Susky River Rat

The bait monkey disapproves of this nonsense talk. It really just depends how much you lose stuff.

@Jar11591 thank you sir! I’ve been fortunate to have some good trips lately. @gimThey are always a blast. That is why I enjoy fishing for them.

Welcome aboard buddy! Great amount of folks here willing to help.

@TnRiver46 facts! There are good rules to go by in what to look for. However, the smallies do not know how to read the rules 😂

I haven’t done a fishing report in awhile so here it goes. I made a few mile run up the river from my launch location. I went to an area I do not fish often. It’s a shalllow area with tons of rocks and current. There are weed beds under the water which was my main target. I started by throwing a prop style top water. I was working it over the weeds and down the current seams. Nothing was going. I switched to a 1-3ft diving crank. I caught one almost instantly. Nothing huge but, a fun size fish. A few casts later I hooked into the biggest one of the day. When I set the hook I swore I was snagged for the first few reels. This fish pulled my drag up stream about 10ft in the current. This fish also clued me into the distinct pattern I was on. All the fish were on the front side of any kind of point, weedbed or obstruction. They were not on the seams or the slack water behind it. I lost 6 fish yesterday even though I caught many. Not by being unlucky either. It was by being unprepared and not loosening my drag up to account for the current. Which after cursing myself for it and figuring it out to late I did make the chance. I had a great fun day. Caught many fish and loved figuring out the pattern. Here are the two best from the day. I also rarely weigh or measure fish unless it’s a tournament. I just enjoy fishing. For me it’s not about having a PB or catching the biggest or best. I just enjoying fishing.

Current seams, eddies, dead water behind bridge pilings, island or rock, grass beds, dams. I usually do not find them around timber or a soft bottom. I wish usually stay away from any soft bottom period. There are some occasions where they are on the front side of structure instead of the backside. Sometimes a bait coming with the current works best other times going against the current or perpendicular works better. When you do figure the pattern out for the day it can be very repeatable for that day in other areas. Usually around the same size of fish hang around each other. If you are catching small ones in a particular area you generally will not get a bigger one out of that area.

Couple studs from today

High water gets fish moving. I prefer it over drought waters. Start in the freshly submerged stuff.

Bunch of fun size like this on the last trip.

She is one of the few people I would actually like to meet. She’s great at fishing and seems like an all around good person. Shhh you can’t say that it upsets people 😂

Honestly, I haven’t thrown a wacky rig in years. It’s just not something I keep in my arsenal for whatever reason. Not against it just don’t utilize it. good on you for getting the pattern!

That’s how my G3 is. It is a transducer mount. It’s to be friendly with jet outboards. If you rip your ducer off it what leave a hole in your boat. That is also why it sits up higher. That way it is closer to being flush with the bottom of the hull. There is no real need to have accurate readings with a jet you only need a few inches of water on plane. Some guys even have their transducer on a slide so it cant take damage at all.

Google earth helps but, you can get tk an area and it be a complete bust. Word of mouth helps but, only as good as the person telling you. You will show you areas that hold fish but, don’t always produce. the best way is breaking down the water on your own. That’s part of the sport for me.

@Mobasser I will always adopt. To many good dogs out there that deserve it.

@Mobasser thank you for the kind words. He deserves this life

Just enjoying my time out. Did catch a beat up largemouth.

@Jar11591 thank you sir!

Today marks 3 years of us having River. We adopted him between 3-4 years old thinking he was a lab golden retriever mix. Finishing up heartworm treatment, skinner than you can imagine and scared of his own reflection . He was picked up as a feral dog in a kill shelter in the south. A no kill rescue picked him up and we adopted. His name was already River when we adopted him and just thought it was a sign. it was not always easy. He’s a handful at times. He is not a lab mix he’s a German shepherd mountain cur mix. He is however an amazing dog that my wife and I absolutely love. We will move heaven and earth for him. We have spent over $20,000 in vet bills trying to figure out his stomach problems and after a recent biopsy with a specialist think we are on the right track. We will continue to give this boy who stole our hearts the best life we possibly can. He’s not a dog. He’s family!

@gim a reg bulldawg

I had that happen on a close to 50”fish. My dad wasn’t paying attention let the net drop below the water like fish came out snapped the hook.

@T-Billy thank you sir. I will tell you out of all the muskys I have ever caught and I am sure you can relate none go to plan. There is always something that happens. Whether it’s luck, unlucky, mind blowing or just plain stupid it never seems to go to plan. I started a social media page and I run two go pros. My chest go pro died as soon as I got the fish in the net. Knowing I was run out of battery I was trying to rush to get unhooked and in front of my console mount go pro knowing that would die soon as well. Net falling in the water and fighting time I managed to pull that still from the go pro.

I haven’t musky fished since October 2022. I was diehard musky were the only fish in the water worth fishing for before than. Yesterday I was out at a lake because the river was not working out for me weather wise. I was looking around at how the lake was coming in. I said this looks like the way u like to fish for musky. Today loaded my musky gear of for a musky day and was rewarded.

Many susky smallmouth have red eyes

That toe line tho

@Swamp Girl I actually feel like I’ve struggled slightly more this year. Much lower water temps than normal. Post frontal conditions. Heavy winds. Typical bites not happening that do under certain conditions. I have good days and bad days. All that really matters to me is having fun. I think I am just getting more comfortable infront of cameras trying to do the whole social media thing.