Bass-Addict

That is insane

Definitely agree with this, my floats will be shorter and closer to dawn and dusk this year. That’s the juice right there, topwater ?

This is by far the best aspect

I was planning to go out today but the water is still pretty stained and the radar looks very ugly. I don’t mind summer pop ups but persistent 2-3 hour downpours can be a chore to fish in. All of this in spite of the fact that I have consistently seen the night and day difference in how the fish behave when it rains, especially when the river begins to rise. My buddy and I went out a week or so ago in a light drizzle that transitioned into a moderate patter and the fish were jumping out of the water hitting our spinnerbaits in spots where we usually never get bit. Maybe I just need better rain gear?

Yeah I saw a graph somewhere of their growth from the start of the Gobie invasion to now and it was pretty much a J curve, they exploded. Zebras helped tremendously too.

Did they originate in southern Ontario/Great Lakes region?

Where is it native to?

How is this possible, considering it takes a smallmouth 10-15 years to reach 18/19 inches?

That’s incredible. Now it’s a world class fishery, perfect example of how impactful catch and release is.

Why not split rings I actually agree with this after having fished it a few times now, as the biggest strikes seem to come on the pause and the entire appeal of these baits is how controlled and subdued the action is. We all know the biggest fish chase the least, and yes I actually thought of the similarity to a jerk bait as well.

I thought like 99% of the fry don’t make it?

Hard to say, it appears to be all throughout but I can’t see where it ends or begins.

Do you generally find it to be closer to the start of summer before the bite picks back up?

How long do the post spawn blues typically last

Thanks buddy, appreciate the encouragement!

Yeah it’s frustrating

Never lol, just wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar

Yeah dude infuriating.

It seems it has gotten exponentially worse since Covid saw a huge influx of overnight fishermen. Even just a couple of years ago I can remember being able to confidently do a float and expect to catch a minimum of 10-12 fish, with at least one or two of size. Now I have trips where I have trouble even finding dinks, it’s getting really frustrating. The river I fish has (had) a pretty healthy population of good sized smallmouth. I have seen people post in our local Facebook group about keeping trophy sized fish, do you think it is more likely they are being depleted or simply learning not to hit lures from the pressure?

I’m asking more whether or not algae stain actually functions the same as mud stain

Would you say still a good deal stronger than Armilo Defier?

What’s the difference, strength/smoothness? What do you recommend?

Sorry one last q - what size hyper wire split rings for Owner Stinger size #1 trebles?

The last two summers have been hot and dry, this year it started early. The low water levels, slow flows and intense heat have caused an explosive algae bloom that leaves the water column entirely speckled with green particles, and causing a perpetual stain that reduces visibility somewhat. How much if at all do you suppose this inhibits smallmouth’s vision? Do you think it demands the use of large spinnerbaits and Chatterbaits or do you treat it like normal Clearwater conditions when the river is at summer pool?

Thanks. So nothing to do with the line being spooled improperly?