mod479

Alot of the pros claim that doing nothing is the best way to work a DS for smallies. As Crestliner said, the natural movement of water will generate the action of your bait. This is true especially in rivers, but in some lakes, you may want to add some action of your own. I say experiment, I've caught them shaking the hell out of the bait, hopping it up and down, and also just letting it sit still as well. As for baits, I'm a believer in: 4-5" finesse worms. (Roboworms/trickworms) Tiny flukes (3") Senkos/dingers 3",4",5" (nose hook them, or wacky rig them) and of course, the tried and true 3 or 4" curly tail grub.

Since you say they were ~5 feet off the bank...those fish probably knew you were there...and when they do, its tough to get them to committ. Any idea what these fish eat naturally? You know crappies are in the pit, are there bluegills or perch? Pumpkinseeds? I've got some exp. fishing pits as well, sometimes they just wont hit what seems unnatural for the body of water. Example: I brought live crayfish down to a local gravel pit...and 90% the bass would not touch them. However, any frog or pumpkinseed imitation would draw strikes from fish of all sizes since I know that is what they naturally feed on everyday. Key in on your pits specific forage, and you will start banking those hogs.

Agreed, nice fish, and I had no other choice as the the optimax wouldnt go into gear anyways!

On a side note, I did some research, and used KVDs strategy from back in 1996 when he won the Bassmasters NY invitational. Never had to start the outboard, trolling motor all day in Chaumont Bay. Hope that answers your question!

It was the best day of bass fishing I've had...numbers wise anyhow. And easier then catching bullhead! hah

Last tourney was on Lake Ontario. They're not hard to find there in my opinion if you can read your $3k sonar unit and use the fundmentals of map reading..

I encourage any who thinks its easy to try my private lake in the Adirondacks. (seriously, lets go fishing) 27+ feet of the clearest water in NY short of Oneida...and the fish watch YOU. There is no being stealthy and using anything more then 4lb flourocarbon is usually ignored (artificials or livebait)...it can be very challenging. They are the smartest bass I've ever had the pleasure of trying to catch... and when you do finally fool one, its far more gratifying then throwing a senko into the middle of 50 bass in the great lakes and winching them back to the boat with 50 lb braid. ( I still love the great lakes btw) Just my .02 fellas.

My first dropshot smallie was 5.5 lbs...on a berkley 4inch hand poured finesse worm. I'll let you worry bout the color selection...

Last summer after a good rain, I caught a walleye on a Skitter pop (frog) while fishing for smallies. I had a pic, might be able to track it down. I dont know if that counts a bizarre, but it surprised me.

Why thank you, it's good to be here!

Thanks guys, some nice smallies right there, I do believe he took part in our 2 day tournament championship this year.

Northern New York Bassmasters

Hello fellow ***atics! Ive been an unregistered lurker for some time now...decided to sign up and show a couple fish from last season. Last tourney of last season on the St.Lawrence River (September 2011)...yeah i don't have any jerseys or anything like that, but they don't catch the bass, the angler does. My PB.... 5.52 on the clubs scales. 2 best fish from my lake Ontario tournament (September 2011). 5.15 on the left, 4.49 on the right. I can catch bucketmouths too...they dont get all that big up here though... This is a pike I caught ripping an X-Rap for smallies during my first ever tournment...not a fish to be caught after we finally got her on board... All in all I was happy with my first season on a tourney trail, even if it was just a club. Lots of good info here, look forward to becoming a better bass angler, and ready to win one this season.