justfishin

I just wanted to wish all the Fork guys the best of luck. I hope everyone stays safe and catches some double digits. Oh, what ever you do, do not throw a 4" Smoke/Purple Flake tube T-rigged with a 1/8oz wt. They don't work.

Last week I was standing outside in my scrubs at work. Today we have about 4" of snow, its 24.4 degrees along with 10-20 mph winds with predicted gust of up to 35.

No. 10 and 12 Husky Jerks in Tennessee Shad is my favorite. It has been my best producer.

Zara Spook, Rico,Torpedo and Buzzbait.

Darn good job Bassnleo, and everyone that added to this post. In my area I would say the tube is the no. 1 bait, day in and day out for smallmouth and used a lot for green bass as well. For guys that do not catch fish on tubes or have never used one, this post hit the info right on the head. I only have one thing to add. I use the Gammy G-Lock hooks for rigging my tubes for flipping wood and grass for green bass. They really work well. Is this a great site or what.

I know this is a very serious subject but, why do I have this feeling that Muddy and Avid are going to comment on the hairy tongue?

A friend of mines buddy has a couple of Falcon rods for sale. One is a 6'6" MH baitcaster and the other a medium in the same length spinning rod. Goodness knows I do not need another rod. I just bought two more last week. He wants 35.00 a piece for them. I never owned a Falcon or even used one. Are they any good at this price even for use as extras?

I think the story on this amazing fish is becoming legendary. Pretty cool stuff, to say the least. You are blessed to have had this happen to you in such a fantastic way. Again, congrats.

If I were to do it, I would do it down south. This is somthing that is more and more appealing, the more I get involved with freshwater fishing. To do this, in the south, as a yankee,....I risk being shot. I assume. Up here a few of my friends guide and have been trying to get me to do it too, it's not so hostile because I worked side by side with these guys often putting them and their clients on fish with my knowledge of the bay from digging clams so long. I learned the fish routes and haunts by accidental observation. Anyway, if someone from the south came up here and tried to take biz from these guys, let's just say it's a dirty game. Your boat can sink at the dock overnight, or get stripped clean in an hour, stuff like that. I can't imagine it would be any different if I went and did that insomeone elses neighborhood. I wouldn't do that to another guide anyway. I'm not cutthroat enough to play those games. Excuse me but, thats not a very nice thing to say LBH. Its also not good for our PR. Not all guides are cutthroat, boat sinkers. From what I have read in here you seem like a pretty good guy and I hope I am reading this wrong. I gave up guiding after going on 17 years as of last year. It is just to costly nowadays with fuel and license and such. I know a lot of guides who just enjoy watching the average fisherman catch fish. I always made a point that they had a good time if it was within my power. I also know a lot of other guides whom felt the same way. Granted, there are a few whom are dirty but, you have that element in all walks of life. I would be lying if I said that that one of the reasons I was a guide wasn't the money but, it went along with other reasons as well, as in it was fun. Dang, cut us some slack here. I never did anything to hurt anyone while guiding. If a new one came around he had to gain some respect, its just the name of the game but , if he was respectful, most of us would do all we could to help him get established. There are plenty of rivers and room for all of us. Good luck finding work, or moving on, whatever the case may be.

Take that line back and trade it for some Yozuri Soft in #6 or #8. I think with the flouro coated line the regular hybrid in #10 will not be what you want. Its too stiff for that. If you want to use #10 put it on a baitcaster unless you are using a 4000 series Stradic. If you are talking a 2000 series Stradic I don't think you will like that particular line on it.

I am glad you just started, it won't be so hard to quit. I dipped Skoal for the last 12 years and just gave it up about 3 months ago. My friend dipped and got mouth cancer which was enough to scare the hell out of me. Its one of the hardest things I ever did. I don't even think about it now. Please, quit while you can.

I guess after catching smallies like that we can nick name you " Woody ". my mistake? ;D I found a picture of you the evening you caught that 8.5. ;D

Hey Muddy and Skillet, can I join? It would be a lot cheaper for the three of us if we chipped in and bought our Depends in bulk !!! ;D

I will try to shut up a little, . You are right, we need more smallie fisherman RW. Hey Muddy, I will have a piece of carrot cake and a Yuenglings beer please.

I just noticed I had over a thousand posts. How did I do that? I have to stop puttin my .2 in more and start listening. I just wanted to thank Glenn, the mods and everyone in here for the fun I have had here. I have learned a lot and hope that some of my input was helpful as well. Again, thanks, its been fun.

Yes, I think you are right LBH. Let me rephrase my first statement. If you ever see a 17' Grey Express Boat with a jet outboard and a dusty old bast*** with a pot belly and five very big women in the boat with him, thats me. But hey, I will still be grinnin ;D P.S.- I gotta cut back on my beer intake.

You are right jomatty. I did save some willows for the river and put on some smaller willows on heavy spinnerbaits for late summer spinnerbaiting. Heck, I am always open to new ideas and I just might get rid of most of those indiana's next winter. I changed most of them because around here it seemed that most of my better spinnerbaiting days were on a indiana blade. We will see I guess. Have a great year!

If you ever get some free time, indulge us with a answer to a few questions if you would be so kind. 1. Is this a natural or man made lake and when was it established with smallmouth? 2. Does the part of the lake you are hooking up have a rocky bottom with a abundance of crawdads? 3. How clear does this lake stay on the average? 4. Does this lake have a lot of feeder streams, creeks or rivers? Thanks, my curiosity was aroused. We were talking about cycles that waters go through and as far as the Susquehanna river system I can remember when in the winter you almost expected a few 6+'s back in the late seventies and up through the late nineties. It seems now that even the fives are getting harder to come by. There are plenty of fish and it is typical to catch 40-100 but, the big fish are getting less frequent. I think in the deeper waters they are still pretty prevalent but, in the shallow waters below the dams they are getting fewer. I know the fishing pressure has quadrupled in the last ten years, whether this has had such a profound effect on this fishery I do not know. Again, thanks for sharing your experiance. Get your butt back to work, you are killing me,lol.

I think you are right RW. I have a feeling that they are well fed on " popcicles " ( I like that term for stocked trout ) and are not molested as much as the largemouth. I would like to try my hand at one of those 8.5's.

I was curious as to some opinions on why there are such great smallmouth being caught in these California lakes, especially the one Fishchris has been fishing. Do you think it is the long season, forage, genetics or the combination of all these criteria lending its hand in growing these big smallies?

They would not have to go get me out of rehab for drugs LBH. They would have to come to the lake to get me where I have been seeing all those big smallmouth come from in California, you know, where fishchris caught those good ones. I would be the guy in the new 22 foot ranger with the 300hp Yamaha on back with the half a dozen girls in string bikinis on board. I would be the stupid looking one in the boat with the big smile on my face ! ;D

First of all---whhooooooooooo-hoooooooooooo,sveeeeeet !!!!!---- I really enjoyed your story of these amazing couple of days. Congrats. I would have liked to have had you hooked up to the EKG during your trips,lol. What great smallies. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience. By the way, my tent will be on your lawn right beside RW's. I would love to get on that lake.

I really liked the original GNR until Axel turned into a A-hole. I never understood why he would want to ruin such a good thing. Even if they did not get along as individuals they clicked on stage and in the studio. Go figure.

I am going to work on my mistake habit of flippin every fish in the boat. I even do it with smallies and light line unless they are around 4lbs and up. Always have. I have lost very few fish doing this but, I feel it is a little traumatic for them to be slammed to the bottom of the boat and allowed to flip around. I started towards the end of last year lipping all of my fish and releasing them immediately, after a kiss. I guess I am getting soft in my old age.

In July and August I fish for big smallies a lot at night. Everyone around here does. There is a night tourney most every weekend at Deep Creek Lake here in MD at night. I tend to use darker for the topwaters as in, maroon or black for baits like spooks or jitterbugs. I also use a short armed spinnerbait that is black with a huge Colorado blade. As far as my gitzits, which seem to be the best producers at night for smallies, I use black or junebug most of the time but, I have caught them on light colors as well, like smoke purple. I always insert a rattle in my tubes at night. I also usually move up to a big 4" Salty Tube. I think slowing way down and adding a little noise and thump is more important than color at night. JMO.