Zachh Nute

I have a friend who makes them for me. I only use Black or Black and purple. Not sure why, but those colors are always producers for me. The thing with hair jigs is that you want to go with the lightest weight you possibly can. I fish a highly pressured lake and when the wind isn't blowing I'm fishing an 1/8oz hair jig in 25' - 30'. If the wind is blowing I will throw a 1/4oz. I will never go over that 1/4oz. Not to say the fish wont eat it, but that's what I do personally. I find that hair jigs are usually best when the water is cold (below 48 degrees). and you want to just crawl it along the bottom. If you aren't getting stuck, you wont catch fish. I use a Megabass Levante Shakeyhead rod. I think this gives you the backbone you need to penetrate the mouth of the fish in deep water and it also provides a sensitive tip to feel the bites. Most of your bites will just be weight. You wont actually feel the fish thrash.

Personally, I love catching smallies deep with my Active Target. Video Game fishing is alot of fun.

Just because a river/creek has deep water, doesn't mean big smallmouth live there. It depends on the population of fish and the amount of forage. If its over populated and there isn't a bunch of forage, you will get stunted growth and wont get any/many big smallmouth. if there isn't a huge population of smallies and there is a good healthy population of forage, you will get those bigger smallmouth.

I cant speak for Erie, But I can speak for Ontario. They should both fish fairly similar. From my experience on Lake Ontario, smallmouth are extremely tough in the months of September and October. Fish are trying to adjust to the shorter days and cooler temperatures. In the summer these fish can be found anywhere from 25' to 50' in some cases. Whereas this time of year they will move shallower (5' - 20'). This time of year those smallies are looking for food to fatten up for winter. Im not exactly sure where on Erie you are, but on Ontario, Smallmouth like to winter on the Lake instead of in the rivers. Not to say there wont be fish in the rivers at all, but the majority of your wintering fish will be in the lake. Mainly due to forage. You can find these Smallies on steep breaks that lead into deep water, humps that come up to 15'-20' at the top and surrounded by deep water, boulder fields, Long extended points, etc. The main thing is that you need to spend time finding them with side imaging. I don't stop and fish until I see 3 or 4 fish marked on my fish finder in a given area. Attached is an example of what I'm talking about and I circled the high percentage areas that I would scan. I would scan the whole thing, but I would spend more time of those three areas because they extend out into the main lake basin and they provide a good spot for a smallmouth to move up shallow or deep depending on the weather and forage. I hope this helps.

I know im a bit late for this post, but its fishing in general is very tough in the month of September and the first couple weeks of October.

I'm glad it helped you! If you have any other question, feel free to contact me. I try to log on once or twice a week to check in!

When the water temp hit's the 55 degree mark, the fishing gets to be extremely good. When the water is clear, like Quabbin is, the fish really push shallow and will eat a jerkbait very well, especially on the sunny days. We all know that smallmouth love sun. you can also catch them using other baits like squarebills, spinnerbaits, etc. Although, keep in mind that those smallmouth will be in a bit of a funk when the water first begins to drop from its summer temps (78-83 degrees until about 60-63 degrees. But, as stated earlier, those smallmouth will really feel between that 55-63 degree mark. and they will eat almost anything that replicated the forage they're eating. A for areas, they will be in the same areas you find then in the spring for the most part. As the water falls below the 55 degree mark, I really slow down my presentation and will fish a hair jig, tube, blade bait, slow roll a small 2.8" swimbait. Those fish will start to push into their winter patterns. I will always start with humps and points. those always have fish on them in the colder months. It gives a place for fish to move up and down the water column. When I get a bite, I keep in mind where those fish came out of. I fish Candlewood Lake a lot in CT and the fish will winter usually in the 30 FOW and on the sunny days, they will push up to about 15-20 FOW. smallmouth are roamers and love sun. I hope this helps a tad. If you have anymore in depth questions just DM me! can you get a bass boat in there? I have heard many great things about that river, and the Penobscot.

depends on how fast the current I running, but I like using the Megabass Okashira Screwhead with a Megabass Hazedong Shad. It has that little bit of flash that the fish cant resist.

I love my Megabass Levante Series rod for Drop Shot.

I'll be up there in Oct. those smallies should be shallower by then eating jerkbaits, blade baits and maybe some hair.. Should be a fantastic time! Awesome fish, btw!

you mean Lake Bathymetry maps? Like contour lines and stuff? If that's what you mean, then Navionics Webapp would be your best bet.

I have heard so many mixed things about the smallmouth on the St.Lawrence. I had an idea to just fish Shoals in 25ft with a drop shot. But I am hearing that the smallies will get up on the big flats and you can sight fish them. Is this true? I also heard that the smallmouth will be up shallow 10-15 on rock piles with any weed clumps on them. I know the main forage for those smallmouth in the St.Lawrence are the Gobies. So I know to try and imitate that. I'm just trying to get a big of intel, not specific spots or anything. I am bringing a buddy of mine who doesn't fish all that often, and I just want him to enjoy the weekend catching smallmouth! I will be staying at Wellesley Island State Park, which is right near Alexandria Bay.

In the mornings, I would throw a topwater frog over that grass. as the sun starts to get high in the sky, those bas should still be in the grass and you can catch them in the middle of the grass where it "mats" up. The rig that will catch the fish in the grass is called a "punch rig". I'm not entirely sure how thick that grass is, but you should be able to get away with only using a 1/2oz bullet weight. Hope this helps!

from my experience on the lake 2 years ago, we caught fish in June on a drop shot. We found big flats (between 12ft and 15ft) that had grass and rocks and the smallies would be there. Also morning topwater is really good there.

gobies are the main forage for the smallies. That's why they get so big in all the great lakes. Try to imitate a goby the best you can. I like to use a drop-shot to catch them. This time of year you can catch the smallies anywhere from 5 foot of water, all the way to 40 foot.

What's everyone's opinion on the lake with the biggest smallmouth bass in the state of Maine? My friend got lucky a couple years back and caught a 5lb 6 oz Smallmouth out of Thompson Lake. I have been going back year after year to duplicate it and never can! So I lock my answer in with, Thompson Lake!

Hello All, I plan on making a trip up to Southern Maine the first week of Feb to do some Ice fishing for Smallmouth. I've been doing some research on good smallmouth fisheries in the area. I have come up with a few that seemed to be better than the rest, with those being: -Thomas Pond -Hancock Pond -Lovewell Pond -Thompson Lake -Trickey Pond I was wondering if anyone had any tips for finding these smallmouth. Or if maybe these lakes/Ponds weren't as good as the reviews I have heard of them, or maybe I'm missing some good ones in the area. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Guys/Girls!

Wish i knew while i was up! lol. It was a tough bite for me....

Sebago was tough. I caught a lot of smaller fish. Nothing huge. Then I went to Thompson Lake and struggled to catch quantity. But, I did catch multiple 3 pounders. I struggled a little due to the super clear water and 0 wind and sun. I don’t have much experience fishing with those conditions. I fished from 15’ all the way to 40’. I’ll be back up this time next year!! Thank you for all of the tips!

If Sebago isn’t known for big smallies, where locally would be? You said there are better places. Thank you for the info!

I’m not discrediting any of the locals info. Nor am I saying that I’m not going to listen to them. I asked for feedback from guys who have fished Sebago and I respect their feedback. I’m just stating that I’ve heard of guys catching good fish out of there.

Fish the shoals. Smallies should be between 10'-30'. It really depends on the water temps. I would throw a tube, drop shot or damiki rig.

I'll be going the week after 4th of july. I really don't mind boat traffic! I just want big smallies. lol I heard Sebago has some big ones.

You know how much he charges roughly?

Where does everyone have their custom Aluminum soft plastic molds made? Looking to get some made that I have sketched up. thank you in advance.