drakesndrum

First trip out yesterday, water temp 51-52. One 19" right at 4lbs and a baby Musky, all on jerkbaits. had several more smallies that were sub 14". I looked back through my notes and realized that stretch of river doesn't fish well on bluebird days, so was fortunate to land at least one nice fish. Nice to get out!

3/8 Jack Hammer green-pumpkin shad color with a 4.5" spunk shad trailer yesterday morning. 19.25" and thick! Full moon has them feeding at night I think, bite was slow, lucky to get this one.

When the water temps start to fall they usually (its not exact science) start to feed heavily in preparation for winter. I have had the best topwater action from now until the end of October depending on the weather and water temp. Once the topwater action dies (water temps get into the low to mid 50s) then I go to a 3.25" swimbait and back to the jerkbait. With the cooler air temps and leaves changing, it's my favorite time to get out!

North Branch Tackle makes some nice ones with football heads that help with hangups in rocks.

Wacky worm always works in the summer. If I can't get a bite the WW is my go-to. Plain white Zoom Super Fluke is awesome in the summer as well.

HogFarmer 4.5" Spunkshad, Yamamato Zako, or Rage Craw on a full-sized Jackhammer. Mini-Max gets smaller versions of all the above. Green pumpkin, Chart/white, Golden Shiner colors on the JH and MM.

These rock. Also Rage Craws, or Yamamato Zakos!

In the river a Berkley Choppo 75, Chatterbait Mini-Max, or a plain white Zoom fluke will cover about anything. Can throw in a Spro RkCrawler or any squarebill for deeper water as well. I did just get some of the Nikko Craws that I'm going to rig on a sled or Ned head to bottom bounce too.

I think it may depend on the body of water, or even certain parts of a body of water. My primary two rivers are vastly different in numbers and size of fish. We've also had very high water during the spawn for several years in a row which probably washed out many nests. This is the first year I was able to fish at all during April since we haven't had any rain. Having said that, I started branching out further away from my normal haunts, and have found some spots that have incredible fishing for both numbers and large fish. I also have places where you can catch 20+ in a day and not have a single one break 2lbs. Not sure why that is. I also tend to fish more during the middle of the week which probably helps my effort due to the lack of other people.

River was stained after overnight rains this morning; I have to think it would be similar to algae stain, unless you have algae literally floating all through the water column. Either way, Chatterbait Mini-Max 3/8oz with a Baby Rage Craw trailer was killing them up to 19.75".

They love jigs! I usually have a 1/8oz or 3/16oz football in plain black tied on when I go to the rivers. Baby Rage Craw trailer.

Take it off, it takes about 7 seconds to remove/install. The 1103ac doesnt have a stow option like the 403 does.

Spinnerbait and chatterbait plus everything mentioned above. Caught 'em good last week on a War Eagle Screamin' Eagle, but no giants. I think our fish are spawning, its been tough for a couple weeks. We need rain terribly as well.

I'm about to test one out tomorrow myself on a Johnny Morris Carbonlite 2.0 7'3" MH 3/8-1oz. Its tied on and just letting it hang, it seems the rod will handle it. Having some flex I think is important for that big treble hook to stay pinned.

Another vote! 12, 15, and 20lb on a variety of reels, plus I use the 12lb for leader to braid. Haven't had any problems with it.

Yes sir, SS127.

Another option is fluke-style bait on a crawler head dragged slowly on the bottom. They seem to key on minnows more when the water gets that cold and I've had far more success on a fluke than a jig, especially with bigger fish. Good luck!

46.6 this morning was the highest I saw. Fish were still shallow-ish and an active, but they wouldn't touch a moving bait. Jerkbait was it, LC Pointer 78.

Trilene Sensation 12lb and 14lb on baitcasters. Berkley X9 15lb braid to Seaguar 12lb fluro leader on spinners.

Unfortunate for sure, but last Friday I beat that total so it's not so bad. New best five in a day is 96.75"! Fun time of year, big fish are pushing shallow and obliterating moving baits. I think they fight harder in that cooler water. Those are beautiful fish, well done!

Said I was done ...then TW got me again for more KVD Elite 300 jerkbaits and more Spunkshad trailers. Oops.

48.6 this morning, fish were pushing shallow. Moving baits and jerkbaits. Big fish was 21" 4lbs 4oz.

Daiwa Tatula TTU701MFS 7' 1/8-3/4oz or the TTU711MLFS 1/16-3/8oz. Either will work, the 701 if you need anything heavier than 1/4oz. Have fished a pile of spinning rods for river smallies and come back to these every time. They run $150-160 but can be found cheaper if you look.

Different boat (Bonafide SS127) with a Helix-7 mounted to the center pod. Some days I wish I had a 9" screen, and maybe one I'll upgrade it. Main thing is this isn't a bass boat, so space is a premium. I'd say sit in your kayak with the screen at several different locations and see what works best for you. Paddle stroke, rod storage, fish-landing all come into play. Good luck!

Great, more money already spent ? I have an arsenal of stuff here from very cheap to very expensive stuff, and I come back to my Tatula rods(and reels) every time. Very hard to beat at that price point.