Tatsu Dave

In the area's we fish the evening bite is a given and certain spots come alive. I'm 100% with keeper on his accessment of smallies using feeding areas that they prefer for some reason (food availability). I waypoint my garmin all the time with spots smallies use in the current as ambush sites, catch em' there once its fishing.......catch em' multiple times its patterning.

When spawning is over you look for the big boys moving from deep to shallow areas following points that take them to where the bait hides (cover and weeds usually shallow). We catch nice smallies thru the summer into fall feeding binges. When the fishing gets tougher for summer, you go after the fish and find them. That is where lures are great for casting and moving till you find the fish and develop a new pattern. Good Fishing....

Round these parts having a party on the launch ramp seems to be the holiday thing to do. Lucky they take one look at my boy in the bow and start moving ?

We been having some hot weather so far but never saw water temps this high this early. Its summer temps already, we are also catching fish which makes it all OK ?

If you fish where trout are on the menu of bass, the laminated rainbow trout color of senko and X Zone don't just work pretty good.......they are killer.

There ya go good advice, also stickbaits and grubs (large) will never let you down.

I tend to fish unweighted stickbaits, never very deep, so I often see the surface bulge or boil as they twist around to smash it. We went out Tuesday in the heat to see what would bite, river was 84 degrees. Son caught a 3 1/2lb'er and he fought with heart! Look at plastic baits after a smallmouth has been on, I think they grin when they see senko's and snake o's coming.........enjoy your fishing OhioGuy

Guess living where I do it would be Maine, some really good size river smallies to keep ya interested and alert.

Rapala tournament going strong and easy to use.

I was self taught in fishing and in my learning curve used pretty much everything and learned as I went. After quite a few years tailrace fishing for stripers - smallies - and hybrids with plastics the experience changed my fishing totally. No longer gotta have every new gizmo that comes out, Senko and creature style baits and it just got better the more I fished them. I am like Frank a lot now with just four style plastic lures all T-rigged with screw locs. Hooks are the most important and color to me is everything and what I tune with trip to trip. Just a side note but O Zone lures have replaced senkos a lot for me cause they have that live bait feel that they hold on to when they pick em' up. Lots of lures or just a couple.....learn to fish them well : )

Depends on what good sized smallmouth means to you.............a guide will get and keep you on fish but I would expect a 3-4lb'er to be good sized on there so that means mostly 1-2 1/2lb fish. Lot of fun and lot of fish in a short time, your call. Catch a big one.......

This is it! We fish where smallies and largemouth both operate so lures like stick and creature baits catch a lot. I find color and how you fish it to be very important, sometimes a sluggo or senko right at the top will slay shallow aggressive fish. Good Fishing : )

We both use the same set-up and have for years, on a good heavy well anchored table it just becomes you and the wind to worry about. Like to shoot early when wind is calmest and sun is behind me lighting up the target. Don't agree that one cartridge is more accurate than another, simply one rifle is better set-up, or has the better barrel, more concentric ammo, better action, more dialed in load.....well you get where I'm coming from I'm considering going 260AI when its time to bump the chamber to clean up throat errosion, but I've gotten so into the 7mm-08's that I'm always trying to squeeze more accuracy out and now I've built a real long range set-up that's been a lot of fun to shoot. Reminds me of a local BR gun I put together and then couldn't lay it down it was so much fun. Good Shooting Dave

Starting with a buck like that makes the curve pretty steep to improve on! Great buck.

Good buck! They make so much good eating I wish we could shoot more than one a year, my processor makes a meat stick thats unbelievable and jerky/backstrap steaks/tenderloin pan fried all go down good

Wow Way north that's a nice trophy, thats a cool forked G-2! 5 hour drag been a few years since I took part in one of those lonnnng drags Gimiurs I second the corn fed doe choice myself. Thats a nice wide rack on him! I wouldn't have given away the backstraps and tenderloin My son and I both shot does this year, coyotes in our area so bad they have really effected the deer population. Few does with lambs this year (thats what they call yearlings up here), coyotes have eat most of them. Deer cam has been out all fall and I get wayyy more coyotes than deer pics. Good Hunting and Congrats to all!

Small metal boat came with carpeted bunks on trailer. I do a lot of solo launching and landing so I bought a set of bunk slides that also came with corners for the back of bunks to pull on without ripping and wearing the bunk carpet. Bunk carpets soon hold a lot of grit and gravel from launching with no ramps to speak of, the slides keep the boat bottom slightly above the carpet and some wax or spray perservative will keep them slick and winching and pushing off quite easy, steep or flat ramp. Figure the carpet will last a long time, on 5 years now

Yum pulse is a hard one to beat, has a unique side to side tilt when swimming that gets attention.

I fish at a 45 degree angle and throw in to the shallows and work the lure down the rocks slowly. I like a weighted swimbait hook with a creature bait or large curly tail the most, if fish are pushing baitfish up against the riprap then a paddle tail swimbait of correct size can rule.

Mainstay is JJ's clear dipping die, I dip my plastic's before fishing. Use megastrike original sometimes on slow bite day's.

Its a V1467WT and we did a lot, it was pretty much boat, motor, and trailer when we picked it up. Cut a plywood casting deck from a cardboard template and covered it with marine carpeting, braced it underneath and above to bow mount. Installed a swivel seat base with extension and an upholstered seat. Closed in the bow above and carpeted along with an anchormate and 45# thrust MinnKota Edge foot controlled trolling motor. Installed a holder for the frt seat extension, put in two deep cycle batteries, one wired straight to the front troller with a resettable circuit breaker. Back battery for motor starting and charging as well as power for Garmin striker 5cv sonar (only regret should have gotten 7" screen) and gps w/water temp and boat speed. Installed a transom saver plastic mounting block for transducer, that way no holes in transom below waterline. Covered back half seats w/carpeting and added two more seat pedestals and flat velcro rod holders. Put a vertical four rod tube rod holder and two single tube trolling rod holders. Added a spare wheel and tire mounted on trailer, a rear transom saver to hold motor up and from hanging on transom when towing. Added two rear side bunks to bring in straight in wind or current, installed front and rear keel rollers to guide boat on trailer straight. Put bunk slides on the rear carpeted bunks to protect ends and make boat easy to launch and pull on, a pad for the anchor to ride on towing and at speed on water. A stainless vinyl covered trolling motor release, paddle in stainless clamps, rear ratchet transom tie downs. Added second upholstered seat to rear, and a heavy winch strap that wouldn't fold over on itself when pulling on. Still adding things as we go and enjoying it now more than ever!

I believe this best puts in words my feelings on the subject as well, I am however a spinning fisherman thru and thru so that comes into play.

For me its rod's.......they seem more important in the fishing puzzle for catching and landing big bass.

Any water clarity and on the rare times it works..... it really works, but most of the time I have very little success with it. Bought a couple pac's three years ago and still got most of them.