UPSmallie

Seagull Crayfish Clams Rock 3 Mudpuppy Salamanders Ice Fishing (All last winter) Those things love a vibrating blade-bait!

Dude I had this exact same problem when trolling keitechs on a swimbait hook. The solution is to thread a stinger hook over your swimbait hook and then texas-rig it behind your main hook on the swimbait. I've tested if this will affect the tail action, and to the best of my understanding if you line it up properly you're good to go. There's been days when the bass will only short-strike these swimbaits, so a trailer hook can definitely save the day.

Very interesting and I love how you said 'liberated.' Gives a new perspective to loosing a lure

Ah thanks. Will have to try it out soon

My Walmart has quite a few packages of them. I bought one a little while ago, but haven't tried the product out yet. Do you just fish these on swimbait hooks?

haha thanks. I seem to have figured out how to catch ice walleyes, but have yet to catch a single open water walter I'm hoping that changes this summer.

Well done Capt. Bob! Sounds like an amazing spring

That's a tank with beautiful colors. Congrats!

Well Done! Sounds like a great time

Well done. Well done.

Unreal!!! Congrats!!! I would love to see that on video if you happen to have it!

Looking at potentially registering in a Michigan Bass Nation Tournament in the future, but would like to know how far the payouts extend to and how much to what place? I couldn't find any info about it online. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Definitely man. Shore fishing for about the same time and I'd catch maybe one smallmouth if I was lucky. In the boat it felt like cheating once I figured out where most of the smallmouth where.

Very beautiful fish! Congrats

Awesome to hear man! Congrats

Good to know! Will have to keep at it then

Thanks guys! Definitely looking forward to the next. Will probably need to start trolling crawler harnesses rigged weedless if I want the walleyes haha

I know these fish aren't huge, but as a total newb troller I was beyond ecstatic with the results. There's a very, very, weedy bay approximately 2 miles from my house, but I have barely ever fished it. I've solo fished it by myself only twice before today and both times I ended up snapping off multiple lines on the prop and losing quite a few fishing lures. I'd gone out yesterday and had a weird experience of a fish grabbing a keitech swimbait I was fishing, by the tail, and swimming off with it. I fought it for a good 30 seconds before it bit off the tail of my keitech and swam off. It was never hooked so I figured it was a walleye. Luckily, I had two other 4.3 inch Keitech Swing Impact Fat swimbaits at home in pro blue/red flake. I rigged them up on a 4/0 swimbait hook texas-rigged and slid a 3/8 oz bullet sinker above the lures to keep them down in the weeds. As an experiment, I slid a trailer hook onto one of the Keitechs and threaded it through the body texas-rigged behind the swimbait hook. I wasn't sure if the extra hook would help with short-strikers or would interfere with the tail's action, so I only did this to one of the lures. I headed out to the bay in my 14 foot aluminum boat just before 8 AM this morning and starting long-lining the swimbaits 200-250 feet behind the boat. I don't have planer boards, GPS, depth chart, or a fish finder, so I was relying on my Navionics $10 app. I just followed the break-lines it displayed on the screen. After about an hour and a half I hooked into my first smallmouth. Let me tell you, fighting a smallmouth 250 feet behind the boat is one of the hardest ways I've cranked in a fish. Those things fight hard from way back there. I soon hooked and landed another on a different stretch. I then hooked into another, but it popped off as I was fiddling with the anchor rope. I soon found a honey-hole stretch I named 'Amen Corner.' Every pass by it yielded a smallmouth. It was non-stop action. For fun, I wanted to see if I could catch a limit of smallmouth and I needed just one more. I pulled into the opening stretch of Amen Corner after letting about 200 feet of line out and closed my bails. Just as I do so my engine kills, so I get to work cranking it. I see something out of the corner of my eye and it's my rod getting jerked! You have got to be kidding me. It couldn't have drifted more than 5-10 feet and a smallmouth hammered it. It was unreal fishing. All fish were 14-16 inches and the heaviest fish was 2.22 lbs. Bag weight was 11.20 lbs. After pictures, some of the fish were cooked for dinner and others tossed back into the water. I look forward to hitting the bay again in the future because I think I have these bronze backs dialed in. Yes, Keitechs are deadly on all species. Included is a video of the last two catches start to finish. Btw, the last fish was caught solely on the stinger and I caught a couple others on that lure, so I don't think the extra hook affected the action. I'll probably add a second hook to the other one. Fish On

That's pretty neat. Thanks for sharing

It might still work. I'd at least fill out the paperwork and maybe try and contact the people in charge of the program.

Wow, that is awesome! Congrats! I filled mine out through an online Michigan Application form. Being that you guys are from Minnesota, it looks like you guys will need to fill out some online paperwork here http://www.fishinghalloffamemn.com/master-anglers/application-form/ The catch definitely qualifies because it looks like it beats the 23 inch minimum requirement. Just make sure that you have at least one clear photo of the fish laying next to a tape measure or something that can distinguish its length. http://www.fishinghalloffamemn.com/master-anglers/master-angler-qualifying-fish/

Yes... Fishing in the U.P. has been great for me this year. As of right now all the smallies where I am at are still in prespawn. New to boat fishing so that is taking some getting used to, but shore fishing has been going great when I can come across fish.

Didn't realize there was this many. I think this might help clear up some confusion in the future. Really want to catch a Chattahoochee Bass now! http://www.gameandfishmag.com/fishing/how-many-black-bass-species-are-there/

Good luck and keep at it man. Topwater pike moments are what pike fishermen live for. Have only caught one pike on topwater, but it was my PB at 32" and was every bit of awesome. Looking forward to the next. Fish On

Awesome fish and great work!