traindog71

Here is one from the 4th of July

Does anyone else here fish the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River? I have been having great success with bubblegum Yamasenkos. The Levisa Fork runs along the KY/VA border area along US 460 and has 126 miles of floating/wading small streams. Hopefully someone else other than me has had the opportunity to fish it this summer. Also why are the smallies killing this color of Senko? What natural food are they basing their attack on this color? Thanks, and if you have not had the opportunity to fish this area and live somewhat close, I will gladly give you some direction on where to go, although I dont fly fish for smallies here, I definitely see the opportunity and may try it soon.

When fishing small like that, I usually carry about 8 different baits with me, keep working them and changing action until you find one that works, next time you go, leave a few of those unsuccessful ones at home, bring what you know worked and a few new ones. It is best to catch a few with what you know and work with some others to see if you can get them to hit.

St Croix Mojo Bass is a nice rod in that price range, I have a 7' Medium/Curado setup I love, but if you are throwing frogs in heavy vegetation I would suggest a MH to wrestle the bass through the thick stuff. I've got a 7'3" St Croix Rage in MH I use for frogs and thick veg, but it is around $150 I think.

I love to creek and small river wade fish with smaller Senkos, Texas rig em since it is way too rocky to wacky style. Color based upon the color of the water, the depth and amount of recent rainfall we have seen.

Been dealing with the same conditions here in KY, I have had the most luck very early in the morning, from 6AM-10AM, before the heat sets in. Most of my strikes have been coming on weightless Texas rigged 3" Bubblegum Yamasenko. Usually by 11AM the bite is gone for the day even though I can see them holding in the riffles.

I have the TFO Loomis in Spinning ML Fast 6'6", it is lightweight in the hand and very well balanced and sensitive enough for my purposes, I use it strictly for wade fishing for smallies. For its purpose it is a good rod, it is correct in its price range, you pay for $100 rod, you get a $100 rod. It is not a St Croix Legend Elite, but I didnt pay for one either.

I use 6lb Seaguar Invisx on Shimano 1000 series, no issues at all as long as I don't spool on too much, usually about 80-100 yards works great. I wade fish and throw finess baits 100's of times per trip.

In the creeks and rivers, I float it in the current, letting it bounce off the rocks, once I am out of the "strike zone" where I think I will get bitten, I use a slow retrieve, its amazing how many times the bass will "hunt" it down and hit on the retrieve.