patred

I kept a few stocked trout earlier this year on a small river, and they had what looked like small hellgrammites in their belly. Same river where I caught plenty of smallmouth, so I'm sure they feed on them, too. I read on a forum ... somewhere ... catching smallmouth on a Netbait B Bug. Cutting off the big flapper, it looks like a small crayfish or a big hellgrammite. I ordered some earlier this week, so probably trying them next weekend. Pat

It looks like this forum has a pretty informative smallmouth section, so I decided to join. I've been fishing for almost 30 years but not much at all since the mid-90s. I decided to take a break from my usual hobby -- autocross -- this year and fish a little more. I've always had a love for smallmouth bass even though I only caught a handful when I was stationed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the early 1990s. Something about the allure of a 12" fish that is angry at the world because you tricked it into biting a fake lure. The Potomac River is an hour-plus from where I live, and I caught a few smallmouth fishing there near the end of last year. This year, I've fished the Potomac around 10 times and also found some smallmouth in the Little Patuxent River in Columbia, Md., just a few miles from where I live. Although that was from April to the first week in July, and I haven't seen or caught a smallmouth there since! It has gotten really shallow, and I think the fish were using the small river to spawn when the water was deeper and darker. Or the heavy rains we had a couple months ago washed them out. But the Potomac has been productive since then. Anyway, I've caught a bunch of smallmouth this year, 70+, although most have been the "8-10" variety. Eight to 10 inches. I did catch two 15" on the Little Patuxent (which is more like a stream) and then a 16" smallmouth a few weeks ago on the Potomac. And then about 10 others in the "legal" range. The majority have been caught fishing the bottom in the shallow waters. Tube baits, 3-4" straight worms, curly tailed grubs. Some luck on topwaters and small Rebel crawfish crankbaits and Rapala Shadow Raps. I've been out with a guide on the Potomac twice this year but mainly wade or fish from shore. Pat