW....... Guess if I don't get any ideas I will revert to my fly fishing techniques. My idea is to rig a number 6 treble as a "dropper" hook but not allow it to float free (like droppers in fly fishing). I will use a small piece of 20 lb braided line and attach the treble to the bend of my 4/0 EWG that runs throug the fluke. The treble will be lightly skin hooked just behind where the tail meets the main body of the bait. Long as a the treble dosen't affect the baits action it should work, I think........ I've caught many steelhead on the dropper fly which is attached usually with really light tippet (line) or leader material. Trying to solve short strikers on a jerkbait.

I live on a rural highway, 50 mph speed limit, on a straight away for about 2 miles. EVERY day some idiot on a crotch rocket goes by my house and I know he's going well over 100 mph. You hear em comin then he's gone. Yesterday I tried to tell what color the bike was, it went by sooo fast all I could see was a blur. I waiting for the day when someone scrapes up his remains up off the roadway.

Whelp, I will be of no help, I actually did break a TM there this yea Like already mentioned, run TM up higher than normal and be really observant.

Wondering if anyone has an idea for rigging a stinger hook on a fluke or any soft jerkbait. I know Gammie makes a stinger, would like something different, I've tried the Gammies and didn't have much success with them. Any ideas???????

As I replied on the fisherie site, Tamarak is always dirty. Deeper area is at the Cochranton end out in front of the dam. A little Tamarak secret, the shallower the better. If you like to pitch and flip, that's the place to do it. I weighed a 20.33 lb limit (5 lm) last year in a club tournament there. The big ones are there...............

Fishing is probably number one but I still love shooting sporting clays. I don't get out as much as I used to but with fishing winding down I will get out more in this fall. I also like to hunt turkeys and waterfowl.

That guy would make ALOT of shoes

The police are 'actively pursuing any leads' as if that makes me feel any better. It sucks that someome stole your stuff. With all due respect, if you didn't want the police involved, why call them? It's better then having them say "Sir your out of luck, there's no way we will ever find out who stole your stuff". Hope a "lead" is found for you......

My club tournament average was 2.4 lbs this year.....

I've caught SM on Lake Erie up to 35 feet deep and turned em loose. It seems that if you get them back into the water quickly they do ok. I have seen some that rode around in a livewell all day and couldn't swim back down w/o fizzing them. For the depths you speak of I'm not really sure......

I often use a 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig w/ good results. A few tricks, most jigs have alot of strands in the skirt, I thin the skirt out then trim it shorter, to the back of the hook. I also use a much smaller profile trailer, my favorite is a Zoom Ultra Vibe trailer. I mostly use this type of jig in clear water situations.

Don't forget that structure may be something close to shore, or in a creek, not just something considered deep or off shore. A prime example, lots of creeks have drop-offs or depth changes. You will often see bass set up on a subtle "structure" in a creek in the fall so they can ambush bait as it passes or is washed by in any present current. In tidal situation a subtle depth change in a creek may be the ticket when the tides are going in or coming out. I'm thinking that the article you read was trying to say that fall bass often are chaisng bait or move to where the bait is, could be open water..... Good topic!

My best trap is a silver w/blue back. It's so beat up it almost looks bone colored like CJ mentioned. As long as I still have that bait I'll still throw it. I have new ones, but for some reason this old bait catches fish and till it falls apart or lodges in a snag, I will use it.

4" green pumpkin tube

I broke a Quantum Gary Klein flippin stick this year, set the hook on a fish in heavy grass and rod broke about 1/3 of the way up the blank.

BASS fisherman, we were in PA.

And another member with 2 of his footballs....

Anyone recognize this guy? No, it's not Elite Series Pro Paul Hirsoky, close though, it's his twin brother Bob whom fishes in our club. Bob and his father really whacked em today. Bob had 18+ pounds (that's 4 fish!), his father had 16+ lbs. Bob was 1st running away, plus his bonus lunker at 5.52 lbs.

Fished Lake Erie today, bite was a little tough, I had 6 bites and landed 5. My best 4 went 15.55 lbs for 3rd place. My fish were caught on green pumpkin Micro Munch tubes and 4" drop shot worms. I had about a 12 mile run to my area, it was a little bumpy (1-3 footers) heading out but about 10:00 the wind died, good for boating, bad for Erie smallies. Bite tailed off for me after 10:00 AM. All in all a good day. Why the title football season? Check out these footballs with fins, twin 4+ pounders.