TnRiver46

Now they say the big G has too much grass, I say hogwash! I love fishing milfoil

There are companies around here that will kill it for hire, maybe there’s some in your area. They are very legit with all their govt permits because bass fishermen have been trying to shut them down forever

Red cranks were working over the weekend, trolling

I should add, I forgot where you are coming from. An 18” smallmouth around here is typically 2.75 maybe three pounds (with occasional outliers on either side of course). A 20” has a decent chance at touching 4 lbs. Up north those length fish are going to weigh a lot more , I’ve seen an 18” 5 lb smallmouth from somewhere in the Midwest (forgot the location)

I just throw them at the wall and see if they stick

That’s wild, my river is 67 degrees

I’ve always heard about the tuck in reference to trout but 16-20 inch smallies are not uncommon anywhere around here. 8lbers only occur in a place or 3 and I wouldn’t imagine that’s one of them. Then again being connected to the big lake it’s always possible so they can make that claim I suppose. I would expect a lot of aggressive bites from river smallies in summertime but size is typically a wild card. You can usually count on a few shots at a nice fish but sometimes they jump off or break your heart one way or another.

Looks like it’s about time for you to get started on mine

doesn’t that still leave a dozen lakes that start with a “c” ? Haha

Pressure being the limiting factor, a good thing to try is something different than all the pressure. If you see 50 guys throwing spinnerbaits, don’t use a spinnerbait

My guess is the plastic was getting gobbed up and the hook wasn’t penetrating the fish’s mouth well enough to land. If I’m using a 5” soft swimbait, I want the biggest hook I’ve got in it

No I didn’t watch but I read enough to get the gist. Catching them super fast only helps on that single tournament trail. I’m sure it’s awesome and helps a ton but from my perspective it makes a simple task slightly easier , yet potentially more complicated when you involve computers, batteries, etc. if I know wheeler like I think I do, he could have done pretty well with an anchor/rope or his foot on the pedal. His main skill was probably selling trolling motors . Remember wheeler was winning tournaments before spotlock. There’s a lot of people With the same technology that zero. It kind of reminds me of when power poles first came out. Everyone around here had to have them on their boat but they never put them down because number one the water is deep and number two they never slow down

I got plenty of buddies that could have spot lock, 360, live scope, and a bunch of fish in a barrel and still couldn’t get them I’m still waiting on that solid spinnerbait bite I’ve caught trout with texas rig power worms

Aw heck. You still gotta know where to stop! I can hold my boat still with an anchor on a rope but you still got to know where the sweet spot is and how to fish it

Experience more specifically the moment I caught my first bass in the dead of winter, it’s been game on ever since. Growing up we always thought you had to fish stocked trout in winter. We had read and heard about winter smallies with bobber and fly but that never worked and still doesn’t

I’m noticing fishing pressure is always in the forefront of your thinking, are you in California? I guide trout trips on the most pressured 1/4 mile of creek you’ve ever seen and the fish will still bite . They have to eat

I will eat scrambled eggs but that’s my least favorite way to eat them Dogs get the yolks??

Bill dance hat!!! It’s been my main hat my whole life. People thought it was goofy when I first started wearing it and now Almost everyone wears mesh back hats

My buddy’s kids brought one camping, he said they get themselves into trouble sticking it on things that are too big like the deck of a riding lawnmower And he has to knock it off with a sledgehammer. They caught a bunch of nails and some metal stakes. The one time it did come in handy is when one of the kids rode their bicycle through yellow jacket nest and they went back later and retrieved the bicycle with the magnet

I’ve been a fly fishing instructor since ‘07 and I prefer throwing spinners haha

I think my brother caught a couple, I got zilch in the firehole and Madison river. In my defense, I was 12 years old and had started fly fishing a few days before

Haha! I’ve fished in Yellowstone a tad. Make sure the treble hooks and scented bait are legal for the specific waters before you take them, I can’t recall the regs

Finesse and grass don’t play well together in my experience

Your buddy and my buddy are cut from the same cloth! My fiancé saw him doing it once and now she loves it. She has a big stable sit on top kayak that doesn’t get swamped and floats if capsized

I’ve never had much trouble out of the regular ones