Went out thursday with a good friend of mine. He is a old retired E9 and then spent 15 plus watching crooks as a CO. The guy has put in his time protecting the rest of us. Great guy and has never fished the Q or caught a SM for that matter. We got out at about 7AM and home by 1PM.

With short time we didn't go far. My spring spots with no temp change seem to be filling up with larger fish. Worked to get him on some good SM early it was overcast and the thought of bright sun scared me as it can turn them off like a sitch .

We started of on a pile of 2 Lbers. We each boated a couple.

My pal HP was amazed at how hard it was to get the 2 bler in the boat. I told him wait till MR.Fourpoundy gave him tug.

They were hitting well and I thought if the sun can hold off we may be in for a banner day. Well it didn't and they shut down. The fish and the bait were moving all over. We would mark them and they would be gone in seconds. It was like fishing the ocean tide. Mark the structure and fish. Set the anchor and about every 20-30 min they would come back under we would pick up a couple fish and off they would go. As we were getting to wrap it up I marked some giant returns on the finder. Kept my rod out of the water and let HP have at em. Good things happen to good people. He got a solid hit set the hook and I knew right away it was a good one. He played her well and in no time she was in the net. She ran 4.3 and he smiled the whole way home. Here she is ....

I think others will agree with me. These dark fish mean they have just moved up from colder water. A great sign that a fall pattern is about to hit. They should become more aggresive and we shoul start to see schools of bigger fish feeding up. Here comes the crank bait. I can't wait such a fun time of year.

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Great story, great pics!

Congrats ~ !

NIce trip and sweet smallie.

A-Jay

nice!!!

What a guy! What a Bassmaster!

Nice smallies man

Great story and photos!!! Memorable trip for all of you... WTG

You and your friend had a banner day. Congrats.