Bass-Addict

Caught a bunch of them in a separate watershed. I assume they will work, but I might buy a couple dozen shiners just in case.

So just like smallies, look for current just shallower?

Still in plastic? Bad idea to use bait cage too?

I have discovered minnows are absolutely killing it. Do the traps work best with the bait concealed in some sort of bait cage or bag or is it better if it is accessible so the fish stay in the trap?

Do you think the minnows I caught in the creek yesterday (different watershed than my river) will work just as well as the shiners did? They appear to be either fatheads or creek chubs, not sure though.

Yeah I love em, I think I’m a lifer now. This shimano Nasci is incredibly smooth too. I can’t imagine a better combo for $200.

By behaving heavier you mean they are stronger?

Yup, just picked one up @ cabelas. Ordered this on amazon too, USB chargeable: https://www.amazon.com/KEDSUM-Aquarium-Rechargeable-Portable-Transportation/dp/B07SB4MLJ6 Yeah, I ordered the USB chargeable one I linked above, seems to offer the best of both worlds as I can plug in at home and take it fishing. I tried the Frabill flow troll on my kayak but it slows me down quite a bit.

Is the Frabill Flow Troll 6 quart big enough? I have probably 15 minnows. What is an aerator stone, and do they not make an aerator that takes batteries and can be plugged in? Can I buy all of this at cabelas? Is that the only way? Creek is at my parents house.

Awesome, any idea where I send it?

I assume I need an aerator, do they make one that takes batteries and can be plugged into the wall? Not sure I’ll be able to fish for a few days. Is an aerator all I need? Can I just use brita filtered water, how often does it need to be changed, and how cold do I want it to stay? What do I feed them? Lastly, is it worth going and buying a bunch of stuff or is it likely many will die? Thanks!

No this one was on a nightcrawler. Yeah it’s hard to do it justice in pics, if I was on land I would’ve laid it on it’s side next to paddle or pole. So you think it might be smaller?

Thinking back it had to have been close to 20 inches, it was huge.

What do you bait your trap with? Why do you suppose minnows work so much better than craws if crawfish make up the majority of their diet?

Awesome, yeah that’s what I figured. How cool is it that human activity from the 1800s produced monster fish? Why do they like this deeper water, cooler?

Smart

I have caught some of the biggest and hardest fighting smallmouth I’ve caught on this river I fish in southwest Ohio in a spot right alongside an old 1800s stone house that’s behind a bigger, nicer house from the same era. I’m guessing there was a mill there, I know this river had a lot of them. Did mills create deep holes or some sort of ideal structure that would explain why the bite is so strong there and the fish so big?

Great weekend, the fall bite was strong on the river w the temps kicked up a bit. Today I caught the biggest one I’ve ever caught, I thought it was gonna break my 6’ St. Croix Premier Med-Light. Any idea how long this is? Didn’t have a scale. For the small river I fish this is a hog. https://ibb.co/HrnZMqV The deep hole I caught it in I’ve had success in before, it’s right next to an old stone house (1800s) so I’m guessing there was a mill there.

Had a pretty good weekend, caught the biggest smallmouth I’ve ever caught today. https://ibb.co/HrnZMqV

Optimal foraging theory, makes sense. I always wondered how/why craws made up 80% of their diets when they’re low in protein, hard to digest, and have a pretty solid defense mechanism that can scare bass off, especially the bigger ones. Perhaps it is more exotic to them, sort of like we enjoy eating things like chicken wings and crab legs despite the low yield/work ratio. My guess would be that it’s because they are one of if not the only shellfish in their ecosystem, and so they stick out and are more desirable/different than the hundreds of different minnow species populating the river.

But crawfish are their number one food source and they weren’t touching those

I accidentally caught 4 shiners in my crawfish trap today. I’ve never seen behavior like this before, the small river/creek I fish in a spot that’s about 3-5 ft deep they were swimming into shallow water where they were visible and hammering it out in the open, I saw every take. Several were pretty big, some of the biggest I’ve caught this year. I’ve never seen smallmouth this aggressive. I literally caught 10 fish with those 4 minnows reusing dead shiners that the fish didn’t swallow. It was amazing, I would have to think that I’ve just discovered the best smallmouth bait, not that they just happened to be feeding abnormally. Is that how they always respond to shiners? I need some more!!

You think it’ll take a day or two of the warmer weather for the bite to return?

So I’m thinking of going back out tomorrow as it’s been highs in the 60s the last week and tomorrow is shooting back up into the high 70s/low 80s through the weekend. Water temp of the creek has been hovering just below 60 midday, I assume it will climb tomorrow and into the weekend back into the 60s. Do you think the bite will be on or is it a total crapshoot? Here are screenshots of weather & river temps: https://ibb.co/FDtkKr8 https://ibb.co/D5sFjRM

The reason I’m asking is being injured it is somewhat of a production getting my kayak out and loading it into the river. With the water being this cold I won’t be able to swim so it’s all about the fishing, and I’ve read in under 65 degree water temperatures the bass stop biting mostly. It’s really only going to be “warm” for about 3 hours so I’m kinda basing my decision on the likelihood of catching fish. It’ll be 75 at 2 pm, 77 at 3, and 78 at 4, then back down again every hour. Is this enough to warm the water temps to where the fish will be biting or a bit of a gamble?