stratosjoe

I have learned that if you don't go you won't catchem....

Very slow ended up drifting with shiners (first time I'm a lure chucker) fished 8-11' in anchor bay between mouth of clinton river and strawberry island. They were supposedly wacking them down by the detroit river but too far for me to run, still respect the wind on this lake. Good luck to you

what time of the year was this shot?

call Anglers Point they have boat rental as well as two apartments they rent out. I just got back from a trip fri. was there for 5 days kinda tuff not like the spring thats insane 100 fish days easy if you can't catch them then sell your tackle and take up golf.lol anglers Point is on hall rd right next to the Selfridge air national guard airbase and ramp the number there ie 1-586-949-9223 they can fix you up great folks will put you on fish as well. You did not say when you would be going? joe G

Greg is the man ! call him save some of your valuable free time and gas money Dale is tuff but still fish to be caught.

I make a hand pour just like that in green pumpkin or salt and pepper or clear with a purple tint, all for smallies the more softener you add the greater they work but the more you lose. very easy to make do a search for hand pour mold i made my mold from one bait and modeling clay I can only pour two at a time but makes for good quality control..lol all the baits are flat on one side which makes them fall a little different when free lining in shallow water. They really work

What a beauty thanks for sharing

I prefer a 5/8 oz Excaliber rattle bait colors depend on water color and temp . I use spinning gear with as light a line as i can get by with.Heavier line is bigger diameter and will catch the wind reducing your distance. Throw into the wind on wind blown bank after you have thrown towards the bank. Also short fat bodied crankbaits that dive shallow 3-5' bright colors they are a small bait with a lot of thump plus color to attract. Good Luck

Good post from a lot of guys . I again dance to a different drummer . I wait until night time make sure the boat has NO clutter to trip on. I use 17 lb test on a baitcaster, I use depending on depth 1/4---3/4 oz Black with red or purple spinnerbait with very large thumper blades. Now I know guys are gonna say same tactic for Largeheads and that is true but big smallmouth can't take that bait near where they call home. The purpose of this is, wherever you catch a smallmouth at night (when they are usually more agressive) they have given away the area to fish in the daytime. Different baits are used during the day but at least you will no where to target them. Good Luck

I have tried some rather bizarre methods over the years one last year worked pretty well. Use a dropshot with a weight as far away from the hook to suspend the bait just over the weeds.If the weeds are 5' tall put the dropshot hook at 5'6" use a bright senko such as fluorescent yellow,red,pink but smaller 3-4" . You can't throw this so rig just lower it over the weed bed or run parallel of the weed bed fish it in the weeds but right on the edge. The bite almost consistantly was a hard hit ,no doubt you had a bite. This worked well on frontal days as well as when the sun was up bright. Try it with green pumpkin senko's as well. Almost forgot use a heavier than usual weight preferably a long slender weight versus a regular round weight. This will allow the weight to get to the bottom in the weeds I use 10-12# fluorcarbon. Good luck

Just got back from 4 1/2 days of total fun...Sat and Sun real nasty weather muddy but still managed to stick a few biggest around 4 lbs. Fished selfridge area started out mon out in 6-7' clearer water temps in high 40's managed 15-20 with biggest 4.2. Went in to Anglers Point where we were staying and found 11 mile area in 6-7 ' smokin but afraid to make the trip with possibility of wind. Tuesday again 6' drifting in to 4' sang ramp area the ticket. 30-40 smallest 3.6 most 4+ no huge ones but I didnt care. Weds morn from 7am to 11 am over 30 all toads Excaliber 50's in pearl melon, Ghost something and red craw all 5/8 oz on 10# yosuri blend mh baitcasters long casts steady retrieve with just a slight pause once in a while they were batting it briefly stop then start back / hang on water temp 55 on weds morning so iot is coming up water temp need to come up in anchor to bring big girls in I think ,just my opinion ANGLERS POINT great place ran by Great people. some caught on drop shot but few used green 4' senko good luck to all 1 -2 weeks its gonna go nuts

Hope the lake isn't too muddy next sat thru fri but it is what it is. I can surely find a couple hungry smallmouth

I did not mean to infer SI was not valuable , its just not valuable enough for me to spend the amount of money they cost. I have had, many years ago a BottomLine sidefinder that was the technolgy Humminbird bought and then further developed . Motomast, seeing ain't always catchin. good luck too you

I also do not have a si and probably never will. I use the maps and load waypoints as well. One thing I have done different than in the past is label wp's by type and depth such as scfl3 which in my code would be St Clair flat 3' deep or dhled55 which would be Dale Hollow ledge 55' thereason for this is as I go thru my list if the smallmouth are active on the flats in 3' I won't even look at flats in 10' . I have a lot of wp's for various lakes make finding them far easier and cuts down on driving around looking for these types of areas. BE SURE and back up your waypoints as I did not and had to go back and start all over again when my unit went down. Now I use a sd card and about every other trip I back it up

Just realized I did not post a follow up... well better late than never. Caught many sm mostly on tubes . when we went out farther from selfridge area it cleared up some we went to a jekrbait followed up with a dropshot with a gulp leach for the jerkbait followers . caught 2 over 6# this way FAST FORWARD TO 4-27-2013 Well in eleven days I will be back at it again hopefully I will rermember to post my results for anyone heading out after I get back.. I hope the water level is on the way up for evryones sake not just the fisherman. Please Remember to wear your PFD as last year when I was way out from SANG fishing the opener for c&r my wife called and said Hon got some bad news my good friend Ken Dunbar had fell out of the boat prefishing a tournament and drowned. Words cannot describe the feeling of losing a friend from something both of us loved to do stay safe my friends

I fished the Smalljaw 2 weekends ago. Greg Pascal and Myself were 7th out of 31 boats. tough fishin is an understatement but all fish on f-n-f plus about a 6 lb rainbow. I still love Dale Hollow and feel its the most beautiful lake on the planet plus the folks down there treat you great. I used the f-n-f this monday at Paris East lake in Illnois and got one pull down a 4.4 oz LM on a 10 foot rod witha a 9 foot leader and 1/16 duck fly great fun. My best smallmouth ever came from Dale in feb 2005 on a fnf 7lbs 2 oz words can't descibe the thrill or the fear of watching her come to the boat 4 times. Would like to have a video of that fight I'll bet I was screaming ,praying and cussing all at the same time..LOL

[Was the belt tight ?

I'm using Gobig's grandfathers reels I use a 7' fast tip Loomis salmon rod long handle a Quantum 381 3.8 to 1 retrieve Im an old fart with serious arthritus problems I fish dt 16 and dd22 all day reel has a lng handle on it use 8# test I smoke the toads just like the younguns...

[i tried it a couple times on a lake not too far from my home in Illnois the spot has a ledge of about 8' water with stumps right on the edge of the drop then a straight fall to about 12' then a smooth drop into 30'. I shut of the big motor and ran the tm on low crisscrossed the stumps and ledge 3 different angles then sit up with anchors like he suggests. fished this spot hard for 3 hrs with total concentration used spitshot rig also a do nothin (charlie Brewer stye head with 4" worm) Nothing,,, even though I saw fish on all three passes. I decided to stop fishing eat a sandwich and have a cup of coffee . This little break was about 20-25 minutes. Started up again and for approximatly 20 minutes I could do no wrong. I caught 2 LM over 5 one I weighed, 2nd one was bigger so estimated it plus numerous 2-2 1/2. In hindsite I should have put them in the livewell and turned loose later. The second time I tried this was close to the same thing only the wait was about 1 hour. The thing about fishing like this is I enjoy just working that bait slowly visualizing what its doing but most guys I fish with are bank pounders and fish fast. I really enjoy this and it proved to work just need the patience of the Pope. I always wonder how many times this place gets hit in the course of a day but guys just zooming by not taking the time cause they are tournament fishing and cannot spend that much time in one spot. Long post but hope someone else will try this.

If you start fishing for smallmouth you will think twice about using your bc. Spinning can get you more distance with lighter line and lighter weight lures . Plus the fight on spinning is I think much more fun than a bcer. jmho

The Man has a way with words....

XR50 in ghost or pearl melon 1-14' preferably on St Clair for Toad smallmouth

save your money use a plastic box for misc. use clamp-on swivels and a clamp on depth finder, a 12' boat will get you wet if you put too much stuff on/in it... spend more time fishin and less fooling around till you can afford at least a 15' 16' boat (been there done it) I know this sounds harsh but unless your 12' is extra extra deep and extra extra wide, the aveage man a small motor ,a battery, a trolling motor you are already way over the safe weight limit

1/8 oz up to 1/4 oz black bear hair no trailer or a u2 in black or brown. I also like to drag slowly if that does not work after giving it a good attempt (in cold water) I will hop but not over worked. Also 6lb Fluoro kinda partial to P-line or yosuri. My favorite way to fish period however i am going to start paying close attention to Mr. Hottle's reccomendation on the jerk bait

I agree with Steve,,,,,, Illinois leaves alot to be desired for smallies you get spoiled when you hit sturgeon bay, St Claire ,Erie, Dale Hollow, ky lake can't even imagine lake Champlain area