BigTerp

This will be my first year seriously chasing smallmouth. I've done plenty of largemouth fishing but recently finished modifying my 16' jon boat for waterfowl hunting and fishing the upper Potomac river here in Maryland. Waterfowl season is about to wrap up and I'm getting anxious to do some fishing. What tips, strategy's, lures, etc. can you guys share with me in regards to pre-spawn and spawn fishing for smallmouth? To give you all an idea of the conditions I fish, I have river access to the Potomac river in my subdivision. This part of the river is right below a dam and runs rather shallow for the most part and is rather narrow at about 75-100 yards wide. There is a small area down river that gets pretty slack and runs deeper. This part of the river is mostly rocky with some mud bottom areas. I also have access above the dam. This area is anywhere from 20-30ft. deep with a mostly muddy (I think) bottom. It stays this ways for a few miles up river where it turns shallow and rocky. Looking for ideas on where I should start to look for fish during pre spawn and spawn. And once I find some how I should attack. Thanks for any help!!!

Thanks for the help!!! Feel better about going with the 30. Now I just need to decide on a rod.

Thanks again man!!! To give you an idea of the rod/reel combo that I feel is to much for the way I smallmouth fish it's a 5'10" medium Ugly Stik with a Shakespeare medalist ml035. It may be the reel rather than the rod that feels to much/big. But the rod still feels long to me. Works really nice for largemouth though. Either way, a Pflueger President 30 with a ML rod in the 6'range might be just the ticket for me.

Thanks!! You think the 30 will fit nicely on something like a M-ML 6'-6'6"? What kind of rod would you guys reccommend? I'm pretty rough on my equipment so I generally stick with the Ugly Stik's since they are pretty darn tough. Looking to stay under $60 for a rod.

Looking to get a new rod/reel for the upcoming season. Am looking for a decent all around setup for specifically chasing smallmouth that I can use on my 16' jet boat on the upper Potomac river. I'm looking to get a rod around 6' (I tend to like shorter rods for whatever reason) and am pretty set on getting a Pflueger President spinner. Not sure what size President I should be looking at though. Either the 25x or the 30x? I'm afraid the 25 will be to small and the 30 will be to big? This past year was the first I really started chasing river smallmouths. Mostly shore fished for largemouth and catfish in the past. So most of my rods are on the larger/heavier side. I mostly used a smaller mitchell (not sure the exact size) on an ultralight ugly stick this past year. This is basically my trout setup, but my catfish/largemouth rig just seemed to big. This worked ok, but seemed to light/flimsy. I found myself using all your typically smallmouth lures last year, tubes, in-line spinners, small cranks, small top waters, etc. What size of the President would you guys choose?