Snakehead Whisperer

The list is too long. Here are some highlights. -Caught my friends jig that he lost about 30 minutes earlier (and occasionally catch lures that I've lost myself.) -My friend Edwin had a 20 minute battle with a contractor garbage bag that was full of water in heavy current (took out a lot of drag, thought he had a 50lb.+ blue cat.) -Lots of birds on topwater, including a peregrine falcon (strange because they are not usually piscivorous, safely released.)

Awesome.

Access denied. Your pic is not publicly accessible. You can probably see it because you're signed in to Evernote.

First off, welcome to the site! Not sure what the water temp is up there, but I'm assuming it's below 35°. If so, smallmouth will not be nearly as active as walleye are at that temp. While they are catchable in cold water, the crankbait bite will most likely be almost non-existent until it warms up a bit. I would try some other methods if you're trying to catch cold water smallmouth. A few to try might be... -Float and Fly -Small senko/stick baits. -Jig and grub -Tube baits, etc. As far as habitat goes, try checking some of the deeper pools in the river and fishing slooooow. Even slower than that. Words can not emphasize how slow I mean by slow. I am a recent transplant to the area from Northern California, and I'm relatively new to walleye fishing (and cold water.) The bass bite slows down to a crawl in the winters here, so I usually target walleye for most of the winter and return for bass in the spring. Just some food for thought. There are numerous articles on this website that go into detail about habitat, water temperature and spawning rituals for bass, as well as effective baits/presentations. You still have time to read them all and devise a strategy before the pre-spawn in your area. A lot of the details will be specific to your area, so if you're familiar with the water you can fill in the blanks.

Best spincaster on the market today

Nice fish. Keep the pics coming.

While I personally would not worry about it, I will say this. If you do choose to get a mask, make sure you get a legitimate respirator with filters that are rated for the toxins/airborne particles that are in the dye (consult the MSDS like recommended earlier.) The dust mask type will most likely do more harm than good, as they will let some particles in but not out when you exhale. There are numerous cases of people wearing these while using aerosol paints and being poisoned because of a high buildup of toxins inside the mask. Get this type and make sure the filters are rated for whatever is in the dye. Oh, and if you have a beard no mask will seal completely.

They work great. Wacky rigged, T-Rigged or used as a jig trailer, etc. They are one of the most versatile baits on the market. The BPS stik-o's are pretty good. They don't have the delicate action of the GY's, but they are more durable and last longer in my experience. I've caught lots of fish on the BPS ones. The 4" size are killer for smallmouth.

True. Hey, what is that bait in your avatar? That thing looks mean. Is it half grub half tube?

Pretty simple paint scheme. The snout looks a little bit off to me.

Any pics of these paint jobs?

This makes complete sense. If it aint broke then don't fix it. I have fished some of the deep diving KVD lures, and they work well. I especially like the silent deep divers. There are many different square bill designs that I like though. I view it in the same way. I'm not ashamed to ask other anglers to put me on to baits and techniques that are working for them regardless of their skill level (if they're catching fish, then that speaks for itself.) And I'd definitely endorse supporting the small tackle maker any day. I just take most tackle recommendations with a grain of salt.

OK, but to be fair had you fished a square billed crank much prior to KVD's recommendation to buy his? And if so, have you fished any other brands of square billed cranks? I'm being serious (btw, I've never fished KVD's square billed crankbaits.) I know that not all square billed crankbaits are created equally, but I also know that there are plenty besides KVD's on the market that are proven fish catchers.

I agree with Bluebasser86. Scent can make a bigger difference in cold water where presentation is slower. Usually in the winter I fish Gulp baits, so it's less of an issue. With that said I soak all of my baits in scent year round, but this is mostly to take the human smell off of them. I just add some to the bag I store them in and that's it. I never re-apply it.

I've heard good things from anglers targeting smallmouth and walleye up there. I'm assuming it's slow like it is down here on the tidal potomac. I've been fishing here every week, but very few quality bass have made their way into the boat since early December. I've also heard that the perch fishing is starting to get decent up there.

Do you know if they tested biodegradable baits like "Gulp"? I read the article and realize that the ban would include biodegradable baits, but I was curious about the research. On a side note I fish soft plastics a lot, and it is very seldom that a fish tears a piece off and might swallow it. Usually this happens with pan fish who can't engulf the entire bait.

To my understanding this is not necessarily true. I've heard (and always assumed it's true that) they can see the sides and top reflected when it splashes in the water.

If it were me I'd also add motor oil, red, and blue fleck/junebug to the arsenal.

Looking good.

I throw them pre/post spawn and in the later part of fall. I primarily fish for river smallies if that makes a difference. I am partial to the 1/8oz. Rat-L-Traps.

I'm assuming it's a screen shot. Not sure about the lake.

That's a great looking rig A-Jay.

Looks like it might be good on a walleye worm harness (which will take smallies too.)

I am the guy who wrote about using size 6/8 hooks for dropshotting. I have to agree with J Francho, it's all relative to the size of the bait you're throwing on the rig. I occasionally use size 2/1 hooks, but typically when I dropshot I am throwing small baits and fishing sloooow. Like really slow. Typically when I dropshot a 4" Senko is the largest thing I'll throw, and if I think to size up my baits above that then I also usually opt some other presentation. This is all a matter of what I feel comfortable with, however. There is no 1 way to fish a dropshot.

Thanks Darren. Been reading a lot of your posts lately too. Nice fish in your avatar.