Bass-Addict

I was considering getting one to keep my minnows/craws in but even the smaller one is little big and clunky for me to pull behind my kayak. I have this thing that I’ve been keeping my crawdads in, could I possibly just take off the one lid on the protected side of this and let fresh water flow through it or would the fish/craws get traumatized by the moving basket inside? Would it work as well as the Frabill or is it too small and do minnows need more room to swim around to stay lively? This would be much less cumbersome and also would make it much easier to retrieve bait. Thanks! https://www.fieldandstreamshop.com/p/bait-up-35-bait-container-19gpcubtp35zcntnrfac/19gpcubtp35zcntnrfac

Cool, thanks! I’m assuming that’s whacky rig?

6 ft med-light saint croix premier with fast action tip and a shimano nasci reel. 8# clear trilene.

I currently fish a tiny river (3-5 ft deep) for smallmouth. I use live crawdads and nightcrawlers. I am sort of growing tired of dealing with live bait, although it brings me much better results than artificial has on this river. Is that always going to be the case or is it relatively easy to make the transition? If I’m to believe the bass pros I’ve talked to, in addition to a good number of people here, you can catch far more with artificial. Now I’m not sure if this is due to more casts or not, but I somehow doubt I would easily be able to substitute and have anywhere near as much success. They just don’t hit the lures on this river, and I’ve heard the same thing from many others I’ve seen fishing it. Are small streams/creeks more difficult to have success with lures in? I’ve thrown everything from the ned rig, rooster tail, whopper plopper, swim baits to jig heads, boo-ya micro pond magic, multiple different variations of soft craws, divers, poppers, etc. I have caught very few fish on any of them, however have regular success with my live craws and nightcrawlers. Is it a learned art or is it the body of water I’m in, and if the former how big is the learning curve? Thanks!

I’m not sure about where you live, but here in Ohio there is an extreme shortage of split shots. In the past I’ve always used eagle claw, but the only place I can find them is Dicks online and they have a $35 minimum to meet the free shipping requirement, otherwise I’m spending $5.99 for $4 in tackle. Amazon, however, has Water Gremlin split shots for cheap w free shipping in the size I want. Are these just as good?

Lol fixed

Makes sense, I wonder if I try taking the pinchers off if they’ll go for the big boys.

What’s that

Yeah I need to set up my crawdad trap again, do those ever work?

Yeah for sure lol, just kinda hard to do it seems random. Where do the smaller ones tend to be?

Is that really true that they’re mostly fed at this point? I sure hope not, the water is just clearing up in these past few weeks. Even as recently as a week ago I was having success with medium sized live crawdads that I catch in the river, but when I went yesterday they literally wouldn’t touch em. They hit every single little one I threw in there though, all of the fish I caught were on tiny crawdads. What do you think is up with that?

Nice, Minnesota has some prime fishing and beautiful scenery. I grew up fishing all over Canada and got to exploee the boundary waters.

Nice fish! What river is that? Yeah I agree, the first half of the summer is a bust for me with all the rain, I agree water clarity is everything.

You have success throughout most of the summer well into August?

I fish a small narrow river that averages 3-5 ft, the Little Miami River in Dayton Ohio. I usually catch fish well into August, but I have noticed the bite has slowed a little. Should I be fishing in the deeper holes now or does that statistic not apply to smaller shallower streams?

Not even medium light? Medium seems stiff, you think ML could snap?

Way too long for the river I fish. It’s very narrow as I said and tons of low-hanging vegetation. 6’ is the perfect size for ease of casting as well as storage on my kayak.

Been using 8, do you recommend lighter? Cool, you think 8 lb clear triline is good? Thanks for the replies everyone! Ended up going with another medium light, it really did feel like the sweet spot. Gonna get it replaced through saint croix’s awesome warranty, I think it’s like a $20-$40 deductible and they replace the rod outright.

I fish the Little Miami River in southwest Ohio, a small narrow river about 3-5 ft deep on average with some pretty average sized smallmouth. I’ve hooked into some big ones for sure, but on average they are pretty midsized. I have been using a medium light 6’ st croix premier fast action spinning rod and my dummy just shut my trunk with it leaning inside it, snapped right in two. Thinking of switching to a light version of the same rod, what do you think is better? Should I stick w st croix? I have a shimano real that is amazing, incredibly smooth love it. I just wonder if I wouldn’t feel the fight more with a light rod vs med light, I guess my only concern would be getting snagged. Thanks!

That’s funny you say that about carp I completely agree, I hate when I hook into one of the nasty sucker fish that infest the river I fish. I’m from Dayron Ohio and every time I start to get excited when I’m talking to someone and discover they like to fish I am instantly let down when they start talking about pay lakes and catfish. I just don’t get it, these rednecks love their shovel heads it’s kind of annoying. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of bass fishermen around here, lots of tournaments in Ohio but it seems like I tend to run into the catfish fanatics more often.

Yeah you gotta go to big lakes or rivers for smallies. River smallies hands down fight the hardest.

Pardon my extremely late response lol, but I fish little Miami.

Really cool to see them stalk it like that, rare occurrence. I fish a small river in southwest Ohio and it’s always a treat catching them with crawdads that I catch in the river, but this was a special sight.

In how deep of water though, and current or still?

How’s that?