salmotrutta

Been doing well fishing a river system at night or before dawn.Throwing the 7" M.S. Slammer and waking it on top.Plenty of 2.5-3.5 lb bass with the biggest going 4-4.

Grab a swimbait rod and throw a Spro Rat 50.Bigger is better.

Throw the 8.0.You will get bit.The myth that you need to downsize for smallies is bull.I have friends that throw big swimbaits and they get bit often(mostly wake baits at night).While it won't be a numbers game you will land some toads.I just ordered a KVD 8.0 squarebill and a 6th sense Magnum squarebill(4.5" and 1.5 oz.)Should have these by the weekend.I will be throwing these with a Dobyns 795 swimbait rod.

Those are some fantastic smallies.Now lets hear about you.Curious to what your favorite season is and your favorite technique to use.Thanks for sharing.

Good morning fishing wake baits.Imakatsu Buzz Bill Magnum doing most of the damage.

Did Halfmoon Lake today.No fish on the big baits in the morning.Once the sun came up switched to deep diving cranks.Must say Deep Crankin' has to be my favorite technique.At least in the summer.Smallies were eager to hit the DT10 on edges of drops along with a couple of LM.Only negative was that none of the fish i landed were over a pound and a half.

Rapala DT 10-20:Helsinki Shad and Red Crayfish.

Bass didn't want anything to do with swimbaits today.This pond fishes very well with crankbaits.So i broke out the DT10 in a red crayfish pattern.First cast with the crankbait and i hooked up with this fish.Landed a few more before the wind drove me off the pond.

Went to a local pond to try out a new Swimbait,The Triple Trout Stubby.Bass were hitting both colors(Army and Carp.)The bites were subtle.Instead of the rod being jerked from your hands the rod would just load up softly.If your into swimbaits i highly recommend the TT.

Sunday brought a day filled with cookie cutter largemouth.Landed a dozen and probably half that many came unbuttoned.Started the day with a Triple Trout and that was all i needed.Gained a little more confidence throwing swimbaits.

I can't believe the number of big bass coming out of Mass.Unbelievable.That's all i got to say about that.

I would try the S-Waver 168.3:16 Rising Son (6") Megabass Magdraft(6") or Osprey TT.If your goal is to smack some smallies on swimbaits you will catch them.Your numbers of fish probably won't be as high if you were using conventional gear.

Doing the swimbait thing this year.Picked up a Dobyns swimbait rod and new Abu reel.Threw some swimbaits Sunday morning for the first time and manage to catch a half dozen on the S-Waver 168.Fun bait to toss.Nothing with size worth talking about but gained a little confidence with the heavy baits.Definitely need to upsize my S-Waver to the 200.Looking forward to getting some topwater action on my 9" Slammer.

Still able to get out.Last Sunday had 6 inches of good ice and caught a few largemouth.

I would imagine smelt and crayfish.

Ice is plenty safe now.Those who are dedicated ice fisherman don't run out on the ice blindly.They scout and check ice thickness.Unless you actually do it you wouldn't fully understand.By the way i iced a half dozen nice largemouth last Sunday on 2 inches of ice.

My favorite fall technique for sure.Rippin a Rat L Trap off the bottom all the way back to the boat.

KMB you don't happen to be from New Hampshire?.I have great success fishing a Rat-L-Trap off the bottom.Cast it out let it fall to the bottomThen i rip it off bottom and let it fall back down.Repeat this all the way back to the boat.Two weekends ago i caught 18 largemouth in 5 to 8 feet of water near a drop off doing this.Too bad they were all dinks.Last Sunday different pond water temp was 46.6 deg.Fish were in 10 to 14 FOW.Stroking the Rat L Trap once again i caught bass.Not as many but i did manage a few quality fish.Slow rolling a Keitech Swing Impact also produces.Tubes are also good.Here's a pic from last Sunday.Caught by stroking a Rat L Trap.

If you know where they are in the late fall they will be there in the winter.Usually schooled up.End of points,bottom of the first drop and basins.I personally like shallow basins or mid depth flats.I no longer set out traps but now jig for them.I will drill a series of holes and start hole hopping.I give a hole 5 minutes to produce.If nothing i move on to another.I am searching for that reaction bite or active fish.Don't let people tell you bass don't bite during the hardwater period.It is very common to catch multiple bass out of one hole.Once you locate an active hole drill a series of holes in proximity to that one.As far as lures the Rapala jiggin shad rap is my go to.1/8 oz. rat l traps and blade baits are also good.

A few pics from the summer.All tube fish.Tried a few different tube companies and they all were equally good.BPS,Get Bit and Provider.

KHH.I also have a Tony Bean smallmouth rod.Picked it up in a thrift store for $12.Absolutely love this rod.It's the rod i keep a tube tied on.No tubes for you i see?

Not sure how far south you live but Northwood Meadows State park is good.There's a trail that goes around the whole pond.Nice population of Largies too.

Fishing a small lake in New England this weekend that has a nice population of smelt.This lake has two small basins (about 40 to 50 ft, deep) where the smelt will school up in the summer.Should i use my electronics to locate suspended smallies or perhaps fish the ledges that drop into the basins.My goal is to land a 5lber with my personal best coming from there during the ice fishing season(4-2).What tactics and lures would you use?Very clear water.

Got out a couple of times.Fish were hitting Bomber Model A cranks (apple red crawdad)and Get Bit tubes(leech).Got my tube heads from a company in Mass. called Leadfreebassjigs.Nice jigheads.

Couple smallies from yesterday.4-2 and 3-11.Thru the ice.