bp_fowler

Decided I wanted to try and catch some smallies today. Asked around and got some intel on a creek about an hour away and decided to give it a shot. Turns out the guy was right there smallmouth present in the creek. I waded a good distance up the creek and caught a cool dozen. I used a micro jig with a craw trailer. Working outside bends with rocky cover seemed to be the ticket. Most were this size. This one was the biggest of the day. Random LMB dink. Caught 3 including the big one around these rocks on the right.

I’m out of reactions for today, but this 100%.

I have. Not by accident but purposely with an empty canoe just to test the limits of the canoe’s stability and my own ability to get back in if it were to happen. The good news was that it was hard to tip and nearly impossible to capsize. In fact I was much more likely to get dumped with the canoe floating along without me right side up in the water. The bad news is that it is much harder to climb back inside than I thought it would it be. I ended up doing it by holding onto the near gunwale with one hand and reaching for the yoke on the far side getting my chest/shoulders over the side then kicking hard and flipping the rest of my body into the canoe. It took some practice to get comfortable with. But the best advice I got was to try it, and I’ll encourage everyone who fishes out of a canoe or kayak to do so. Better to figure it out in a controlled environment than in an actual emergency.

I see what you did there. Weirdly enough despite growing up an hour away I’ve never fished the “Big Lake”. Alas, to scratch my Smallmouth itch I’ll be traveling to Huron again in a couple weeks. I’ve noticed that sometimes fish from certain bodies of water just fight harder than the same species from others.

I’m with you on this one. I went from catching zero bass to catching many bass with jigs and the difference was not the color of the jig or trailer but my comfort level with bait casting gear and the resulting improvement in casting accuracy.

Like the LMB in your pond, those are great looking fish. You’re giving me a serious case of Smallmouth envy. I wish they were more decent smallmouth spots near me.

You know I usually follow the GPs and browns for clear water and the black blue for dirty/stained water. But as it happens there’s been a few times where for whatever reason all I had were black blue jigs while fishing clear water and they caught just as many fish. 🤷‍♂️

@Bluebasser86 that lake looks like it would be a blast while simultaneously being extremely nerve wracking especially since you’re fishing a tournament.

He’s good kid, didn’t give me any pushback about it. I’m grateful that he’s not a knucklehead like his old man was at that age. 😅

My boy came up to visit and we did some fishing. Unfortunately the fish didn’t cooperate. Didn’t do so hot in terms of numbers or size. But hey we got some quality time and had fun and that’s what matters. I caught mine 50/50 between a jig up shallow or the drop shot over the ledge. He caught all his with the tube. Here’s the highlights if you can call them that.

If I landed a 15 pound bass in my neck of the woods they’d probably erect a statue of me in the town square. Like the OP I’m mostly fishing from a canoe, and you just don’t have the same amount of leverage that you do on the bank or standing on a bass boat. That being said if I got lucky enough to keep it out of weeds/wood then yeah, maybe.

Yes. Just like we have a circadian rhythm so does wildlife.

Went out this morning with the intention to do some jig fishing. I only really started using them late last year. Once I learned to pitch accurately I had some success. That was from the bank however and it’s tough to pitch from a seated position in a canoe. so today was more about practicing my pin point roll casting and skipping with baitcasting gear. Happy to report that I did okay. Caught 13 with 11 of those being jig fish. The two outliers were caught with the Mayor which I used to fish a couple shallow flats. Nothing huge but a lot of 12-15 inch fish. Biggest fish was one of the two below I didn’t measure or weight them so more just of an eye test. Caught 3 in a row (including one of the bigger fish) on the outside weed line on this point. There rest were caught along the drop-off adjacent to shallow flats.

Touché. It’s not my favorite way to fish, but still better than the skunk. 🦨

I think everyone else has already mentioned a lot of the high % stuff like shade, cover, current, night and/or early morning. The only one I didn’t see was bluegill beds. If you can find those there’s usually a few bass hanging around the periphery. Works for me in Ohio.

I’m truly blessed to have so many options and opportunities. I could probably go an entire season and not fish the same body of water twice. The angler in me says I would have more success if I stuck to one and learned it inside and out. …but I’m having fun doing it my way.

Vey slow foggy morning for me today. Fished a new to me pond with very clear water. So clear in fact I could see the fish look at my tube and wacky rig then turn their noses up and swim away. Drastic times call for drastic measures so I rigged up a finesse worm on a drop shot. Proceeded to sight fish bass using the drop off as a highway. Caught seven. This one below was the biggest.

Nope, mine was caught in mid-July on a Spinnerbait. As for your second question I really don’t know. I’m not sure how to estimate how much she would have weighted in the prespawn.

For Neds I use 10# braid to relatively long 6-8# fluoro leader. I use the palomar knot. I like it because it’s strong enough that I can bend out hooks on snags long before it fails.

I feel your frustration. I often would change for the sake of change alone or to try new techniques just because I read about them here or saw a YT video or tutorial. I originally thought this was a good thing but now I realize that it’s prevented me from forming an identity as an angler. Instead of being a jig guy or a crankbait guy or a finesse guy I was all over the map. The solution I’ve tried this year was to develop an organized approach to selecting what techniques I want to throw depending on the primary cover, water clarity, light and weather conditions. The idea being that if I have a systematic way of doing things it would keep me from just changing baits on a whim. I break it down like this: If the conditions are favorable I’ll try topwater and/or reaction baits first. If that doesn’t work then I’ll go the bottom contact route. Lastly if I’m still not getting bit I’ll fall back on finesse stuff. I do allow myself some flexibility. As an example: If it’s pretty obvious that it’s not a great day for topwater I’ll skip it and start with something mid column. Or if it’s a calm sunny day with tons of pressure I’ll jump straight to finesse. I’m usually limiting myself to 1 or 2 baits per category which has also helped me to eliminate redundancy and reduce the amount of tackle I take with me.

The wacky rigged Senko was a mainstay for me when I was first starting out. After a while it was replaced with the weightless t-rigged version. This was because it performed better around weeds that I have to contend with starting late May. A couple things happened this year that changed my perspective on the wacky worm. Number one, I got off the bank and in the canoe. Secondly I finally found weedless wacky hooks that work for me. Because of that, the wacky rig has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance for me. I primarily use it to target fish in clear water around shallow cover. It is also the bait that I am most proficient with skipping. I’m definitely a believer.

Checked out two new ponds this morning. The first was a bust. What makes it worse was that it was a tough spot to get into so a lot of work for nothing. Second was an easier portage but a smaller pond. Caught a decent one and a few dinks. Was about to wrap it up when I casted into this corner where the duckweed meets the reeds and watched my line swim away. I set the hook and after a bit of a struggle I hauled in this 5 pounder to salvage the day.

@Swamp GirlTake care of yourself and I’m sure you’ll be back to taming those Maine linebacker bass in no time.

A cart is first on my list. After that I want to upgrade seats and add a rod holder or two so I can troll between spots.

Sounds like an awesome trip man, I’m jealous!